Rural England Prosperity Fund
Rural Business Grant Applications Now Open. The application process for the ‘Rural Business Grant’ scheme, which is part of the Government’s Rural England Prosperity Fund, has now opened. Grants are for between £5,000 and £50,000 and 50% match funding is required. Applications are open until 10th November. For further information, download the guidance document below. The online application form can be found here.
Cotswold District Council has been allocated £764,292 from the Government's Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF) to be spent over two financial years, with £191,073 available in 2023/24 and £573,219 in 2024/25. The REPF provides capital funding to:
- Support new and existing rural businesses to develop new products and facilities that will be of wider benefit to the local economy. This includes farm businesses looking to diversify income streams
- Support new and improved community infrastructure, providing essential community services and assets for local people and businesses to benefit the local economy
Projects must be deliverable by the end of March 2025 and must comply with the REPF guidelines and can be anywhere within the Cotswold District.
In order to confirm the funding, the council needed to submit an 'Investment Plan' to the Government by the end of November 2022 setting out how we would use the funds. To help us develop the most effective investment plan possible, we asked businesses and organisations to submit any project ideas they had. This helped us to understand the types of projects currently being worked on and their scale. The initial submission process closed on Friday 21 October 2022. The council’s submission to the Government was approved in April 2023, allowing the council to draw down the first year’s funding.
A report was presented to the council’s Cabinet in July 2023 which agreed details of the grant schemes and agreed to procure a delivery partner to help the council to promote, administer and monitor the grant scheme. The Rural Business Grant scheme is now open for applications - see the box above. Grants for Village Halls/Community Buildings, Active Travel and Cultural/Heritage buildings will open soon.
Rural Business Grant guidance
Rural Business Grant Guidance September 2023 - pdf - 907 Kb
