Hull and Grimsby: Work goes on as college wins better deal

Officials running some projects had already acknowledged the cuts were coming and adjusted budgets to suit.

The largest cut – 1.44m – is from the budget for the new University Centre, at Grimsby Institute. Bosses there said they had been able to secure a "very favourable" price from contractors, which was lower than they and Yorkshire Forward had expected. Work has started and the building – now costing less than 20m – will be completed by September 2011.

The Clipper event, which ends next month when the fleet returns to

Hull, has had 50,000 lopped off its budget.

Council leader Carl Minns said as far as he was aware the cut had already been taken into account, and he didn't think it would have a "direct effect" on the homecoming. In half the cases, funding is simply being deferred until next year.

Work is continuing on a footbridge across the River Hull, where 400,000 worth of payments are being delayed out of a budget of 7.5m. Soon-to-be-axed Hull Forward said the bridge would still be installed in August.

A long-awaited 550,000 programme to modernise Grimsby Fish Market has been put on hold. But chief executive Martin Boyers asked: "Does deferment mean it's a deferment or is it a fancy word for a cut?"