Research and analysis

Torridge UKSPF evaluation: interim findings

Updated 3 December 2025

Applies to England

Executive Summary: Torridge 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 up to three 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 Torridge, based on research conducted between November 2024 and January 2025. It outlines the progress made to date and presents interim evaluation findings.

Key process evaluation findings

Intervention design

• The initial strategic design of Torridge’s UKSPF programme was shaped by an action plan developed by the North Devon Economy, Innovation and Skills Board, consisting of stakeholders from Torridge District Council (TDC), North Devon District Council (NDDC) and large delivery bodies in the region.
• The action plan provided a clear evidence base and plan to support the design of UKSPF investment plan, and identify well-suited delivery partners for larger interventions, this saved TDC time and resource when commissioning and procuring projects.
• TDC and NDDC have co-developed a series of projects to be delivered across both districts, these projects are jointly monitored by officers at both districts. Both teams were positive about the joint monitoring processes.
• Soon after submitting their UKSPF investment plan, TDC redirected funding from the People and Skills investment priority to focus on interventions that has been partially scoped by the Economy, Skills and Innovation Board. Programme managers at Torridge viewed this as a positive move, enhancing alignment with other funds (Levelling Up Fund (LUF) and Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF)) and concentrating and strengthening impacts across a more focused set of interventions.
• The intervention design implemented lessons from previous structural fund programmes such as the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Community Renewal Fund (CRF), highlighting the value added by delivery partners with strong local knowledge.

Portfolio implementation

• TDC and NDDC officers faced initial challenges drafting their UKSPF investment plan due to the programme’s flexibility, noting that they would have benefitted from additional guidance from MHCLG on which activities would best aligned with which interventions. Torridge’s relatively small funding allocation (£1 million) made it challenging to select appropriate interventions at the outset.
• Shorter than anticipated delivery timescales were cited as a challenge in designing and implementing their UKSPF programme. However, once the plan had been approved in July 2022, officers at TDC noted that the flexibility of the interventions was one of the main advantages, allowing TDC to commission projects that responded to changes in the local context, such as the £15.6 million LUF award in January 2023.

Intervention delivery

• Torridge’s UKSPF projects can be categorised into 4 broad themes: business support, natural capital, improvements to Bideford town centre, and local capacity building. Staff felt that these projects help to maximise the impact of the fund by addressing high deprivation levels in areas of Torridge and secure future investment and funding for the region through business support and capacity development.
• Most partners reported that project delivery was progressing well. The North Devon Biosphere noted an unexpected success in supporting businesses to develop decarbonisation plan through the Natural Capital Marketplace project.
• One unintended consequence of UKSPF has been the enhancement of capacity and fund management skills at TDC, staff noted an initial learning curve, but now feel well equipped to manage future funds.

Oversight and monitoring

• In Torridge, the UKSPF was delivered and overseen by a team at TDC, with some projects jointly commissioned with NDDC.
• Staff at TDC reported capacity issues in delivering and overseeing their UKSPF programme, primarily due to small staff numbers and the responsibility to manage large capital portfolios such as LUF and REPF without revenue funding from those sources.
• TDC collected regular monitoring information from projects every 3 months, and project leads delivered information in a correct and timely manner. No issues with monitoring were reported by project leads, noting that TDC were easily contactable for additional ad-hoc meetings to resolve any potential issues.

Progress to date: expenditure, outputs and outcomes

Torridge received a UKSPF allocation of £1 million, the programme has spent £660,000 to date, representing 66% of the overall allocation. At the time of writing the largest spend, around 31% of total expenditure, was on a business support grant project jointly delivered across Torridge and North Devon.

Analysis of UKSPF outputs reported to MHCLG in September 2024 show a mixed picture in terms of delivery across Communities and Place and Supporting Local Businesses. Some interventions are making strong progress, with the output targets for number of people attending training sessions and the number of decarbonisation plans created already achieved, but no progress has been made against others. Outcomes data is limited with most targets yet to be achieved.

Early impact findings

Many of the UKSPF interventions in Torridge are still being delivered or are nearing completion and many of the anticipated impacts will take time to fully emerge. Evidence from monitoring information provides an early indication of impacts in the following deep dive areas being explored by the evaluation, and includes:

• Increased capacity at TDC which is enabling them to leverage UKSPF funding to apply for further funding to capitalise on initial investments. An additional officer (funded though UKSPF) is seeking funding for a new Bideford Town Culture Plan.
• A feasibility study for Bideford’ Pannier Market has been completed, ensuring it is well placed to implement well-scoped development with future funding.
• Three vacant units in Bideford Town Centre have been filled.
• Introduction of some new to firm products, processes or technologies following support.
• Significantly exceeding the target for the number of businesses adopting decarbonisation plans following support.

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