Economic Regeneration in Staffordshire

External Funding

Staffordshire County Council is a key partner in regeneration and funding programme partnerships and has been successful in securing funding for a wide range of projects and initiatives. Recent examples include:

Employment Sites - Lymedale Business Park and Silverdale Enterprise Park
Managed Workspace - Waterside Court, Burton and Stafford Business Innovation Centre
Business Support - Staffordshire Business Environment Network
Tourism- Staffordshire Short Breaks Campaign, Improvements to the Staffordshire Way.
Creative Sector - Open Studios and Creative County Guide
Community Regeneration Action Plan Rural Enterprise
Early Years Surestart Centres in Newcastle and Burton
Environmental Corridor enhancements - Green Arc (M6 Toll) and the A5 project
Rural Transport initiatives

Some of the County Council's funding success stories can be found in Funding Focus. To receive your copy, contact the Regeneration Funding Team.

Parts of Staffordshire are eligible for a wide range of funding support through the following programmes and initiatives:

North Staffordshire Regeneration Zone - Eligible areas cover the urban conurbation of Staffordshire including the City of Stoke on Trent, Newcastle Under Lyme, and Biddulph. A wide range of projects can attract funding and are delivered through 4 pillars and geographical areas - Chatterley Valley, City Centre and Western Sector.

Advantage West Midlands - Funding support through Cluster Action Plan and specific initiatives i.e. Rural Broadband Access Project.

European Structural and Social Funds (GOWM) - Objective 2 - Areas covered include North Staffordshire, Burton, Cannock, Lichfield and Tamworth. The Peak District is covered under GOEM. Grant Aid supports projects that address the economic decline of key industries and business sectors. Objective 3 - Available throughout the County, principally through

Co- financing plans run by Staffordshire Learning & Skills Council and Job Centre Plus, but also individual projects, aimed at raising skills and qualification levels.

RENEW (Housing Market Renewal) - Funded by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the scheme aims to create a better future for communities hit by low demand for property and poor quality housing. Areas covered under this initiative are: Hanley, Middleport, Burslem Park, Birches Head and Normacot, Knutton and Cross Heath (including Lower Milehouse), Meir, Coalville, Chesterton, Newcastle Town Centre, Galleys Bank and Biddulph East, Abbey Hulton and Bentilee. Single Regeneration Budget (SRB) - Most SRB programmes have now come to an end, but the ones that are still running in Staffordshire are:

Rural Regeneration North East Staffordshire (SRB5),
Burton Community Partnership - Contact Rebecca Elson 01283 508537
Stafford SRB 6 - Contact Viki Powney 01785 619587,
Stoke SRB- Contact Aktar Choudhury 01782 234987

Market Towns -Aiming to overcome challenges faced by market towns in terms of both their vitality and ability to act as a service centre for their surrounding rural area and communities. There are four Market Town Initiatives in Staffordshire, these are:
Uttoxeter Plus
Stone
Leek & Cheadle and
Biddulph.

Redundant Building Grant Scheme

The Redundant Building Grant Scheme is part of a comprehensive programme of rural regeneration funded by Advantage West Midlands.

This scheme was launched offering financial assistance to eligible projects and is designed to help bring redundant buildings back into productive use.

For more information, please click the link below:

Redundant Buildings Grant

Coalfields Regeneration Trust - An independent grant making body dedicated exclusively to the social and economic regeneration of coalfield communities. Coalfield areas in Staffordshire include: Stoke, Newcastle, Cannock, Rugeley and Tamworth.

Cannock, Newcastle and Tamworth remain a priority for lottery agencies. The National Lottery offers various grants including:

Awards for All - A Lottery grants programme aimed at local communities awarding grants of between £500 and £5000 in a simple and straightforward way. The kind of projects that can be funded are: projects that enable people to take part in art, sport, heritage and community activities, as well as projects that promote education, the environment and health in the local community.

Arts Council England - Grants for the arts are for individuals, arts organisations and other people who use the arts in their work. They are for activities that benefit people in England or that help artists and arts organisations from England to carry out their work.

The Big Lottery Fund - This programme supports projects designed to help urban and rural communities to provide new or improved community infrastructure and support groups that provide help and services particularly in disadvantaged communities. The Funding, delivered in partnership with 11 Award Partners, is divided between England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales by population, weighted to take into account levels of deprivation.

Sport England - Is an organisation committed to creating opportunities for people to start in sport, stay in sport and succeed in sport. They provide the strategic lead for sport in England and are responsible for delivering the Government's sporting objectives.

Heritage Lottery Fund - This programme offers grants of £50,000 or more to organisations seeking to look after and enhance the UK's heritage; to increase participation in heritage activities; and to improve access to and enjoyment of heritage. It caters for a wide range of projects, including the very largest and most complex, relating to nature conservation, historic buildings, museum collections, archive collections, spoken history records, cultural traditions, and objects and sites relating to the UK's industrial transport and maritime history. Landfill Tax Credit Scheme - is managed by Staffordshire Environmental Fund (SEF) and enables landfill site operators to contribute the Landfill Tax they collect to Environmental Bodies enabling them to support community and environmental projects which meet one of the scheme's objectives. Grants can be for capital or some revenue purposes, and may be up to 100% of a project's cost though complementary funding is normally required.

Princes Trust - A UK charity that helps young people (14 - 30 year olds) overcome barriers and realise their potential, through practical support including training, mentoring and financial assistance. Priority is given to those who've struggled at school, been in care, been in trouble with the law, or are long-term unemployed.

Business Link - an easy to use business support, advice and information service managed by the DTI. Local presence across England, managed by business people for business people, means they are uniquely placed to identify business support services from across the government, voluntary and private sectors.

Local Authority Grant programmes include
Staffordshire Moorlands Business Grants,
Town Centre and Tourism Business Grant Scheme (Leek and Cheadle),
Culturegen

For further information on economic regeneration external funding available in Staffordshire contact:

Economic Regeneration Funding Team also have access to funding databases and can do full grant searches

Nigel Senior: nigel.senior@staffordshire.gov.uk
Jenny Whiston: jenny.whiston@staffordshire.gov.uk
Julie Evans: julie.evans@staffordshire.gov.uk

Other local contacts are:

Cannock chase Council
Dawn Fellows: dawnfellows@cannockchasedc.gov.uk

East Staffordshire Borough Council
Dean Piper: dean.piper@eaststaffsbc.gov.uk

Lichfield District Council
Peter Ross: peter.ross@lichfielddc.gov.uk

Newcastle Borough Council
Elaine Burgess: elaine.burgess@newcastle-staffs.gov.uk

North Staffordshire Regeneration Zones
Denise Allman: deniseallman@nsrz.org.uk

South Staffordshire District Council
Glenn Parker: g.parker@sstaffs.gov.uk

Stafford Borough Council
Mary Timmis: mtimmis@staffordbc.gov.uk

Staffordshire Moorlands District Council
Perry Wardle: perry.wardle@staffsmoorlands.gov.uk

Stoke on Trent City Council
John Gething: john.gething@stoke.gov.uk

Tamworth Borough Council
Hazel Hooley: hazel-hooley@tamworth.gov.uk

Last Modified: 23/04/2008 08:48:27
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