The Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham says it is ‘more likely than not’ the city region will be in Tier 3.
Speaking at the weekly Greater Manchester Covid Press Conference, he pointed out that there is a falling trend of infection and hopes that the region will be heading into Tier 2 at the first opportunity for a review which will come in two weeks.
Case numbers he says are falling much faster than the rest of England although they remain high at this time.
There had, he said “been significant but modest reductions in hospital numbers and of course the number of patients in hospital remains high. There is no room for complacency”
On today’s spending announcement he welcomed the pay rise commitment for NHS staff but was disappointed that it doesn’t go much further across the public sector, including care staff and police officers.
However on the levelling up announcement he did not believe this fund will be doing much levelling-up any time soon
The £20m cap on projects “might allow for the building of a rail station or a small transport project” but doesn’t amount to a substantial plan.
While on council funding, he said what is being asked is for councils to fill deficits in their budgets through council tax rises.
“That is not an act of levelling up, because that is asking local communities to pay themselves for the challenges they face this year” he added
