Durham County Council has supported Labour’s demand for a judicial review into the government “moving the goal posts” for its Levelling Up funding.
County Durham Labour demanded a full government refund of the £1.2m spent by the Tory-led County Council on failed Levelling Up bids.
The group claims changes to policy, after bids had already been submitted, which saw County Durham downgraded from “Priority 1” status, meant the county missed out.
The majority of members supported a Labour motion put before Full Council today (Wednesday, January 24) by Cllr Kevin Shaw, calling for a judicial review into changes to Levelling Up rules.
The Tory-led Coalition running Durham County Council spent £1.2m on consultants and research to prepare comprehensive bids – vital investment that could have eased the financial burden on some of the most vulnerable or improvements in the most deprived areas in County Durham – for Round 3 Levelling Up funding.
Last month, council Leader, Cllr Amanda Hopgood, explained that government rule changes in Round 2, after bids were submitted, ruled out County Durham which received funding in Round 1. Following government guidance to resubmit bids in Round 3, the Council did just that, only to discover the criteria had changed yet again without anyone’s knowledge, again after bids had been submitted. This time with County Durham losing its Priority 1 status.
Cllr Shaw said:
“It is outrageous that County Durham is paying the price for inconsistent Tory policy and I’m pleased that Full Council backed Labour’s demand to seek answers from the government – the only way that can be achieved is by a Judicial Review of a totally flawed bidding process.
“Levelling Up was never going to be enough to reverse the effects of 14 years of Tory misery and the destruction of our former mining communities that we’ve all endured, but the fact we’ve received nothing but money for half a bypass, despite huge expense to the local authority, shows the contempt that Conservatives have and indeed have always had for our county.”
The motion was seconded by Cllr Fraser Tinsley, who added:
“It is vital that we now see a judicial review carried out into this mess and I firmly believe that the county should be refunded the money spent on bids that stood no chance of being successful.”