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UKSPF Final-Year Guidance: What Delivery Partners Must Do in 2024/25

DLUHC has issued fresh instructions for the final UK Shared Prosperity Fund year. Here’s what councils, charities, and delivery partners must do to hit milestones, manage underspend, and evidence outcomes before the March 2025 deadline.

TL;DR

  • Spend must be defrayed by 31 March 2025; DLUHC expects 80% of projects to reach delivery milestones by December 2024.
  • All place partnerships must submit legacy plans outlining post-UKSPF funding sources by October 2024.
  • Update Crafty’s evidence bank and risk register to match the strengthened monitoring requirements.

What’s new in the final-year UKSPF guidance?

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) updated its UKSPF delivery guidance (March 2024 update) to emphasise:

  • Defrayment of all expenditure by 31 March 2025.
  • Quarterly progress reports with stronger evidence of outputs and outcomes.
  • Legacy planning, including revenue sustainability and project ownership after funding ends.

Which milestones and reporting dates matter most?

DLUHC has set key checkpoints for 2024/25, summarised below.

Figure 1. Final-year UKSPF milestones and reporting deadlines.
MilestoneDeadlineLeadNotes
Legacy plan submission31 Oct 2024Lead authorityMust identify successor funding & governance
Milestone delivery review15 Dec 2024Lead authority + DLUHC area team80% projects to reach key milestones
Quarterly monitoring return (Q3)31 Jan 2025Delivery partnersEvidence outputs/outcomes, financial claim
Final financial claim30 Apr 2025Lead authoritySpend must be defrayed; evidence retained

How should delivery partners respond?

Focus on three things:

  1. Evidence readiness: Align your evidence bank automation with DLUHC output definitions. Ensure consent and data tagging meet UKSPF monitoring standards.
  2. Risk management: Update the audit readiness plan to flag spend slippage, supply chain issues, and staffing constraints.
  3. Legacy planning: Work with anchor institutions to map post-UKSPF funding. Link outputs to potential National Wealth Fund or UKIB opportunities.

Next steps and useful resources

Download DLUHC’s templates and our Crafty-compatible monitoring dashboards. Keep an eye on formal guidance updates and the Local Government Association’s UKSPF support hub.

Action plan

Max Beech, Head of Content

Updated 30 January 2025

[PLACEHOLDER: Expert review by Local Growth Consultant]

Sources: DLUHC UK Shared Prosperity Fund guidance update (March 2024); DLUHC monitoring and evaluation framework (July 2024); Local Government Association UKSPF support hub (2024).