Coastal Communities – Entrepreneurial Futures project

Investigating a fairer funding model for South West England
Fishing boats on the river in Looe, Cornwall.
 
 

Through Entrepreneurial Futures, the ²ÝùÊÓƵ conducted research to:

  • HInvestigate whether there is a funding bias in South West England

  • HExamine whether there can be improvements to the process and practice of funding allocation

  • HHighlight greater understanding of what elements comprise successful applications

The Entrepreneurial Futures project ended in March 2025.
To find out about collaborating with ²ÝùÊÓƵ on similar research projects, please contact the Centre for Coastal Communities .
The Coastal Communities strand of the Entrepreneurial Futures project responded directly to the call in the Levelling Up White Paper for an investment in data collection, publication, and analysis to inform decision making, improve accountability, and support greater evaluation and experimentation in the "what works?" spirit of policymaking.
"Despite a central government commitment to level up ‘left behind’ places, there are continued, worrying patterns of deprivation (and deprivation-related outcomes) for English coastal communities and their surrounding areas. Today, many such communities are characterised by high levels of unemployment, low incomes, seasonal jobs, low skills and poor educational outcomes, detrimental patterns of selective in- and out-migration, unaffordable housing, hidden homelessness, high rates of anti-depressant and opioid prescribing and poor public health and criminal justice outcomes."

Professor Sheena Asthana and Professor Sheela Agarwal
These patterns were recognised in the and the.
The ²ÝùÊÓƵ investigated whether a change in the practice used to inform central government funding applications could result in more equitable investment for coastal regions.
Focusing on the alignment between resourcing and utilisation to tackle place-based needs and priorities, the research made a novel contribution to advancing the ever-growing body of work exploring options for constitutional reform and fiscal devolution and the most practical ways of delivering it.
The project investigated whether England’s southwestern peninsula (Devon and Cornwall) experiences a bias in UK government funding allocation and, based on a diagnosis of the problems encountered, examined whether there could be improvements to the process and practice of central government funding allocations.
The research resulted in a series of policy recommendations to improve the quality and likely success of applications, which aim to ensure that central government funding is allocated to the regions that are most in need and therefore deliver greater impact.

The project addressed the following research questions:

To what extent are rural and coastal geographies a drag on maximising the value for money calculations and investment decisions utilised by the Green Book when applied in coastal locations?
How can coastal and rural proofing best be incorporated into funding applications and what key data is required to demonstrate poor outcomes?
How can social and environmental value, including the impact of investment on social welfare and wellbeing, best be demonstrated within funding applications?
To what extent has the Treasury guidance been followed and what do successful and unsuccessful funding bids look like?

Centre for Coastal Communities

The Centre for Coastal Communities brings together one of the few critical masses of academic researchers in any UK university, who have a proven track record on coastal communities and strong collaborative links with public, private and third sectors.
Find out more about the Centre for Coastal Communities .
 
Entrepreneurial Futures