Research and analysis

Maidstone UKSPF evaluation: interim findings

Updated 3 December 2025

Applies to England

Executive Summary: Maidstone interim findings

Introduction

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) provides a total of £3.5 billion of funding for local investment over 4 years (2022 to 2026), with all places in the UK receiving an allocation via a funding formula. Local decision-makers work with their local communities and partners to deliver interventions under 3 investment priorities: Communities and Place, Supporting Local Businesses and People and Skills.

This interim report presents the emerging findings from the place level evaluation of UKSPF in Maidstone, based on research conducted between October 2024 and March 2025. It outlines the progress made to date and presents interim evaluation findings.

Key process evaluation findings

Intervention design

• Maidstone Borough Council (MBC) developed its local investment plan in collaboration with public, private, and voluntary organisations, ensuring UKSPF delivery was closely aligned with local needs.
• MBC strategically focused all UKSPF investment on the Communities and Place investment priority, as it addressed the most pressing local challenges. MBC considered this approach more impactful than spreading resources across all three UKSPF investment priorities.

Portfolio implementation

• MBC commissioned projects and launched funding calls for UKSPF interventions aligned with the local investment plan outcomes.
• Delivery providers found the application process clear, with appropriate information requirements.
• MBC staff deemed the project selection process effective, transparent, and facilitated the selection of strong projects.
• Procurement and contractual arrangements worked well, with projects on track to deliver expected outputs.

Intervention delivery

• UKSPF intervention delivery has gone according to plan, with no significant issues.
• Key factors that supported effective intervention delivery include the use of diverse marketing strategies and selecting a range of accessible venues to deliver UKSPF interventions. Strong collaboration among delivery providers, local stakeholders, and volunteers played a crucial role in ensuring smooth implementation.
• Key factors hindering smooth delivery included planning difficulties due to the short-term nature of the funding cycle, finding low-cost replacement venues at short notice, and challenges in engaging schools.

Data collection and monitoring

• Monitoring requirements for UKSPF were seen as balanced, ensuring accountability without placing unnecessary burden on delivery stakeholders.
• MBC received timely and good quality monitoring reports from delivery stakeholders, although the level of detail in reporting forms varied significantly.
• Council staff experienced on-going technical issues in submitting monitoring data to MHCLG.

Programme oversight

• Programme oversight worked well; however, the MBC UKSPF delivery team found the administrative budget management fee too low, requiring the Council to supplement staffing costs with internal funds.

Progress to date: expenditure, outputs and outcomes

Maidstone has been allocated £1.6 million in UKSPF funding for 2022 to 2026, with all the funds allocated to the Communities and Place investment priority.

A larger proportion of the funding is expected to be spent towards the latter part of the funding period. According to MI data, Maidstone spent 37% of its total UKSPF allocation in 2022/23 and 2023/24.

Maidstone has exceeded its target outputs for the number of organisations supported and the number of local events and activities supported. However, no progress has been recorded for two indicators – public realm created or improved, and green or blue space created or improved – as interventions related to these outputs are still being implemented. Outcome data shows that Maidstone has exceeded its target for increased footfall and is close to meeting its target for community-led arts, cultural, heritage, and creative programmes.

Early impact findings

Maidstone already appears to have made some progress against target impact areas.

• Improved health and wellbeing: Early evidence shows that participants directly involved in UKSPF interventions have experienced positive improvements in their health and well-being.
• More resilient local economy: Monitoring data indicates that UKSPF interventions have positively impacted local business income.
• Maidstone’s reputation enhanced: UKSPF interventions have contributed to building community pride and improving Maidstone’s overall reputation.

The outcomes and impact of UKSPF in Maidstone will be explored in more depth in the final evaluation report.