Research and analysis

North Ayrshire UKSPF evaluation: impact and value for money findings – executive summary

Updated 28 August 2026

Applies to England

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.

North Ayrshire is located on Scotland’s West Coast. It comprises towns, villages, coastal areas and islands, including Arran and Cumbrae. There were 134,010 people living in North Ayrshire in 2024. The area faces significant socio-economic challenges, notably high levels of deprivation and unemployment, which are partly driven by the transition from traditional manufacturing towards a service and renewables-based economy.

North Ayrshire received a total of £6.13 million of UKSPF funding for Autumn 2022 to March 2025, which comprised of £5.13 million in core UKSPF funding allocated across the three investment priorities: Communities and Place: £1.28 million, Supporting Local Business: £675,000, and People and Skills: £2.93 million. Additionally, £1.07 million was allocated to Multiply, and £245,000 to administration.

Key impact evaluation findings

Communities and Place

The contribution claims for this investment priority were undetermined. It was not possible to conduct primary research with beneficiaries of Communities and Place interventions, which meant it was not possible to evidence the contribution claims.

Supporting Local Businesses

The evaluation assessed two contribution claims for this investment priority. Of these, one was supported and the other was undetermined:

Increase in business births

The offer of business support programmes enabled more businesses to be established. UKSPF increased the number of new businesses in North Ayrshire through the provision of consultancy and financial support to potential entrepreneurs.

Business growth

There was some limited evidence to suggest that business support enabled businesses to grow, improve productivity, retain existing jobs and create new ones. Business grants, advice and training funded by UKSPF lowered financial and capability barriers to increase growth among some beneficiary businesses. However, there was limited evidence to suggest that this was widespread amongst beneficiary businesses meaning that this contribution claim was undetermined.

People and Skills

Employability

Interventions were found to have improved career prospects and led to progress towards employment (e.g. job interviews). UKSPF-funded interventions helped individuals develop the skills required to apply and interview for jobs leading to more effective job searching and increased interest from prospective employers.

Reducing barriers to employment

Interventions contributed to reducing barriers to employment faced by individuals. UKSPF funding was used to target individuals facing persistent barriers to employment, such as those with disabilities and long-term health conditions, disengaged young people and the long-term unemployed. Employability and skill development support was designed to help individuals overcome barriers by facilitating access to education and employment, signposting to additional support, engaging employers to offer opportunities and promoting social integration of individuals through community-based initiatives. This contributed to a more diverse, accessible and inclusive labour market.

Skills development

Interventions helped individuals gain relevant skills and qualifications. UKSPF funding was used to improve beneficiaries’ access to industry-recognised training and education opportunities through signposting and financial support. UKSPF-funded employability support also helped individuals develop their personal and transferrable skills.

Employment

Interventions helped individuals secure employment. UKSPF-funded employability and skills development programmes facilitating individuals’ transitions into employment through employer engagement, matching initiatives and recruitment incentive programmes.

Key economic evaluation findings

UKSPF in North Ayrshire demonstrated adequate value for money across the 4Es framework. There was some variation across the investment priority areas and the sub-topic areas within the framework.

• Economy - Adequate: Evidence suggested that a range of external suppliers were used in the delivery of interventions funded by UKSPF. Many of the interventions under Communities and Place were delivered by external suppliers. Specialist business support experts were used as part of the Supporting Local Businesses offer. The People and Skills interventions were delivered through a mix of local authority and third party providers. Data on Value for Money (VfM) for the procurement was not available. Timings were flagged as challenging in terms of developing the investment plan and consulting stakeholders.
• Efficiency - Adequate: A total of 23 output indicator targets (68% of the total) had been achieved by March 2025. The UKSPF allocation for North Ayrshire was in part used to address gaps in existing funding. For Supporting Local Businesses, funding was allocated to the existing programme of support offered by the local authority which was previously delivered using European funding. In the case of People and Skills, some of the funding was used to strengthen existing interventions, enabling delivery leads to target more vulnerable beneficiaries with additional support.
• Effectiveness - Adequate: Analysis of monitoring data showed that 65% of the outcome targets that had been reported on had been met by March 2025. However, there was variation across the investment priorities, with outcomes for Supporting Local Businesses reported to have been exceeded whilst some for the People and Skills investment priority had not been fully met. The interventions were closely aligned to the needs of the local authority area. This included interventions aimed at making the economy more inclusive, contributing to addressing the need for investment in skills and employability and the climate emergency.
• Equity - Adequate: UKSPF interventions were delivered across the whole local authority area, but some were specifically designed to meet the needs of island residents. The interventions aimed to reach diverse populations, including individuals facing multiple barriers to employment, local businesses, and community groups.

Key learning

The following key learning and lessons have been identified to support the design and delivery of future local growth funds:

• The flexibility of the fund was a key benefit which enabled interventions to be targeted at addressing local needs.
• The level of flexibility given to LAs to set their own targets may have led to some of them being set relatively low. Guidance on what would be viewed as good VfM for each of the output and outcome indicators could have helped the LA in setting their targets.
• The evaluation would have benefited from more granular reporting of progress towards outputs and outcomes. The monitoring returns that were submitted to MHCLG were based on area-level level targets. Intervention-level monitoring and reporting would have enabled greater transparency and accountability on progress towards targets.
• Future funds should consider incorporating clearer prioritisation exercises in the selection of interventions to receive funding at the local level. This would help ensure that interventions are selected based on local needs, alignment with the objectives of the fund and VfM.
• Clarity on the definition of match funding would help strengthen reporting on this for future funds. For example, in the case of North Ayrshire, much of the funding that sat alongside UKSPF existed already rather than being leveraged as match funding.
• For future funds, it might be worth considering the capacity and capability of individual local authorities to meet expectations in relation to delivery as well as monitoring and evaluation. This would help identify those who may need additional support to meet requirements. Some local authorities with more resource and greater capabilities may be better placed than others to take on funding that is not ringfenced.
• Support from MHCLG on capacity building within local authorities to help them become “M&E ready” would help strengthen accountability and transparency. For example, through more detailed guidance and sharing of best practice on monitoring, record keeping and reporting.