COUNCIL chiefs have blasted government "paralysis" delaying plans for post-Brexit investment in County Durham.

EU funding through just two of the pots available, the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF), are expected to be worth more than £150m to the county from 2014 to 2020.

But, with just months to go, ministers have still not confirmed details of a scheme to replace the lost cash.

“Post-2020, the structural funds will be replaced by the Shared Prosperity Fund,” said Coun Alan Napier, deputy leader of Durham County Council. “We should have been consulted on this last year and we’re still waiting. This is purely down to the paralysis that we see in government and parliament around Brexit.” Coun Napier was speaking at Wednesday's cabinet meeting, in which he praised the council’s performance "against a climate of imposed austerity".

Figures presented to cabinet showed County Durham is almost keeping up with the England and Wales average in terms of the proportion of the working age population, defined as 16 to 64, in employment and is ahead of the North-East average. But in 2018 there was also still a gap of almost £70 in the weekly full time pay a worker in the county could expect compared to the national average.