Local businesses and communities across the region are to get more than £88m of targeted support to help drive economic growth and improve people’s opportunities in life.
The Board of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) today (Friday October 28) approved its UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) investment plan which will now trigger the Government’s release of the money to the region over the next three years.
The Board agreed that £42m of the funding should be targeted at helping local businesses with the remainder of the money passed directly to the region’s seven metropolitan authorities – Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton.
The councils will use that funding for community and neighbourhood infrastructure work, including new green open spaces and to support community groups to help level up and build local pride of place.
The business support funding will see expert advisers deployed at a local level across the region to directly help firms become more competitive and resilient in response to the increasing cost of doing business.
More than half the £42m allocated for business support will be used to deliver specialist programmes that help firms decarbonise their operations, boost productivity and secure additional investment to grow their businesses going forward.