Mayor Andy Burnham has criticised a lack of additional support being made available for areas in England such as Greater Manchester that will enter Tier 3 restrictions when the national lockdown ends on 2nd December.
Andy Burnham had previously commented he expected the city-region to return to Tier 3 at the end of the second national lockdown, and in comments published on the GMCA website, expressed hope that restrictions could be eased in on 16th December, given the ongoing decline in coronavirus case numbers across all 10 boroughs. He said:
Greater Manchester’s infection rate is reducing faster than any other part of the country but we have to accept that it is still significantly higher than the England average. That said, if the current rate of improvement continues, we will be asking the Government to move our city-region into Tier 2 in two weeks’ time.
“What we believe is completely wrong is the Government’s decision to provide no additional business support to areas in Tier 3 than those in Tiers 1 and 2.
“The new Tier 3 will hit the hospitality sector extremely hard. While there are grants for businesses forced to close, there is no extra support for business which supply them like security, catering and cleaning.
“This will cause real hardship for people whose jobs will be affected and risk the loss of many businesses.
“Ministers need to explain how they believe it is fair for Tier 3 areas to get no more support than those in Tiers 1 and 2. They also need to explain why places with high numbers of hospitality businesses – like city centres – get the same population-based grant as more suburban and rural areas with fewer businesses affected.
“The effect of these policy decisions will be to level down the economies of city-regions across the North. It is unfair and the opposite of what the Government has promised to do. Ministers must review this and provide more financial support to Tier 3 areas.”
For areas within Tier 3 alert levels, which have been enhanced compared to restrictions imposed before national measures were put in place, the following rules apply to limit the spread of the coronavirus:
- you must not meet socially indoors or in most outdoor places with anybody you do not live with
- you must not socialise in a group of more than 6 in some other outdoor public spaces – rule of 6
- hospitality settings, such as bars (including shisha venues), pubs, cafes and restaurants are closed – they are permitted to continue sales by takeaway, click-and-collect, drive-through or delivery services.
- accommodation such as hotels, B&Bs, campsites, and guest houses must close.
- indoor entertainment and tourist venues must close. This includes:
- indoor play centres and areas, including trampolining parks and soft play
- casinos, bingo halls, bowling alleys and skating rinks
- amusement arcades, adult gaming centres, laser quests and escape rooms
- cinemas, theatres and concert halls
- snooker halls
- indoor attractions at mostly outdoor entertainment venues must also close (indoor shops, through-ways and public toilets at such attractions can remain open). This includes indoor attractions within:
- zoos, safari parks, and wildlife reserves, aquariums, visitor attractions at farms, and other animal attractions
- model villages, museums, galleries and sculpture parks
- botanical gardens, biomes or greenhouses
- theme parks, circuses, fairgrounds and funfairs
- visitor attractions at film studios, heritage sites such as castles and stately homes
- landmarks including observation decks and viewing platforms
- leisure and sports facilities may continue to stay open, but group exercise classes (including fitness and dance) should not go ahead. Saunas and steam rooms should close
- there should be no public attendance at spectator sport or indoor performances and large business events should not be taking place. Elite sport events may continue to take place without spectators
- large outdoor events (performances and shows) should not take place, with the exception of drive-in events
- places of worship remain open, but you must not attend with or socialise with anyone outside of your household or support bubble while you are there, unless a legal exemption applies
- weddings and funerals can go ahead with restrictions on the number of attendees – 15 people can attend wedding ceremonies, wedding receptions are not allowed, 30 people can attend funeral ceremonies, 15 people can attend linked commemorative events
- organised outdoor sport, and physical activity and exercise classes can continue, however higher-risk contact activity should not take place
- organised indoor sport, physical activity and exercise classes cannot take place indoors. There are exceptions for indoor disability sport, sport for educational purposes and supervised sport and physical activity for under-18s
- you can continue to travel to venues or amenities which are open, but should aim to reduce the number of journeys you make where possible
- avoid travelling to other parts of the UK, including for overnight stays other than where necessary, such as for work, education, youth services, to receive medical treatment, or because of caring responsibilities. You can travel through other areas as part of a longer journey
- for international travel see the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office travel advice for your destination and the travel corridors list