Nottingham City council says no meetings are scheduled yet with Government ministers about moving to Tier 3 – despite the Prime Minister telling the nation talks are continuing.
During a press conference from Downing Street on Tuesday (October 21) at 5pm, Boris Johnson said Nottinghamshire was already in talks about moving to the very high alert level.
After speaking about new lockdown restrictions imposed on Greater Manchester, the Prime Minister told the nation: “Elsewhere discussions on moving to the very high alert level continue with local leaders in South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and the North East.”
A spokesman for Nottingham City Council confirmed this morning (Wednesday, October 21) there were no talks in the diary between ministers and the leaders of Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.
The leader of Nottingham City Council, David Mellen, said on Monday that he expected to be invited to talks with the Government ‘this week’.
Since the start of the pandemic, senior council officers have met with public health officials from the Government about the situation, but no specific talks have taken place about Tier 3, and none are scheduled.
Rates continue to rise throughout Nottinghamshire, and although there is a decrease among young people in the city, infection rates among older people – who are more likely to be hospitalised – are increasing.
In leaked documents, Nottingham University Hospitals Trust said it expected to have as many COVID patients in bed by the end of the month as there were during the peak of the first wave in the Spring.
It also warned that the course of events between now and early November was likely to be ‘unmodifiable’, because changes in restrictions take time to have an impact on hospitalisation figures.
Conservative MPs in the North of the county, where rates are lower than the city but continually rising, have said their areas should not be placed into Tier 3.
But public health officials have said Nottingham and Nottinghamshire should be treated collectively, in order to make the rules easier to enforce and understand.
The Government has been approached for comment.
