Research and analysis

City of Edinburgh UKSPF evaluation: impact and value for money findings – executive summary

Updated 28 August 2026

Applies to Scotland

Introduction

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) was launched by the UK Government in April 2022. It provided £2.6 billion funding for local investment by March 2025, with an additional £900 million available for 2025-26. Local decision-makers worked with their local communities and partners to deliver interventions under three investment priorities: Communities and Place, Supporting Local Businesses, and People and Skills. UKSPF empowered places to identify and build on their own local strengths and needs, with a focus on enhancing community pride and increasing life chances.

The City of Edinburgh Council was allocated £10.3 million in core UKSPF funding across the three priorities: Communities and Place (£5.4 million), Supporting Local Businesses (£1.8 million), and People and Skills (£3.1 million), alongside £2.1 million for the Multiply programme. An additional allocation of £4.1 million was made for Edinburgh for the 2025-2026 period.

Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland, is characterised by high levels of education, high levels of employment and a highly skilled workforce relative to the Scotland average. Despite being one of the wealthiest cities in the UK, there are deep inequalities in health and income, and high levels of poverty and deprivation in some areas. One in six residents live in relative poverty, and there is a life expectancy gap of 24 years between people living in the most deprived and most affluent areas of the city. Poverty and inequality have been exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis and Covid-19 pandemic. Addressing these issues was central to the City of Edinburgh Council’s strategic priorities.

Key impact evaluation findings

Communities and Place

Improved perception of local areas / facilities

UKSPF funding led to the creation and improvement of public spaces in Edinburgh, including 17 amenities, a substantial increase in green/blue space. These investments addressed gaps in community infrastructure, such as the lack of community spaces on some council estates. Survey evidence shows that users of the new community gardens funded by UKSPF were more likely to report feeling proud of their local area than users of other neighbourhood gardens, and qualitative feedback indicates positive perceptions of funded projects such as the gardens and accessible public toilet facilities in South Queensferry. However, the available data do not provide robust, city-wide quantitative evidence of broader changes in resident perceptions.

Increased community engagement / volunteering

UKSPF funding increased community engagement and volunteering in Edinburgh by supporting a large expansion of volunteering opportunities and creating new spaces and activities that encouraged local participation. Monitoring data indicates that 24,999 volunteering opportunities were supported, 1,411 were newly created, and 2,473 instances of improved engagement were recorded. Qualitative evidence suggests that this success stems from investment in strong volunteer foundations, enabling a light-touch, sustainable approach in contrast to traditional short-term models. This, combined with open-ended relationships and an accessibility budget, empowers volunteers and fosters long-term community engagement. Analysis of survey data also suggests that users of UKSPF-funded community gardens were more likely to report feeling more involved or connected to their community.

Increased community capacity

UKSPF funding has strengthened community capacity in Edinburgh by supporting a large number of voluntary and community organisations and investing in their skills and structures. Monitoring data indicates that many organisations received financial and non-financial support, and that this helped generate new community-led programmes and follow-on interventions. Qualitative evidence suggests that training for community centre management committees and support for initiatives such as Edinburgh Growing Together enabled groups to improve governance, secure additional funding and establish new community-led structures.

More households attaining their basic needs

UKSPF funding supported interventions that provided financial and energy-related advice and assistance to households facing cost-of-living pressures. Monitoring data indicates that 58,508 households received support and 420 households were assisted to take up energy efficiency measures. Qualitative evidence from the CHAI Enabling Financial Resilience service points to substantial financial gains for clients through securing benefit entitlements, grants, debt relief and practical energy support, enabled by expanded adviser capacity, embedded delivery in schools and health settings, and strong referral pathways. Taken together, this suggests that UKSPF-funded activity contributed to helping households meet their basic needs, although wider economic conditions and other support programmes may have also influenced outcomes.

Supporting Local Businesses

Business births

UKSPF funding contributed to the establishment of new businesses in Edinburgh by helping aspiring entrepreneurs overcome financial and capability barriers through grants, advice and training. Monitoring data shows that 514 individuals were supported to become enterprise-ready and 222 new enterprises were created. Interviews and an online consultation with beneficiaries indicate that advisory support helped prospective business owners navigate early start-up processes, while grants enabled essential purchases such as equipment required for professional standards or core service delivery. In several cases, beneficiaries reported that UKSPF support either accelerated their business start-up or made it possible, suggesting some degree of additionality.

Improved business productivity

UKSPF-funded business support in Edinburgh appears to have helped firms implement productivity-enhancing changes by reducing financial and capability barriers to adopting new technologies, processes and ways of working. Monitoring data indicates that 230 enterprises reported improved productivity and 54 firms adopted new-to-the-firm technologies or processes. Evidence from beneficiaries provides mixed but relevant indications that some businesses gained useful knowledge from advisory support aligned with expected productivity pathways.

Increased networking and knowledge sharing

UKSPF-funded ecosystem and advisory programmes in Edinburgh created structured opportunities for firms to interact and learn from each other. Monitoring data indicates that 564 organisations engaged in knowledge-transfer activity and interview evidence suggests that some of these programmes would not have run at this time without UKSPF funding. Some Business Gateway Plus beneficiaries also pointed to spillover knowledge sharing.

People and Skills

Beneficiary skills increased

UKSPF-funded employability and skills programmes supported individuals to develop confidence, life skills and a better understanding of employer expectations. Monitoring data indicates that 755 people were supported to become familiar with workplace expectations and 1,169 engaged in life-skills support. Qualitative evidence from programmes such as Strides, Barnardo’s Best Project and Making Work Work suggests improvements particularly benefited young people, people with convictions and women returning to work. Providers attributed these outcomes to the flexibility enabled by UKSPF, which allowed services to be tailored to individual needs and to continue or expand provision that would otherwise have ceased.

Beneficiaries gain qualifications

UKSPF funding supported beneficiaries to access recognised courses and qualification pathways, with monitoring data indicating that 2,934 people were supported to gain a qualification and 358 achieved qualifications, licences or skills. Qualitative evidence is limited but suggests that providers such as The King’s Trust helped school leavers and vulnerable young people progress through strong local partnerships with education and training providers and by scaling services using UKSPF resources. Strategic stakeholders also reported progress for disadvantaged groups, though achievement in green skills was viewed as lagging due to ambitious targets and limited dedicated funding.

Beneficiaries move toward employment

UKSPF-funded upskilling and employability programmes in Edinburgh supported progress towards work by improving job search, CV and interview skills and connecting people to industry-relevant training. Monitoring data indicates that 165 people reported increased employability and 152 took part in work experience. Delivery partners reported that, without UKSPF, many of these services would have been significantly scaled back or stopped altogether, and that alternative funding sources were uncertain and unlikely to support provision at a similar scale.

Key economic evaluation findings

The UKSPF programme in Edinburgh demonstrated high to adequate value for money across the 4Es framework.

• Economy - High to adequate. Supplier interest was sufficient at the portfolio level to enable competition. Expenditure was maintained broadly in line with plan through active budget management.

• Efficiency - High to adequate. While comprehensive unit-cost data were not available, qualitative evidence shows measures to maximise outputs within budgets, including flexible reprioritisation and procurement / design choices that expanded delivery.

• Effectiveness - High to adequate. In the absence of cost-per-outcome data, qualitative evidence indicates that the same practices underpinning output maximisation supported outcome delivery within available budgets.

• Equity - High to adequate. Initial targeting of groups / areas aligned with demonstrable need. However, selection was driven primarily by practitioners’ existing knowledge rather than a formal, systematised needs assessment, reflecting the constraints of the compressed planning timetable.

Key learning

The following key learning and lessons have been identified, which will support design and delivery of future local growth funds:

• Local partnership infrastructures materially improve progression routes.
  Across employability, qualification, and community capacity interventions, strong referral pathways and partnerships with education providers, employers, health professionals, and community organisations directly enabled achievement of outcomes.

• Flexible, person-centred support helps to engage those with high barriers. Tailored one-to-one support, flexible delivery (including outreach in community settings) and peer-led approaches were central to engaging young people, people with convictions, minority ethnic women and economically inactive individuals, and to supporting meaningful progress along employability and skills pathways.

• Targeted financial and practical assistance unlocks participation for groups facing entrenched barriers. Interventions such as CHAI, MacMillan Skills Hub and Strides showed that removing practical constraints (e.g. benefit entitlement issues, energy costs, digital exclusion, training fees, childcare, specialist equipment, and travel barriers) was essential for enabling participation in training, job search and entrepreneurship.

• Additionality arises where UKSPF fills clear gaps or sustains at-risk provision. Across multiple strands, providers reported that without UKSPF, key services would have been scaled back or stopped and that alternative funding was uncertain or insufficient. Where UKSPF extended, enhanced or preserved provision, it is reasonable to infer that many observed benefits would not have occurred at the same scale, quality or pace.