About 1.4 million people living in the Sheffield city region will be subjected to England’s tightest coronavirus restrictions after local leaders agreed a deal with the government, the metro mayor, Dan Jarvis, has confirmed.
The South Yorkshire region – which covers Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster and Barnsley – has secured a total of £41m from government in return for shutting pubs and other businesses. The package includes £11m for enhanced test and trace and local enforcement and £30m to support businesses affected by the tier 3 restrictions.
Jarvis said: “We called on government to offer a local lockdown lifeline for our local authorities and economy, and the new restrictions will be introduced alongside resources, which mean we are better equipped to control the virus and limit some of the damage on jobs and businesses.
“While infection rates vary across South Yorkshire, collective action was the only practical choice to keep everyone in our region safe. If restrictions are effective, individual local authorities will be able to move to lower alert levels as soon as it is safe to do so, in consultation with fellow local leaders, myself and national government.”
Pubs, casinos, betting shops and soft play centres will close for at least four weeks across the Sheffield city region. Gyms will remain open but gym classes will not be allowed. The restrictions will come into force at one minute past midnight on Saturday.
While Greater Manchester and its mayor, Andy Burnham, fought a public and increasingly bitter battle over accepting tier 3 restrictions, Jarvis and his South Yorkshire colleagues conducted their negotiations behind closed doors.
Quick guide What are the three tiers of England’s Covid lockdown system?
Show
Hide
Tier one – medium
- The “rule of six” applies, meaning socialising in groups larger than six people is prohibited whether indoors or outdoors.
- Tradespeople can continue to go into a household for work and are not counted as being part of the six-person limit.
- Businesses and venues can continue to operate but pubs and restaurants must ensure customers only consume food and drink while seated, and close between 10pm and 5am.
- Takeaway food can continue to be sold after 10pm if ordered by phone or online.
- Schools and universities remain open.
- Places of worship remain open but people must not mingle in a group of more than six.
- Weddings and funerals can go ahead with restrictions on the number of people who can attend (15 and 30 respectively).
- Exercise classes and organised sport can continue to take place outdoors, and – if the rule of six is followed – indoors.
Tier two – high
- People are prohibited from socialising with anybody outside their household or support bubble in any indoor setting.
- Tradespeople can continue to go into a household for work.
- The rule of six continues to apply for socialising outdoors, for instance in a garden or public space like a park or beach.
- Businesses and venues can continue to operate but pubs and restaurants must ensure customers only consume food and drink while seated, and close between 10pm and 5am.
- Takeaway food can continue to be sold after 10pm if ordered online or by phone.
- Schools and universities remain open.
- Places of worship remain open but people must not mingle in a group of more than six.
- Weddings and funerals can go ahead with restrictions on the number of people who can attend (15 and 30 respectively).
- Exercise classes and organised sport can continue to take place outdoors but will only be permitted indoors if it is possible for people to avoid mixing with those they do not live with (or share a support bubble with), or for youth or disability sport.
- Travel is permitted to amenities that are open, for work or to access education, but people are advised to reduce the number of journeys where possible.
Tier three – very high
- People are prohibited from socialising with anybody they do not live with, or have not formed a support bubble with, in any indoor setting, private garden or at most outdoor hospitality venues and ticketed events.
- Tradespeople can continue to go into a household for work.
- The rule of six continues to apply to outdoor public spaces, such as parks, beaches, public gardens or sports venues.
- Pubs and bars are only permitted to remain open to operate as restaurants, in which case alcohol can only be served as part of a substantial meal.
- Schools and universities remain open.
- Places of worship remain open but household mixing is not permitted.
- Weddings and funerals can go ahead with restrictions on the number of people attending (15 and 30 respectively) but wedding receptions are not allowed.
- The rules for exercise classes and organised sport are the same as in tier 2. They can continue to take place outdoors but will only be permitted indoors if it is possible for people to avoid mixing with people they do not live with (or share a support bubble with), or for youth or disability sport. However, in Merseyside, gyms were ordered to close when it entered tier 3.
- Travelling outside a very high alert level area or entering a very high alert level area should be avoided other than for things such as work, education or youth services, to meet caring responsibilities or if travelling through as part of a longer journey.
- Residents of a tier 3 area should avoid staying overnight in another part of the UK, while people who live in a tier 1 or tier 2 area should avoid staying overnight in a very high alert level area.
Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA
Was this helpful?
Thank you for your feedback.
The compromise struck is some way from the demands regional leaders made when beginning negotiations on 9 October.
They wrote to Boris Johnson with a five-point plan, which included demands for “local furlough” for workers in businesses who are unable to work or see their hours cut as a result of the restrictions.
Andy Burnham hits out at Tory MPs over Covid negotiations criticism
Read more
“The government should enhance the job support scheme (JSS) to fully fund the costs of the hours not worked up to a limit of £1,400 a month. The self-employment income support scheme should be extended for self-employed and freelance workers for the duration of local restrictions,” they said in the letter.
But in the interim the Treasury ruled out any changes to the national JSS – which offers to pay two-thirds of wages of workers whose firms close because of tier 3 restrictions.
Map
Jarvis also asked for a “targeted support package for businesses in the hospitality, leisure and recreation sectors that are unable to operate at anything like normal levels of capacity, or face entire closure.
“This includes flexible grants administered through local authorities and further business rates concessions after April 2021, to target support at viable firms that will likely have higher fixed costs and whose failure risks an avoidable domino-effect across local economies.”
It is unclear how the Sheffield city region can spend its £30m on business support and over what timeframe.
Following confusion over how the government has decided how much each region gets, the communities secretary, Robert Jenrick, suggested there was a transparent funding formula.
He told ITV that areas that went into tier 3 would receive £8 a head for track and trace and enforcement and £20 a head for business support.
Based on Jenrick’s formula, the Sheffield city region secured a slightly more generous deal than the first two regions to go into tier 3, Lancashire and Liverpool. Its package works out at around £29 per head across a population of 1.4 million people.
Doncaster’s Labour mayor, Ros Jones, described the deal as “news that no one wanted to hear but there is an undeniable truth in that our infection rates are spiralling upwards and are more than 260/100,000 and continuing to rise”.
Andy Hibbert from Doncaster chamber of commerce said: “Following today’s announcement it is absolutely imperative that packages of financial support are distributed to businesses affected as quickly as possible.
“Businesses need clear guidance, clarity, transparency and a timeline to work towards as they make further sacrifices whilst we navigate through Covid-19. With a rollercoaster of stop-start restrictions, this support needs to be accessible at an accelerated pace, whilst we work together as a region to protect lives and get out of these restrictions as quickly as possible.”
Свежие комментарии