Darlington Council to repay EU cash over change of office use

The £8.46m five-storey Grade A office complex was completed in May 2020

Darlington Council is to pay back £1.7m of European funding used to build an office complex which will now become a temporary home for government workers.

Feethams House was partly built with money from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), as it was intended for use by "small and medium enterprises (SMEs)".

It has now been earmarked as an base for relocated government departments.

This means it no longer meets original conditions so the money must be repaid.

The ERDF contributed £1.71m towards the £8.46m five-storey Grade A office complex in the centre of the town which was completed in 2020.

Last March, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that part of the Treasury and other government departments would move to Darlington.

It later emerged they would initially be housed at Feethams House, requiring the whole of the building.

Rental income

As the funding was specifically for the provision of office accommodation for SMEs, and at a cabinet council leaders have now agreed to repay the £1.7m ERDF contribution, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The money will come from the council's economic growth investment fund, to be repaid from Feethams House rental income in three years.

A council report said the government was considering requests to invest about £4.5m in ERDF money in the Tees Valley Business Growth Fund, supporting up to 200 businesses and creating about 200 new jobs.

"Around £1m of ERDF will be earmarked for Darlington businesses if there is sufficient demand," it said.

It added a "full and comprehensive review" was under way for the government departments' permanent location.