Andrew has provided the following update on Facebook regarding the North Lincolnshire's and the East Riding's move from Covid Tier 1 to Tier 2.
As residents may have gleaned from my post a couple of days ago, for the past week or so discussions have been taken about raising the alert level locally.
This has now happened and all four Councils in the Humber area will move from Tier 1 - Medium alert to Tier 2 High alert from 00.01 am on Saturday. This is still below the Very High Tier 3 that places such as Liverpool are now in.
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What does this mean?
Essentially, for most activities the rules remain as they have been for us in Tier 1 - pubs, cafes etc can remain open until 10pm and so on.
However, the major change is that indoor household mixing is now not allowed. This means that households should not mix indoors in homes, restaurants, cafes etc.
The exceptions to this remain the same, meaning that people in single person households can continue to form a 'support bubble' with another house and mix as if they were part of that household. Informal childcare support can also continue to be provided on the same basis as in Tier 1.
The rule of 6 continues for mixing outdoors meaning different households can meet outdoors as now.
Whilst leisure and hospitality businesses can remain open until 10pm as at present this will obviously impact on these businesses.
Now we are moving into Tier 2, businesses in those sectors will qualify for additional Government support. Depending on the size of the business (which will be decided by the rateable value of the premise) grants of between just under £1000 and £2100 per month will be paid - administered by the Councils.
The exact operation of these schemes will be left to the Councils, but the Government is allowing them to apply discretions too, meaning that support beyond that laid out above may also be available.
For businesses more generally, with furlough scheme ending, the Government's new Job Support Scheme will also kick in from November 1st. This will see the Government pay up to 61% of wages for jobs which qualify, up to a monthly limit. The lowest paid workers will also be able to apply for Universal Credit to top this up further. A support scheme for the self-employed will also commence on November 1st.
The Government is also providing the Councils in our area with £2.1 million of extra funding, on top of the tens of millions so far provided, to help with additional needs and costs too.
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How do I find out more?
The Government guidance on this support is here - https://www.gov.uk/government/news/plan-for-jobs-chancellor-increases-financial-support-for-businesses-and-workers
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Businesses seeking support through these schemes will be able to access this information in the coming days (they may not be fully up and running yet) by visiting -
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North Lincs
https://investinnorthlincolnshire.com/news/funding-boost-for-hospitality-201029
https://investinnorthlincolnshire.com/coronavirus/HospitalityandLeisureGrant
For further support email businessinfo@northlincs.gov.uk or ring 01724 297330.
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East Riding
www.eastriding.gov.uk/business/coronavirus-grants-for-businesses-and-charities/
https://www.eastriding.gov.uk/living/emergency-assistance/
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What next?
We all want to avoid going into Tier 3 - Very High level of alert as this will result in what is effectively a local lockdown. We know that lockdowns damage jobs, hit the economy hard and have other health impacts.
The science is very clear on how this virus is spreading and that is mainly by person to person contact and mixing indoors. If we act now to limit contact, especially with those in the groups most at risk, we can bring our rates down and avoid a local lockdown.
These measures will be reviewed regularly, with a formal review after 28 days. Whilst all of the Councils in the Humber have gone into this Tier together, we may come out of them, or even go up a tier individually.
Work is also going on locally to establish a safe Care Home visiting regime so that the restrictions on those can be lifted sooner.
Stay Safe and rest assured my team and I remain here ready to help.
