Durham County Council invests further £117m into local economy and small businesses

Durham County Council has announced an extra £117m capital investment is to be pumped into the area.

The regeneration scheme includes a new primary school, highways improvement schemes, a new railway station for Horden and support for small businesses to develop across the UK.

The funds were agreed by councillors today (February 21) as part of the council’s 2018/19 budget, bringing the total capital investment to £360m, which is linked to the organisation’s ‘Medium Term Financial Plan’.

Leader of Durham County Council, councillor Simon Henig, said: “We are continuing to invest in the future of County Durham by maintaining our focus on economic development, transport and schools.

“Our recent public consultation confirmed we continue to support the public’s priorities and we remain committed to providing high quality facilities to support communities across the county.”

In the next four years, the projects will aim to benefit from the capital programme, which includes a further £19.1m going towards highways maintenance.

The new Horden railway station will receive a funding of £750k and is expected to open in 2020. The new primary school will be in the Bishop Auckland area, as new housing is set to be placing pressure on parents for school places.

Fledgling businesses across the UK will be supported with almost £1m allocated to the Finance Durham Fund, bringing its total to £10m.

In addition, there will also be extra revenue funding for a number of areas of social care in 2018/19.

This includes £3.9m to support looked-after children; £1m to support special guardianship arrangements; a £375k investment in the authority’s social work academy and £4.8m for adult social care to meet ongoing pressures.

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