AMION recently completed an evaluation of Dudley Council’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund and Multiply programmes.
Dudley’s UKSPF programme aimed to address a number of challenges facing the area including declining town centre footfall, increasing vacancy rates and a relatively high proportion of lower wage jobs.
A wide range of activities were delivered through the three UKSPF pillars of Business Support, People & Skills and Communities & Place. The Multiply programme provided numeracy skills to Dudley’s working population.
Our evaluation included a review across all of the pillars along with deeper case studies of a number of interventions across the programme. The case studies included telephone and face-to-face surveys of beneficiaries and residents. We also carried out consultations with the programme team at the Council and with a number of delivery partners.
The evaluation found that the programme is expected to deliver substantial economic and social benefits to Dudley and its residents and was very well managed and delivered by a strong team.