Middlesbrough Council has updated its capital programme for the upcoming years, with the proposals being passed as part of the 2025/26 budget. When it was going through votes and council debate, the emphasis on budget discussions were the revenue aspects, such as the costs of managing adult social care or emptying residents’ bins.
The capital expenditure, on the other hand, relates to spending on longer-term assets and infrastructure, such as building community centres or the town’s bridges. Papers outline that the schemes included in the capital programme need to match the council’s objectives.
Documents presented to Middlesbrough’s full council meeting in February explain that the council is allowed to borrow money to finance the capital programme, but it needs to be wary of the impact on the revenue budget. A review of Middlesbrough’s capital programme took place in January 2025, ahead of the budget being set. The report sets out that there is £74.798m of funding for the capital programme in 2025/26, with a total of £170.290m for the four year period of 2025/26 to 2028/29.
Over this four year period, there are a total of 12 schemes that are either existing and have been allocated additional funding, or are entirely new, with a total of £17.847m funding. The dozen projects are detailed below.
Middlesbrough Sports Village Full Size 3G Pitch Repair
£507,000 has been set aside to fix up the pitch, which the council says is in need of “significant repairs”. As a result of existing contracts, it is the council’s responsibility to fund the repairs.
East Middlesbrough Community Hub
Better known as the new Southlands Centre, this project has suffered several delays but construction is now due to be completed by the end of the year. Construction costs have significantly increased over recent times and as a result, the community centre would not have been delivered within the approved budget.
“The council has received the contractor tenders for the creation of the hub, and the costs submitted are considerably higher than the total funding available for the scheme”, documents explain, with an additional £1m being required. 50% of this is expected to come from the Boro FC Foundation, but the other £500,000 is being footed by the council.
Bridges and Structures
The council details that a four year programme has been developed and costed to prioritise critical works to the network of bridges and structures throughout Middlesbrough. This has led to the council adding a further £7.448m to the pre-existing allocation. The additional funds bring the total allocation for the bridges and structures scheme to £12.628m during the course of the medium term financial plan.
Cemetery provision
The council sets out that the current available space for burial plots is expected to be used within a year. Funding is required to ensure the continued provision of burial plots through the expansion of Thorntree cemetery, creating an additional 2,310 plots. The £2.388m funding includes an allocation for feasibility works at Acklam cemetery to understand if expansion there is possible.
Nunthorpe Community Centre
As previously reported on, the proposed Nunthorpe Community Centre has now had its planning application submitted, after delays had hampered progress. As part of the capital budget, an extra £500,000 has been allocated by the council, who accept that without the additional money, there would not be sufficient funding to complete the project. The extra cash has been allocated to the 2026/27 financial year.
Other projects
Various other schemes that have seen additional funding include internal works at the Neptune Centre and building works at Live Well West centre, including increased consultation room space.
Just shy of £1.5m is being put aside for home adaptations of chronically sick and disabled people, while just over £2.5m is being added onto the asset management block budget. £822,000 is going towards the replacement of the current regulatory service ICT system. Council documents said: “The replacement system is both cheaper than the current system and has greater functionality.”
£874,000 has been added onto the carriageway resurfacing programme, in order to undertake “high priority” resurfacing works, while £600,000 has been allocated to footway repairs.
