The approval was given at a meeting of the council on 28 September when members were provided with a detailed update on the project following receipt of the Stage 3 Costing report.

Since the capital budget was agreed in March 2020, there has been a significant financial impact on the project due to high inflation. Despite extensive value engineering, the indicative cost for the build is currently estimated at £19.3 million, giving a budget pressure of approximately £4.6m.

To help mitigate this, agreement was given for the development to proceed to the procurement phase to obtain an agreed contract cost. The formal planning, detailed design and procurement processes will now be undertaken with a further report brought back to the council once these are concluded.

It is anticipated that the project will be in a position to present the full business case in the spring of 2024.

Councillor David Parker, executive member for health and wellbeing, said: “The budgetary pressures outlined in this report are being experienced not only across all projects in our Capital Investment Plan and by other local authorities across Scotland.

“Nevertheless, the care village remains a strategic council priority and I welcome the agreement we have been given to proceed through the procurement and market testing process, following which we will have a firmer indication of what the final capital costs are likely to be.

“We recently held two well attended engagement sessions where people were given sight of the outline plans for the development. These were extremely well received with some very positive feedback given. We remain fully committed to delivering on these plans for the people of the central Borders, and I have every confidence that officers and partners working on the project will do all they can to ensure our vision is delivered in a way that also provides us with the best value for money.”

Plans to develop two new care village facilities for the Borders were agreed as part of the council budget approved on 19 March 2022. One will be located in Tweedbank, covering the Central Borders, and the other in Hawick.