Northern Ireland: UKSPF summary evaluation plan
Published 4 April 2025
Applies to Northern Ireland
© Crown copyright 2025
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Summary of the local place
Northern Ireland (NI), a constituent part of the United Kingdom (UK), covers approximately one-sixth of the island of Ireland. It is separated on the east from Scotland by the North Channel and the Republic of Ireland in the west and south. NI’s population, as of the 2021 census, stands at 1,903,175,[footnote 1] representing roughly 3% of the UK’s total population.[footnote 2]
Northern Ireland was originally allocated £126 million from the United Kingdom Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) over the period 2022-23 to 2024-25 to invest in domestic priorities and target funding where it is needed most: building community pride, supporting high quality skills training, and supporting pay, employment and productivity growth. The allocation was reduced to £104 million due to the repurposing of the NI budget to support the establishment of the NI executive in February 2024.
The process of designing, implementing, and monitoring UKSPF in Northern Ireland involved 5 key stages, including the development of the Investment Plan, stakeholder engagement, selection of interventions, assessment of project applications, and monitoring and reporting mechanisms.
A Partnership Group was formed to help develop an Investment Plan and support a delivery model that reflects the needs and opportunities in Northern Ireland. The Partnership Group includes representatives from local authorities, business, higher education, voluntary and community sectors, and the UK government. The Investment Plan was developed in alignment with existing funds supported by the UK government in Northern Ireland, such as Peace Plus, the New Decade, New Approach Deal, and the Levelling Up Fund, as well as strategies developed in partnership across local authority and City and Growth Deal geographies.[footnote 3]
Map of Northern Ireland
Unit of analysis
To meet local evidence needs, the evaluation will primarily assess the processes applied in the implementation and delivery of UKSPF in Northern Ireland as well as a selection of interventions to provide context and insight.
The 5 interventions sampled for deep dives have been identified in collaboration with the Northern Ireland UKSPF MHCLG Lead and were selected on the basis that they represent a range of target groups, funding levels, partnerships, urban and rural interventions, as well as giving focus to interventions addressing economic inactivity (particularly among women). They have been sampled from the People and Skills and Support Local Businesses investment priorities, given the strategic importance of skills and employability to NI’s economic growth. However, they will not include formal impact or economic evaluations.
Methodological approach
Process evaluation
This case study will focus on carrying out a process evaluation, reflecting the process questions agreed for UKSPF overall, with some tailoring for the local context. A Theory of Change has been developed to demonstrate an understanding of how the intervention is intended to work overall. However, analysis of the achievement of outcomes is not being undertaken as data for these will only be available beyond the timescale of the present case study.
The purpose of the process evaluation is to answer questions on the relevance, efficiency and effectiveness of UKSPF design and interventions and the efficiency and effectiveness of processes used to manage and deliver the funding. The process evaluation will draw on the following evidence sources:
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Local data and monitoring information to provide information on the implementation and delivery of UKSPF at interim and final stages.
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Stakeholder and beneficiary qualitative research to provide further information on the set up of UKSPF and to assess how effective it has been in the delivery of its aims and objectives.
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Secondary data to understand change where possible in identified outcomes in Northern Ireland.
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Comparative analysis to explore the similarities and differences between Northern Ireland and a cross-section of other case study areas in relation to fund implementation and fund delivery.
Data to support the evaluation
Primary data collection
The aim of the stakeholder research is to explore the set-up and implementation of the UKSPF investment in Northern Ireland. Stakeholder consultations and depth qualitative work will comprise research with stakeholders (including strategic, operational and frontline stakeholders) and research with beneficiaries (local citizens, local business leaders, individuals accessing support, facilities and events).
This will include a deep dive on five selected interventions within the People and Skills investment priority, given the strategic importance of skills and employability to NI’s economic growth. These deep dives will include interviews with both stakeholders and beneficiaries. Qualitative interviews will also be undertaken with project leads in relation to the Communities and Place and Supporting Local Businesses investment priorities.
Secondary data sources
Evidence on the progress of the delivery of the programme will be compiled from monitoring information. Monitoring information will be sourced primarily from the returns provided to MHCLG to limit burden on individual interventions.