How well Rutland County Council is progressing with a £10m levelling up project will come under the microscope this week. 

Last spring, Rutland County Council received a joint sum with neighbouring Melton Borough Council of £23m to progress a series of new projects to improve the area. 

The council decided on a new £4m medi-tech centre at Rutland Memorial Hospital, that will train staff; a new integrated transport and transport hub on Cold Overton Road, connecting to the memorial hospital and a new heritage digital experience, that will create virtual models and storage for two newly discovered assets – the ichthyosaur discovered at Rutland Water in 2022 and the roman villa found in a field near Ketton in 2020. 

A report, that will be discussed by the scrutiny committee on Thursday (December 19), has outlined what progress is being made on the various projects, 18 months since the money was awarded. So far, a quarter of the funds awarded have been spent. 

The report says that the heritage scheme will go to the cabinet of the Liberal Democrat administration that runs the authority in February. It also says that a decision must be urgently made on where to house the icthyosaur, and a decision made about the future of the museum's existing collection. 

The opening of the transport hub in a former youth centre, in Cold Overton Road, could face delays after the council's planning committee some months ago turned down the plans because of safety concerns concerning pedestrian crossings and the closeness to the level crossing. The report says the application will go back before the committee next month. 

The medi-tech facility is progressing; however, the report says an operator has not yet been signed up and there could also be a need to gain match funding if the high spec of the building costs more than the £4m allocated.