UK Community Renewal Fund

As part of the UK Community Renewal Fund, local authorities across Scotland have been identified as the lead authorities for the UK This means we are responsible for:    

• publishing this information
• receiving bids
• assessing, selecting and prioritising the bids that will be sent to UK Government for consideration
• paying grants to successful projects and managing their performance

A focus for this fund is to support innovation and new ideas, investing in pilots that draw on local insights and which will help places to prepare for the introduction of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in 2022.

We are interested in proposals that fit with our local priorities:

Projects must deliver activity that is line with the UK Community Renewal Fund Prospectus and fall into at least one of the following priorities.

• investment in skills
• investment for local business
• investment in communities and place
• supporting people into employment

It must be noted that Dundee City Council will be less likely to prioritise bids with a focus on supporting people into employment as we already have a well-developed and resourced, partnership which focuses on supporting people into employment – see Invitation to Bid for more details.

The UK Government expects to support a range of projects by theme and size, but you are encouraged to maximise impact and deliverability through larger projects (Dundee City Council are looking for projects in the region of £50,000 - 100,000) where this is possible. As 90% of funding available through the UK Community Renewal Fund is revenue funding and only available in 2021/22, projects should be mostly or wholly revenue based.

Any legally constituted organisations that can receive public funds can apply for UK Community Renewal Funds. Individuals cannot apply. 

Project applicants could include, but are not limited to public sector organisations, higher and further education institutions, private sector companies, social enterprises, registered charities and local authorities. 

Private sector organisations, social enterprises and registered charities can be project deliverers where they are providing a service to benefit other organisations and individuals. They cannot receive support if the intention of the project is to further their own business/organisation e.g. through the purchase of equipment or offsetting additional staffing or other costs. 

Expression of Interest: Following submission of an Expression of Interest by the 17th of May projects will receive feedback from Dundee City Council by the 19th of May that should be used to inform the development (or not) of a bid. However, you may wish to consider key elements of your bid in advance of the feedback.

Project Applications: We will assess all submitted bids and they will be assessed against:

• the gateway criteria set out in the UK Community Renewal Fund Prospectus - bids that fail to meet these criteria will be rejected
• the extent to which they meet the objectives of UK Community Renewal Fund
• the extent to which bids would support the delivery of local priorities identified in key strategies and the Dundee City Council Invitation to Bid

Following assessment, we will prioritise and submit to the UK Government, those eligible bids up to a maximum of £3m which most strongly meet the UK Community Renewal Fund and local priorities.

The UK Government will assess all bids submitted by lead authorities and will announce the outcome of the assessment process from late July 2021 onwards.

Dundee City Council will enter into a funding agreement with successful bidders.

Please read the Dundee City Council UK Community Renewal Fund Invitation to Bid along with all UK Government guidance related to this fund. Please complete an Expression of Interest by the 17th of May to allow us to assess initial ideas. This form can be found here:  

To submit a bid you should fill out the UK Community Renewal Fund application form. Bids submitted in any other format will not be accepted.

Bids should be submitted by 12 noon on the 31st of May to CRF@dundeecity.gov.uk

Please note, the Technical Note for Project Applicants and Deliverers and the Application Form are correct at the time of upload - UK Government may choose to update these so please ensure you use the most up to date versions.

Please read the instructions and associated guidance carefully to ensure you and your project are eligible to apply.

Please read our privacy notice relating to this scheme. 

Queries and bids must be submitted to us at this email address CRF@dundeecity.gov.uk

Bids must be submitted by noon on Monday 31 May 2021.

The UK Community Renewal Fund is a UK Government programme.