Councillor Henig provided the
Council with an update report which included the
following:
- The government had
announced that the Agility Trains Consortium were the preferred
bidder for the resumation of Intercity
Express programme. The consortium had already committed to build
its assembly plant in Newton Aycliffe
and would create hundreds of construction and engineering jobs in
County Durham. The Leader praised the two years of hard work and
massive effort by the County Council, County Durham Development
Company and Merchant Place. Councillor Henig also placed on record his thanks to Phil
Wilson MP, Trade Union Congress, Unite, Chamber of Commerce and the
County Durham Development Company on their achievements, commenting
that it was a huge vote of confidence in County Durham;
- The Council had been
notified by the government that £100m would be made available
nationally for pothole repairs. The County Council had submitted a
bid and were awaiting the outcome;
- The Lumiere festival would take between 17-20 November 2011. The festival was an
opportunity for local artists and companies to showcase their
talents. Funding amounting to
£200,000 had been secured from the European Cultural Fund.
Seminars would be held to give Members a preview of events;
- There was an ongoing
review of the Planning Committee structure;
- The North East Local
Government Summit was taking place on Friday 25 March at Durham
University;
- The Secretary of
State for Department for Communities and Local Government had made
a recent statement relating to distribution of business rates and
formula grant which could result in the Council having to make
further savings of up to £80m per year on top of the cuts
already made. The Leader expressed his concern regarding the
announcement and informed the Council that he had already spoken to
local government ministers on this extremely serious issue which
would impact hugely on all authorities in the North
East. He encouraged all political
groups on the Council to lobby for a proper equalisation
system.
Councillor Martin
responded to the Leader’s report and welcomed the result
relating to the Agility Trains contract. He added that all-party support and lobbying in
addition to the hard work carried out by all organisations
concerned had delivered an excellent result. Councillor Martin also placed on record his
congratulations to Phil Wilson MP who had secured the best deal for
County Durham and spoke of the benefits and opportunities for jobs
and training for the people of County Durham.
In relation to
statement issued by the government relating to local government
finance, Councillor Martin informed the Council that he had already
made representation on the issue and agreed that a system which
would generate monies to already affluent areas was simply not fair
and would be lobbying further for the introduction of a proper
equalisation system.