A council has insisted levelling up projects are on track to be delivered despite criticism that the flagship funding scheme has been hit by “astonishing delays”. 

Durham County Council has moved to reassure residents that transport improvements near Barnard Castle, Bishop Auckland and in Shildon are progressing. 

The local authority’s levelling up bid for £20 million to fund the works was approved in October 2021 and around £12 million is expected to be spent by the end of March. 

The progress of successful schemes from round one of the Levelling Up Fund was recently scrutinised, as MPs warned the Government is unable to provide compelling evidence of what has been achieved.

In a damning report on the progress of key elements of the Government’s flagship pledge to address regional inequalities, the Public Accounts Committee said just over 10 per cent of overall funding available has been spent and is “making a difference on the ground”.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), which is the lead department for the three existing dedicated funding streams, could not provide “any examples of what had been delivered so far”, the committee of MPs said.

Durham County Council’s successful Bishop Auckland bid involved: 

(a) Re-opening Whorlton Bridge to vehicular traffic and non motorised users; 

(b) Re-routing of A68 to bypass Toft Hill; 

(c) Enabling of Locomotion Building 2 in Shildon including car parking expansion, rail structural restoration and improved walking and cycling links. 

The Northern Echo: Repair works are underway at Whorlton Bridge, near Barnard Castle Repair works are underway at Whorlton Bridge, near Barnard Castle Preparations are underway to restore the historic Whorlton Bridge, near Barnard Castle, which involves dismantling the bridge and carefully removing, cataloguing, inspecting, and repairing the 1,800 individual components. A new walking and cycling route along the former Stockton and Darlington Railway route is also in the works, the local authority said. 

Progress is ongoing at Locomotion in Shildon with rail vehicles currently being moved into the New Hall in preparation for its opening in May. Development work is ongoing for the creation of a Toft Hill and High Etherley bypass, with a public consultation and planning application planned for later this year. 

Read more: Rishi Sunak denies that Levelling Up has been a failure

Amy Harhoff, corporate director of regeneration and economic growth, said: “We are working with our partners to the outlined timelines and have agreed a spend plan with the government which uses the full amount of the Levelling Up Fund by March 2025, with some matched funds spent after this point.

“Major projects are challenging for councils nationally due to their complexity and, often, the process includes tight bidding and spend deadlines once money has been announced. However, as a local authority with a commitment to our communities, we will always pursue external funding to enable us to deliver the investment and regeneration for County Durham.”

The Northern Echo: Progress is ongoing at Locomotion in Shildon with rail vehicles currently being moved into the New Hall in preparation for its opening in May. Progress is ongoing at Locomotion in Shildon with rail vehicles currently being moved into the New Hall in preparation for its opening in May. (Image: Sarah Caldecott)

Another key concern raised by the MPs was how the department changed the rules for allocating money under the levelling up fund “as it went along”, causing confusion and budgets being wasted by local authorities on bids that could not be successful. 

Durham County Council only learned after they had submitted bids for round two and three of the fund that they could not secure cash if they had been successful in round one. Later DLUHC decided it would only choose bids for funding in round three which had not been successful in round two.

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This led to the council writing to the government, requesting a reimbursement of the £1.2 million it spent on preparing five bids for the remaining constituencies in County Durham after Bishop Auckland’s success. 

When asked about delays to delivery, DLUHC cited a combination of “project specific issues”, the pandemic and inflation as the causes of lower than expected levels of levelling up spending.

A spokesperson for the DLUHC said: “Buildings do not go up overnight and these are multi-year programmes, so it is to be expected that the capital spend ramps up in later years. But we will continue to give export support to councils to tackle any delivery blockers so we deliver these vital projects quickly.”