The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) is the UK Government’s place-based investment programme, introduced to replace EU structural funds and support local economic development across the UK between 2022 and 2026. Funding is allocated through local authorities and structured around three investment priorities: Communities and place, Supporting local business, and People and skills. This analysis focuses in particular on findings relating to Communities and place, which is a core investment priority assessed in each of the interim place-based evaluations for Wales. These interim reports examine programme design, delivery progress and early outputs, rather than long-term impact.
South West Wales
What’s working – Delivery under Communities and place has benefited from existing regional collaboration and established local partnerships. The evaluation reports relatively strong early engagement with community and voluntary organisations, supported by the flexibility to target funding at locally identified needs.
What’s not (yet) – Short funding timescales have constrained longer-term planning and more complex place-based projects. While activity has been mobilised, early spend and outputs were behind profile, reflecting administrative requirements and delivery pressures rather than assessed impact.
Read the full evaluation – South West Wales UKSPF evaluation: interim findings – GOV.UK
Mid Wales
What’s working –The use of umbrella grant schemes has enabled Communities and place funding to reach smaller community organisations quickly. This approach is identified as effective in mobilising early delivery, particularly where projects could be implemented within short timescales.
What’s not (yet) – Progress on capital-intensive or infrastructure-related place projects has been slower. The evaluation notes that rural capacity constraints and cash-flow pressures linked to retrospective payments have affected delivery at this interim stage.
Read the full evaluation – Mid Wales UKSPF evaluation: interim findings – GOV.UK (December 2025)
North Wales
What’s working – A region-wide strategic framework, combined with local delivery through open calls and Key Funds, has supported access to Communities and place funding for a wide range of community organisations. Early engagement is evident where delivery mechanisms were already in place.
What’s not (yet) – Although funding has largely been committed, actual spend and completed outputs under Communities and place lag behind planned profiles. The report highlights time pressures and administrative burden as ongoing challenges affecting delivery pace.
Read the full evaluation – North Wales UKSPF evaluation: interim findings – GOV.UK (December 2025)
South East Wales
What’s working – Activity under Communities and place has been aligned with local strategic priorities, with early indications of progress in town-centre activity and community-focused interventions. Support for people and places facing higher levels of disadvantage shows stronger early delivery.
What’s not (yet) – The evaluation notes variation in delivery across local authorities and more limited external engagement during programme design. More complex place-based outcomes remain behind expectations, with concerns about capacity and spend profiles at this stage.
Read the full evaluation – South East Wales UKSPF evaluation: interim findings – GOV.UK (December 2025)
What the interim evidence shows overall
Across Wales, the interim evaluations suggest that Communities and place activity has generally progressed more quickly where delivery could build on existing partnerships and where interventions could be implemented within short timeframes. At the same time, short delivery windows, administrative requirements, cash-flow pressures and staffing capacity are consistently identified as limiting factors for deeper or more complex place-based change. As interim findings, the reports do not assess long-term impact at this stage but instead provide early evidence on how effectively Communities and place funding is being delivered and where structural constraints may shape outcomes later in the programme.
