Nottingham City Council has successfully applied for a grant of £3 million from the national Community Renewal Fund (CRF) to invest in job creation and community renewal projects around the city.
On Wednesday, August 16, council leader David Mellen signed off on an approval to accept the funding, allocated through a scheme administered by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
The CRF was set up as a replacement for the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund with the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union.
Local authorities around the country were invited to apply for a maximum allocation of £3 million from the fund, to invest in local services and community needs.
Nottingham City Council, which will oversee the commissioning of the funds to various projects and organisations within the city, with a focus on sectors most put at risk by Covid, particularly retail and hospitality, and BAME and female entrepreneurs.
The council has identified a raft of initiatives in Nottingham, which has been listed among the 100 cities most in need of support nationally. It has also said that it aims to use the CRF money to “support delivery of the Nottingham Economic Recovery and Renewal Plan”, brought in last December in the face of a mounting deficit in its budget.
Among the initiatives identified in its CRF bid are the Nottingham Kickstart programme aimed at putting 400 people into employment, the Nottingham Jobs Hub service, various apprenticeship schemes, and the Creative Quarter project.
Councillor David Mellen, Leader of Nottingham City Council, said: “This is a significant sum of money and will be invested in key projects across the city designed to support economic recovery from the Covid pandemic, as well as provide more job and apprenticeship opportunities.
“The project will directly contribute to key elements of the Council Plan, including helping 1,000 residents into employment, education and training, continuing the important work of the Nottingham Jobs Hub service, and helping employers to connect vacant positions with local people.
“I’m also pleased that part of the funding will be spent on bespoke business support for disadvantaged areas such as companies owned and operated by women and the BAME community.”
The CRF money will be in place until next Spring, and will act as a precursor to the larger UK Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF), which will kick in in April 2022, in place of various EU structural funds.
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