This meeting was about monitoring the performance of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Good Growth Shared Prosperity Fund Programme and deciding whether to approve new applications for funding. The documents do not tell us anything about what was actually discussed, or whether any decisions were actually made.

Shared Prosperity Fund

A report included in the meeting pack sought to provide an update on the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Good Growth Shared Prosperity Fund Programme, which included the Rural England Prosperity Fund.

The report set out that a decision was due to be made on whether to approve the implementation of the Strategic Sector Investment Fund, worth £1 million, to help businesses in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly become more productive.

It also set out that a decision was due to be made about whether to update the Good Growth Project Remediation and Decommitment Policy.

The report provided an update on the status of the Programme. It noted that the Government's deadline for spending 80% of the funding for year 1 and 2 was 31 March 2024. It said that Cornwall Council had met that deadline, securing a full upfront payment of the year 3 allocation. The report noted that by 30 November 2024, £57,475,358 of the £137.6 million allocated to Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly had been spent.

The report also included a summary of the status of the Multiply adult numeracy programme, the Community Levelling Up scheme, the Community Capacity and Facilitation programme, the Growth Hub and the People Hub.

The report noted that the Chancellor of the Exchequer had announced a further year of Shared Prosperity funding in the 2024 Autumn Budget. The report stated:

A pro-rata allocation to CIoS would be in the region of £49m however at the time of drafting confirmed allocations are not known.

The report stated that to spend this allocation, it was proposed that:

...year 4 should be used to consolidate and prioritise economic development activities.

The report recommended that a new open call for funding be launched to achieve this. This open call was described in an initiation form included in the report pack.

Funding Decisions

There was a confidential item on the agenda to discuss Funding Decisions relating to the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Shared Prosperity Fund. We do not know what was decided about this item, but it is likely to have included decisions about which organisations to provide funding to.