Community activities funding agreed

The successor to previous EU funding schemes, the Argyll and Bute UKSPF investment plan focuses on three key priorities: communities and place; supporting local business; and people and skills, with activities being delivered by a mixture of council teams and third-sector external partners.

The UK Government has already announced that the final transitional year of UKSPF funding will be reduced by 40 per cent from previous years. A replacement scheme is likely to run from 2026/27 onwards.

For 2025/26, Argyll and Bute Council has been allocated £1.4 million from the UKSPF.

As the funding available for the year ahead is 60 per cent of the previous year’s allocation, councillors have decided not to create any additional activities for the new funding. Instead, the focus will be on projects from the first phase of the UKSPF.

These will  more investment for a range of initiatives covering living places, business support, work placement training, supported employment and the Flexible Food Hub.

Councillor Math Campbell-Sturgess, the council’s Policy Lead for Business Development, said: “UKSPF funding has been invaluable in enabling us to deliver additional support for local businesses, people and skills and further investment in our communities.

“With a significant reduction in this year’s allocation, we believe the best use of the funds available is increased support for a range of existing successful projects.”