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Sheffield, Leeds, Bradford, Kirklees and York could get £ 55 million from each other if they are the next to face the stricter Level Three lockdown rules amid rising rates of coronavirus infection.
Yorkshire towns and cities may be in the firing line for Level Three rules that prohibit people from socializing indoors or in gardens and can force the closure of pubs and gyms.
Yorkshire council heads have been in talks with government officials over the weekend after the region escaped stricter rules last week, but one MP said they now seem “unavoidable”.
Liverpool and the Merseyside districts around it received at least £ 44 million in additional cash from the government when they entered the toughest lockdown, to support local businesses and improve testing and tracing. The sum was around £ 27 per person for a combined population of around 1.6 million people.
If Yorkshire gets the same level of funding, it could make windfall gains of £ 14 million for Sheffield, £ 13 million for Leeds and £ 12 million for Kirklees to try to offset the devastatingly stricter lockdown rules.
The infection rate in Sheffield is up to 440 cases per 100,000 people, putting it almost on a par with Manchester and St Helens in Merseyside, which are already at Level Three. Manchester is expected to see the screw tighten by the end of the day after a nearly week-long standoff between local mayor Andy Burnham and the government.
Downing Street is expected to offer Greater Manchester up to £ 100 million to accept the rules, as Burnham has been refusing to accept them since early last week, warning that Level Three will devastate the local economy.
Sheffield’s infection rate puts it just outside the 10 worst-hit areas in the country, and Leeds and Bradford also recorded more than 350 cases per 100,000 people in the week ending Oct. 13, according to the Department of Health.
York and Kirklees have slightly lower rates, 260 and 281, respectively, but both are considerably higher than the national average (168) for the same period.
The council heads in Kirklees are expected to meet today to discuss stricter lockdown rules and West Yorkshire officials will follow suit this week.
Local authorities are taking a bigger role in controlling outbreaks in their areas now, with the government describing negotiations rather than imposed rules.
This has caused friction in Manchester, where Mayor Andy Burnham has so far rejected the third-tier measures proposed by the central government: Prime Minister Boris Johnson called on him last week on live TV to reconsider and accept the restrictions, making it clear that the government would bind them if necessary.
The Greater Manchester region will now be offered up to £ 100 million to help its businesses cope with the effects of another lockdown.
Similar payments to the Liverpool authorities were estimated at around £ 27.34 per person for the switch to Level Three, then another £ 4.35 per person for Level Two.
Applying the same rules in Yorkshire could bring the five areas a total of £ 63.1 million, of which £ 54.4 would come from the switch to the stricter restrictions.
Sheffield would get the biggest boost, with £ 14.1 million for its half a million residents, followed by £ 12.9 million for Leeds, £ 11.9 for Kirklees, £ 9.5 million for Bradford and £ 5.7 million for York.
The calculations do not include money that has already been given to local areas to support them in Level Two.
Details of stricter rules for the areas have not yet been defined, but Barry Sheerman, a Huddersfield MP in the Kirklees area, said he was not optimistic.
He said: “I still think that it is inevitable that we will have a circuit breaker during the middle of the period,” The Mirror reported.
And York MP Rachael Maskell said she thought the current Level Two rules would not be “enough” to stop the virus.
Leeds escaped stricter lockdown rules last week when council officials issued a statement on Friday after a meeting with the government and said: ‘There was no discussion about going to a higher alert level.
“We share the government’s concern that rates are increasing in our areas, and our number one priority is to take the most effective measures possible to combat the virus, protect people and save lives.
“We reiterate our call for more resources to implement effective local health measures to address the pandemic in our region, including local testing and tracing, community engagement and more support for people to isolate themselves.”
Officials from across Yorkshire issued the statement together, adding: ‘The government has asked us to meet with them again early next week.
“We see this as an opportunity to establish the effectiveness of local measures, what additional resources are needed to support local teams and businesses, and to review the latest health data.”
Sheffield now has one of the highest infection rates in England with 439.8 positive coronavirus tests per 100,000 people living in the area.
This is comparable to the rates at Pendle, Sefton, Blackburn, Rochdale, Manchester, and St Helens, all of which have case rates between 444 and 480.
All but Manchester and Rochdale are already on Level Three, and those two are expected to follow suit in a few days amid disputes between politicians and Downing Street.
Rates in Leeds (388.1), Bradford (352.9), York (280.6) and Kirklees (261) are lower, but have risen sharply in the last month.
Data from Public Health England shows that Leeds’ infection rate for October 11 was double that of September 27 (170-340).
The PHE numbers are different from the Health Department (340 compared to 440 for Sheffield, for example) because they represent a different time period. They are published once a week and are not adjusted in real time, making them a less accurate measure of the current situation but the best data for comparisons over time.
Bradford was up 50 percent over the same two weeks, while York’s tripled and Kirklees’s rose about 87 percent.
The warnings about the rules in Yorkshire come as Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham received an ultimatum from government ministers saying he must agree to a level three lockdown today after days of bickering.
The region’s Labor mayor has so far refused to accept the stricter lockdown rules for its residents, arguing that they will devastate local businesses and are being unfairly imposed on the north of England.
But now he is faced with the decision to bring them in on his own terms as Downing Street forces a closure on the area, which includes Manchester City, Oldham, Bolton, Trafford, Bury, Salford, Tameside, Stockport, Rochdale and Wigan.
Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick warned that the talks had dragged on “too long” and that the government could force the issue as early as tomorrow unless the region accepts a financing package to alleviate the impact, which is believed to be worth up to £ 100 million.
The threat came after doctors voiced alarm that Manchester is at risk of running out of hospital beds from COVID, and the bitter standoff has now delayed the crackdown for days.
Haggling is also continuing with Nottingham and Yorkshire on the possibility of moving to Level Three, which could put a total of seven million people under tighter restrictions.
But along with the war of words with Burnham and Labor, the dispute also runs the risk of wrecking the Conservative Party, as local MPs, including the 1922 committee chairman Sir Graham Brady, dismiss the need for the lower levels. high restrictions.
There was a brutal response from ‘Red Wall’ MPs on conservative WhatsApp groups after Level One colleagues sent a letter to Mr Burnham urging him to ‘commit’ to the government’s regional approach to avoid the ‘pain’ of other areas.
The intervention, which many believe was orchestrated by Downing Street, sparked angry private disputes over an ‘integral axis’, with one MP allegedly mocking another:’ You just want a promotion and are happy to throw your colleagues under a bus to achieve it. ‘
In a round of interviews this morning, Mr. Jenrick said: “I think it is very clear that, having debated this for over a week, a conclusion now needs to be reached.
I think everyone in Greater Manchester would agree with that.
“So I’m hopeful that today or tomorrow we will come to a conclusion, one way or another.”
But Mr. Burnham was still showing defiance today, telling reporters: “It’s not about the size of the check, it’s about protecting low-paid workers, the self-employed and supporting businesses.”
The Liverpool city region received £ 30 million in support of local businesses when it entered tier three, along with £ 14 million for additional contact tracing capacity and £ 7 million when it entered level two.
Adjusting the total package for Manchester’s largest population would yield a figure of around £ 95 million.
Although Burnham has been pushing for the license to be paid at 80 percent instead of the two-thirds offered by the government, which is paid centrally and separately from bailouts.
