The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) — the domestic successor to EU structural funds, which paid for local business, skills, and community/place projects via local authorities — closed on 31 March 2026. Its national replacement is the Local Growth Fund (£1.5bn over 3 years from 1 April 2026).
Here's the part that catches people out: this isn't the same shape as the Household Support Fund transition. Every English council got its own direct replacement for the Household Support Fund. The Local Growth Fund doesn't work that way — it's allocated to Mayoral Combined Authorities and Mayoral Strategic Authorities (regional bodies covering groups of councils, like Greater Manchester or the North East), not to every individual district or borough council. If your council sits outside one of those authorities — or sits inside one that hasn't yet launched a business-facing scheme — there may simply be nothing that directly replaces the UKSPF-funded grant your council used to run.
We researched every current Mayoral Combined Authority / Mayoral Strategic Authority in England and could only confirm a genuine, currently live or clearly imminent Local-Growth-Fund-backed business scheme for 2 of them so far — listed below. The rest have been allocated money but haven't (yet) published a live scheme businesses can actually apply to; we checked each one's own website directly rather than assume, and we'll keep rechecking as more launch.
Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority (HEYCA)
A live business advice and support service delivered by the Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority (HEYCA) with East Riding of Yorkshire Council and Hull City Council, funded by HEYCA's share of the national Local Growth Fund that replaced the UK Shared Prosperity Fund from April 2026. Offers one-to-one guidance from experienced business advisers plus specialist workshops, events, online resources, and some financial assistance, covering business planning, finance, marketing, productivity, innovation, exporting, energy efficiency, and supply chains — for both established businesses and people exploring starting one. After strong demand in its first three months (April-June 2026: 643 enquiries, 180 established businesses given non-financial support, 60 potential entrepreneurs supported), the Mayor extended the programme for a further six months. Distinct from HEYCA's separate Growing Places Fund (capital grants/loans of £5,000-£250,000, covered immediately above in this directory), which this programme can refer eligible businesses into.
East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA)
A new £8.1m Business Investment Fund strand within the East Midlands Combined County Authority's £107m Local Growth Fund investment plan — EMCCA's share of the national Local Growth Fund that replaced the UK Shared Prosperity Fund from April 2026. Planned to offer two grant types: a Business Growth and Productivity Grant (machinery, equipment, technology, innovation, and expansion projects) and a Business Energy Saving Grant (energy efficiency and lower-carbon technology), expected to support around 500 businesses and unlock a further £19m of private investment. EMCCA's own announcement describes the fund as expected to launch 'later in 2026' via the existing Growth Hub application channels, but as of this check no application portal, fixed grant amounts, or firm opening date had been published. Distinct from the separate, already-live 'Invest to Grow' capital grants/loans programme covered elsewhere in this directory, which is unaffected and continues to operate.
The Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF) — a UKSPF top-up for farm diversification and rural micro/small business grants — also ended 31 March 2026 alongside UKSPF itself. But unlike UKSPF, REPF has no direct national successor at all. Some rural areas that happen to sit inside one of the 11 Mayoral Strategic Authorities funded under the Local Growth Fund may be able to access rural-relevant projects through that authority's allocation, but coverage is patchy and weighted toward metropolitan areas — rural England outside those areas currently has nothing equivalent. See the Rural England Prosperity Fund entry for the full picture, kept for reference even though it's now closed.
Most individual councils' UKSPF-funded business and community grants simply ended on 31 March 2026 with nothing replacing them locally — that's an honest gap, not something we've missed. Your best next steps: check every England-wide scheme in this directory, or visit your own council's page (search for it from the homepage) to see any general business support it still runs outside of UKSPF.