Doncaster cabinet approves nearly £500 million investment in borough improvements by 2027

A proposed capital budget of £492.8 million over the next four years to go towards improvements in housing, health, families and infrastructure was approved by the cabinet.

£194.9 million of this will be spent over the course of the next year.

The figure will now be presented to full council in a meeting on 27 February.

The largest investment from this budget will be £352 million in economy and environment improvements such as highway maintenance, structures and street lighting.

Some £220.6 million will also be invested in council housing stock.

Over half of this will be to improve and maintain existing homes while the rest will go towards acquiring new homes.

A separate £21.9 million will be allocated towards adapting homes to make them suitable for disabilities.

Local projects will also benefit, with a £20.6 million investment into the Stainforth Towns Fund and £2.4 million to maintain Cusworth Hall country house.

The rest of the budget will go towards areas including corporate resources, improving leisure centres and upgrading schools.

As spending for these schemes exceeds the proposed budget, the council will need to sell assets and borrow money.

Plans are in place to sell assets such as land and buildings to make £14.4 million towards the proposed projects.

A further potential £35 million could go towards the schemes later down the line if approved by the council, which would require additional borrowing.

At full council, councillors will vote on these investments along with several other spending and budget proposals.

To account for a decline in government funding, a council tax rise of 3.99 percent has been proposed.

Income generated from this will go towards the proposed revenue budget of £575.5 million until 2026.

This budget is used for smaller everyday costs such as council staff salaries and maintenance of its assets.

Council house rent is also set to rise by seven percent, to average £81.51 a week.

Two percent of the income generated from this will go towards the acquisition of additional properties as proposed in the capital budget.