HARLOW's Conservative led Council has secured £1 million from the Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund to invest in a variety of projects in the town over the next three years.
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is a Government initiative. It aims to enable the delivery of the government’s commitment to level up communities by boosting productivity, spreading opportunities, restoring a sense of community and empowering local leaders to get on with the job of representing their local area.
An investment plan was submitted by the council that outlined how it intends to spend the £1 million originally allocated. To access this funding, it required a costed set of achievable proposals. The council’s plan has been backed by the Government as part of its focus on levelling up communities like Harlow.
The funding will help deliver a range of community projects, such as: crime prevention activities in the Town Centre; improvements to the Harlow Museum; and more funds to support the local Community Hub helping vulnerable residents. Funding has been awarded to projects focused on business support and the visitor economy too. Provision for new skills and training opportunities has also been factored into the final year of the council’s investment plan.
Councillor Joel Charles, the Cabinet Member for Business and Community Resilience on Harlow Council, has welcomed the injection of an additional £1 million in Government funding into the town:
“The council’s investment plan provides a three-year pathway to help address concerns about crime in the Town Centre, will direct more resources to support the most vulnerable in Harlow and will provide a funded framework to confront the issues hampering local economic resilience. It is encouraging that the Government backed the council’s bid to also pursue a skills proposition as part of the full plan.
“This UK Shared Prosperity Fund announcement is a tangible example of the Government’s levelling up agenda in action – funding projects that will make a real difference to the community and provide more opportunities to improve life chances. The priority now is to implement the three-year plan following the green light from the Government to proceed with a funding package that enables the council’s approved projects to become a reality.”
