Purpose

The purpose of the report is to update on the
current status of the Northumberland Line programme, and agree
final programme arrangements through to delivery completion in
early 2026.

Content

RESOLVED
that:-
 
(3.1) Council be
requested to approve an increase to the value of the Northumberland
Line capital project by £28.77 million in order to support
completion of the project as originally intended. The increase will
be achieved by increasing the Council’s contribution by
£10m, accepting a further contribution of £7.87m from
the Department for Transport (DfT) and a further £10.9m from
the North East Combined Authority (NECA). The DfT have provided a
further allocation of £9.13m directly to Network Rail making
a total project wide increase of £37.9m;
 
(3.2) Council be
requested to approve a capital funding allocation of £10
million as the Council’s contribution towards addressing the
funding gap associated with completion of the Northumberland Line
project. The funding has been identified using virement
identified from other Council-funded capital projects as
follows:
 

Capital Budget 

Virement 

£ 

Capital contract inflation 

Not
utilised in 2024-25 but carried forward to 2025-26. The funding set
aside for this will be utilised for the Northumberland Line but
will not be replaced. 

884,226 

Fleet Replacement Programme 

Budgets approved and in the Capital Programme for 2025-26 but
the expenditure will not take place, therefore the Council funding
set aside for these projects is not required in this financial
year. 
Funding for these schemes at these values will need to be added
to the 2026-27 Capital Programme if this method of funding the
additional £10 million for the Northumberland Line is
approved by full Council. 

4,100,000 

Mitford Road Landslip Scheme 

750,000 

Refurbishment of County Hall (Block 2) 

3,000,000 

Ashington Town Centre Infrastructure 

1,265,774 

Total funding 

 

10,000,000 

 
(3.3) Council be
requested to approve additions to the 2026-27 Capital Programme
totalling £9,115,774 (for all schemes listed above except
Capital contract inflation) in order to replace the amount of money
vired to the Northumberland Line capital project in 2025-26, which
will enable those schemes to complete;
 
(3.4) the Executive Director of
Transformation and Resources be authorised, in consultation with
the Deputy Leader, to accept a capital funding contribution of
£7.87 million from the Department for Transport to the
capital programme in 2025/26 to support the completion of the
Northumberland Line Project and to execute the associated Funding
Agreement documentation; and
 
(3.5) the Executive
Director of Transformation and Resources be authorised, in
consultation with the Deputy Leader, to accept a capital funding
contribution of £10.9 million from the North East Combined
Authority to support the completion of the Northumberland Line
Project and to execute the associated Funding Agreement
documentation.