Northumberland Line Business Realisation and Monitoring and Evaluation

The Northumberland Line scheme has seen the introduction of passenger rail services on an existing freight only line between Ashington and Newcastle. Six new stations at Ashington, Bedlington, Bebside (Blyth), Newsham, Seaton Delaval & Northumberland Park have been delivered. The key objective of the Northumberland Line scheme is to improve accessibility between South East Northumberland and Tyne and Wear. This is expected to have positive impacts in terms of growing the local economy, addressing issues of social exclusion and facilitating local environmental benefits. The scheme is also expected to benefit the wider North East region in terms of economic growth, helping to deliver wider housing aspirations, contributing to a reduction in carbon emissions, and addressing some of the issues relating to deprivation that have adversely affected the North East for many years. This scheme will not necessarily be a catalyst for these benefits, however, and work needs to be undertaken to ensure the benefits are developed and realised moving forward. This will be achieved through commissioning of a Benefits Realisation Manager who will act on behalf of Northumberland County Council and work with stakeholders to deliver Benefits Realisation Management, with overall responsibility for maximising the scheme's benefits. Additional to Benefits Realisation Management, this proposal outlines activities required to complete a Scheme Evaluation as per the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Plan. Northumberland County Council are looking to procure consultancy support to complete this work and ensure that scheme benefits are fully realised and recorded.