Research and analysis

South West Wales UKSPF evaluation: impact and value for money findings – executive summary

Updated 28 August 2026

Applies to Wales

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. South West Wales was allocated a total regional budget of £137.8 million, comprising £116.3 million for core UKSPF activity, £15.9 million for Multiply and the remaining £5.5 million in management and administration fees.

South West Wales (SWW) is a diverse region comprising the local authority areas of Swansea, Carmarthenshire, Neath Port Talbot, and Pembrokeshire. Home to 22% of Wales’ population, SWW includes the country’s second city, rural communities, and coastal and market towns. The region’s economic landscape is shaped by a mix of urban and rural challenges: declining town centres, economic inactivity, and lower-than-average wages, alongside strengths in renewable energy, tourism, and a strong sense of community identity.

Key impact evaluation findings

The impact evaluation used the region’s three Anchor programmes, Place, Business, and People and Skills, as the primary unit of analysis. These programmes delivered the majority of UKSPF activity in SWW and provided the most consistent and comparable basis for assessing outcomes. This model represented a more integrated approach than in many other areas receiving UKSPF funding, offering valuable learning on strategic delivery at scale. The findings presented therefore reflect outcomes achieved through the Anchor programmes and do not capture the full breadth of activity delivered through open-call or community-led projects elsewhere in the portfolio.

Business support enabled businesses to hire new staff

UKSPF-funded business support played a significant role in enabling businesses across SWW to hire new staff. Programme MI showed 893 jobs created against a target of 719 (124%). Survey evidence reinforced this: 63% (99) of businesses increased staff, attributing this wholly (21%, 13) or partially (79%, 50) to the grant. Forward expectations were also strong, with supported firms responding to the survey planning to hire a further 257 FTE posts in the next year. This achievement was made possible through a combination of financial support, such as start-up and growth grants, which reduced the risks and costs associated with investment, and non-financial support, including mentoring and advisory services, which built business capacity and readiness for expansion. The flexible, locally tailored delivery model allowed each local authority to address specific sectoral needs and opportunities, accelerating job creation even in a challenging economic climate. The evidence suggests that the UKSPF’s approach was particularly effective for micro and small businesses, where relatively modest investments could have a substantial impact on employment.

Business support stimulated enterprise creation

The programme supported 892 potential entrepreneurs (165% of target, 542) and delivered 211 new enterprises. This was achieved through start-up grants and enterprise-readiness programmes, which provided funding, mentoring, and practical guidance at a time of rising costs and economic uncertainty. Outcomes varied by area: Swansea’s established digital and enterprise ecosystem enabled higher start-up rates, while Pembrokeshire’s rural economy saw fewer new businesses. By tailoring support to local business needs and leveraging existing networks, UKSPF helped mitigate the national decline in business births and enabled more sustainable new ventures.

Business support helped businesses implement changes that increased productivity

Across the region, 379 firms adopted new-to-the-firm technologies or processes (vs 282 target) and 210 developed new or improved products/services (vs 148 target). Surveyed businesses widely credited grants as a key enabler of productivity gains, with 80% describing the grant as having a “big” role in improving their productivity. The region’s predominantly micro-business economy meant that even relatively modest investments, such as small capital grants for equipment or digital tools, translated into noticeable efficiency and productivity gains at firm level. Evidence also suggests strong additionality: only 10% believed they would have undertaken the same activity at the same time without UKSPF, while 31% said they would have done so later, indicating that UKSPF accelerated and scaled improvements that might otherwise have been delayed.

Employability and skills-based learning programmes helped individuals secure employment

A total of 940 participants entered employment, surpassing the regional target (834), with particularly strong performance in Swansea and Pembrokeshire. The success of these programmes was underpinned by tailored, keyworker-led support that combined accredited training, mentoring, and work placements to address both skills gaps and personal barriers to employment. Local partnerships with employers and training providers ensured that support was relevant to local labour market needs. The model was especially effective for those furthest from the labour market, helping them to build confidence and access real job opportunities. While sustained employment after six months proved more challenging, the evidence indicates that the UKSPF approach provided a strong foundation for job entry.

Employability and skills-based learning programmes helped individuals become economically active

Nearly 4,300 economically inactive people engaged with keyworker support, almost double the programme target (2,228) and over 2,900 people gained new qualifications, licenses, or skills. Additionally, 1,446 participants reported improved employability through enhanced interpersonal skills, broadly in line with the target (1,431). Over 600 moved into active job searching (target of 576). These outcomes were enabled by intensive, personalised keyworker support that addressed both “hard” barriers (skills, qualifications) and “soft” barriers (confidence, wellbeing, work readiness). Local flexibility within the Anchor allowed authorities to tailor provision to local labour market needs, while well-established models supported rapid mobilisation and strong outreach to harder-to-engage groups. Early signs of progression include sustained engagement with employability support, increased readiness to seek work, and reported improvements in long-term job prospects. While most participants had not yet transitioned into employment, the evidence demonstrates that holistic, locally tailored interventions can effectively support economic activation, laying essential groundwork for future job entry.

Key economic evaluation findings

The UKSPF programme in South West Wales demonstrated adequate value for money across the 4Es framework.

• Economy – adequate: Delivery was achieved within budget. Around two-thirds of spend went through Anchor projects awarded directly to local authorities, with the remainder distributed via competitive open calls. While the direct award approach was seen as the most effective way to mobilise funding quickly and ensure consistency across the region, it reduced the degree of competition for the majority of funds. Nonetheless, local authorities made effective use of programme flexibilities to reallocate resources to areas of high demand.
• Efficiency – adequate: Programme monitoring data showed that a large majority of output indicators were met or exceeded, often by significant margins. Smaller-scale grant schemes and Anchor models enabled wide reach at relatively low unit cost, while proactive management (e.g. additional calls in Pembrokeshire and process adjustments in Neath Port Talbot) helped mitigate risks of underspend. However, uneven output achievement and lack of evidence available to enable systematic benchmarking of cost-per-outputs, meant this was assessed overall as adequate.
• Effectiveness - adequate: Outcome delivery was also strong, with a majority of indicator targets achieved or surpassed, particularly in skills development, volunteering, and community engagement. Impact evaluation evidence showed clear contributions to job creation, entrepreneurship, and employability, even if sustained employment and business resilience remained harder to evidence within the short timeframe. Flexibility to adjust interventions helped align funding to pressing needs, although uneven performance across local authorities highlighted variation in delivery contexts. However, uneven performance across some indicators and the compressed delivery window constrained the depth and durability of impacts.
• Equity – adequate to high: Open calls and third-party grant mechanisms widened access to funding, enabling smaller community groups and microbusinesses to benefit alongside larger organisations. People and Skills interventions surpassed their targets. However, evidence also pointed to gaps in employer co-design and challenges in addressing persistent issues such as town centre vacancy rates, limiting the extent of equitable longer-term impacts.

Key learning

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

• The Regional Investment Plan and early consultation provided a strong strategic base for delivery, ensuring alignment with local needs.
• Combining Anchor projects, open calls and direct commissions enabled authorities to respond flexibly to local priorities while retaining control over quality and coverage.
• Delays in approvals and inter-authority agreements highlighted the importance of early certainty and streamlined governance for future funds.
• Open calls and umbrella schemes effectively channelled funding to a large volume of SMEs and entrepreneurs, reflecting the micro-business-dominated structure of the regional economy. This ensured wide reach and strong performance against outputs.
• Small-scale capital grants and advisory support delivered immediate results in job creation, start-ups, and productivity improvements. These interventions demonstrated that modest investments could generate meaningful short-term gains for small firms.
• Structural challenges limited the translation of business support into wider regional dynamism. Declines in overall business births and uneven productivity growth underlined the need for sustained follow-on support and longer-term monitoring to capture enduring impacts.
• Established models and tailored keyworker support enabled strong engagement and exceeded targets for reducing barriers to employment and supporting economically inactive residents.
• Short-term job entry outcomes were strong, but sustained employment outcomes fell short, highlighting the need for longer-term provision.