PROPOSALS to use a controversial new building to relocate Government jobs, instead of council staff, show a ‘lack of understanding’ of the impact austerity has had, one of the region’s Labour leaders has claimed.

Councillor Carl Marshall has responded to the potential of using the £49m new council offices in Durham for Whitehall civil servants instead of existing County Hall staff.

The suggestion was made by Tory MPs Richard Holden and Paul Howell at PMQs in parliament last week and was welcomed by Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove.

The Northern Echo:

North-West Durham MP Richard Holden at The Sands 

The Northern Echo:

Sedgefield MP Paul Howell 

Mr Howell said The Sands could house the Advanced Research and Invention Agency, a new body led by scientists who will support and fund the UK’s next generation of “high risk, high reward” pioneering inventors.

It follows confirmation that 750 Treasury workers, 500 Overseas Trade civil servants and 105 posts with the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy will be located in Darlington and Teesside.

The city centre development is nearing completion and plans to move from the current council headquarters at Aykley Heads were made by the previous Labour leadership.

The new joint administration has ordered a review of the move and is looking at potential alternative uses.

MPs urge Government to bring jobs to County Durham

Mr Holden, who has previously argued it was a flood plain, said it was at risk of becoming a ‘white elephant’ and a ‘totem to Labour’s hubris’.

Cllr Marshall, leader of the County Durham Labour group, said: “Some people dislike progress and some actively stand against it.

“For Richard Holden to label a smaller, greener, more suitable council HQ that would bring hundreds, if not thousands, of people into the city centre, a ‘white elephant’ demonstrates his lack of understanding of how his Government’s relentless austerity purge has impacted on Durham County Council.

“A council must provide value for money to taxpayers - it will cost over £85m to bring the existing County Hall up to standard.

“After more than a decade of austerity, that sum is not only insurmountable, but completely inefficient in terms of revenue and the increased carbon footprint it would create.”

The Northern Echo:

How the development is expected to look when it is completed 

Cllr Marshall said the Aykley Heads business park plan potential for 4,000 jobs cannot be delivered if the site is not vacated.

He said: “I’d also like to know why Richard Holden thinks this new building is good enough for Government officers, but not Durham County Council employees.

“Holden’s plans to campaign to relocate the Civil Service would be welcome, but it can’t be at the expense of jeopardising 4,000 high paid, high skilled jobs on the Aykley Heads site.

“That type of investment would not just be of significance to County Durham, but to the entire region, not to mention the fact his Government backed the plans too, to the tune of £6m towards the infrastructure of the new business park.”