A further £44m has been secured to develop major projects in Hertfordshire in the latest award of local growth funding.

The latest sum of £43.95m adds to the £221.5m of government funding already awarded to the Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership to invest in the county’s places, people and businesses over the next five years.

According to the enterprise partnership, the total deal has the capacity to deliver more than 11,000 new jobs, 16,500 new homes, and unlock £460m worth of public and private investment across the county by 2021.

However nearly half of latest pot will be allocated to support the regeneration of Stevenage, with the remainder to be invested in other “key projects” in Hertfordshire.

Mark Bretton, chair of Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), said: “This latest round of growth deal funding means we can continue to target investment where it is needed most. Hertfordshire LEP enjoys significant support from the business community and as such we are able to secure high levels of private investment leverage for all our growth deal-funded projects.

“Whilst the regeneration of Stevenage remains a priority for us, we are continuing to invest in other key projects across the county, in particular our young people to ensure that they have the workplace skills to enable our businesses to continue to grow and help our county fulfil its tremendous economic potential.”