The Government confirmed this morning (17 December 2020) that Leeds will remain under Tier 3 restrictions until at least Wednesday 30 December 2020.
Councillor Judith Blake, Leader of Leeds City Council, commented:
“Obviously we are very disappointed to be left in Tier 3 particularly when a tier change would have been a welcome relief before Christmas. We understand this decision will be difficult to hear, but which tier Leeds falls into is ultimately the Government’s to make and our view due to falling infection rates as well as the extensive plans we have in place is that Leeds could safely be moved to Tier 2.
“Now more than ever we cannot overstate the importance of continuing to adhere to the rules for just a little longer as our position will be reviewed again on 30 December and Leeds could find itself in a better position if our indicators continue to remain positive.
“We have worked hard to deliver 1,100 grants to businesses which had to close in December so they get payments at the earliest opportunity on 17 December 2020 and before Christmas. Furthermore, plans are in place for venues which predominantly serve alcohol to receive a Christmas support payment with applications going live from early January.
“Since the beginning of November the council has awarded 5,500 grants to businesses affected by restrictions brought in at the end of September totalling £8.4m and since the start of the pandemic we have distributed around £170m to local businesses with grant funding schemes set to be extended.
“The vaccine offers great hope and we have already given 3,000 people their first jab with 20,000 vaccinated before Christmas and our major rollout beginning in early January. For now our message remains unchanged – in order to keep ourselves and each other safe we must continue to follow all of the rules all of the time.”
For full information about how the restrictions affect Leeds and support available to individuals and businesses go to: leeds.gov.uk/coronavirus
This post is based on a press release issued by Leeds City Council
Once again West Yorkshire has been the victim of this vindictive Tory government.
The Labour Party & council leaders are no better, we all see the infection rates plummeting in our areas & nothing being done by the so called leaders.
It’s not right that we work hard to get our rates down below other areas that are in a lower tier & then left in tier 3.
A waste of time keeping to the rules.
Afraid some people not always keeping to the rules. Such a shame for the hospitality industry , am sure some businesses may not recover now or will take some of them a long time to get back on track.