A COUNCIL leader whose authority has to repay £1.7m of funding for a state-of-the-art office block which will be home to government workers has said: “We’re not going to lose out.”

Councillor Heather Scott, leader of Darlington Borough Council, said they were “very lucky” to be able to offer the Grade A office complex to Treasury and other government departments.

She said the move had “worked out quite well” and expected to recoup the grant money which has to be paid back.

She explained the repayment of £1.7m European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) money used in building the £8.5m, five-storey Feethams House, also funded by the council and the Tees Valley Combined Authority.

The sum will be paid back over three years, because it was given for small and medium-sized businesses’ offices before the building’s use changed to a temporary home for government employees.

Cllr Scott said: “We got funding to build offices which would be available for small businesses to go into. When the Treasury was interested in this building, it obviously doesn’t fit that criteria.

“We obviously have to repay it.

“It’s just one of these things, conditions of grants that you get.

“The building will be occupied, which it hasn’t been. It’s just not occupied by the companies it was intended for.

“We’ll be getting money in from the Treasury because they’re taking over the lease. That will help to cover the repayment.

“We’ll be getting some of the funding back from the original grant. We haven’t lost out as far as the town is concerned.

“The (ERDF) funding will come back to the Tees Valley so that can be used in future to provide facilities for small businesses. And we will get a proportion of that back so that we can reinvest in Darlington.

“The reason the Treasury chose that building is because it was a state-of-the-art building.

“They’re having to spend some money on making it secure for the Treasury department to go into. People have been working in there making it fit for purpose.”

She said she hoped it would be ready for the Treasury around April: “They will probably occupy this building for three or four years. Then it will be up to them whether they want to continue with the lease of it in future.

“In a way we were very lucky that this facility was there for them to be able to move into temporarily.

“We didn’t have a tenant for it, so in a way it’s worked out quite well for us,” added Cllr Scott, saying one firm had been due to go in but had gone into liquidation.

She said it was hoped the government departments would eventually move to Central Park, where office blocks have been built or are under construction.

“A proposal has been put forward and we’re just waiting for confirmation as to whether that is where they want to relocate.

“It’s a fairly big space so the other departments will all be able to be housed in that area.

“I think the timescale is 2024-5 for the final move.

“On the back of the Treasury coming, there’s interest in other companies coming, so obviously we’ll have to wait and see.

“We will discuss with companies and if we need to provide office facilities we’ve got the flexibility to be able to do that. We have facilities for companies.

“It’s great news that we’re getting the Treasury and all other departments coming here, and we will benefit from that.”