It has been confirmed today that Greater Manchester will be placed into Tier 4 restrictions following the second official review of the UK government’s tier system.
The new classification was announced by Health Secretary Matt Hancock during a direct address to MPs in the House of Commons a few moments ago.
These changes will take effect at 0.01am tomorrow.
Announcing the new classifications, Mr Hancock said: “Unfortunately, this new variant is now spreading across most of England and cases are doubling fast [and] it is therefore necessary to apply Tier 4 measures to a wider area, including the remaining parts of the South East, as well as large parts of the Midlands, the North West, the North East and the South West.”
Lancashire, Cheshire, Warrington, Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen will also move from Tier 3 restrictions into Tier 4.
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Liverpool City Region will move from Tier 2 restrictions into Tier 3, while Cumbria will from Tier 2 into Tier 4.
BREAKING: Health Secretary Matt Hancock says that three quarters of the population of England are now going to be in Tier 4 due to the spread of the second COVID variant.
It comes after coronavirus (COVID-19) infection rates have continued to rise across the region – with nine out of the ten boroughs seeing increases – and the latest data now showing the region-wide infection rate looking set to top 200 cases per 100,000 people again for the first time since last month.
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Greater Manchester had previously remained under Tier 3 restrictions since the country came out of the national second lockdown at the start of December, with no changes in almost four weeks.
Tier 4
The new tier 4 restrictions will see Greater Manchester residents told to “stay at home” and not leave or be outside of their home except for specific purposes.
No household mixing is allowed – aside from support bubbles and two people meeting in public outdoor spaces – all hospitality and non-essential retail must close, except for takeaway, drive-through or delivery services, and all indoor leisure and entertainment venues must too close.
Travel is only permitted for work, education or other legally permitted reasons, and residents must not leave a Tier 4 area or stay overnight away from home.
Residents in Tiers 1 – 3 should also not enter Tier 4 areas.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson is now due to make a follow-up announcement regarding the return to school ahead of the new term for millions of children across the country at 3:30pm.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock has announced millions more people are facing tighter Covid-19 restrictions as the Government extends Tier 4 rules to cover more areas in England
The review follows widespread reports by a number of major news outlets that have been emerging over the past week or so to suggest that England could immediately head into a full lockdown, or even see additional ‘Tier 5’ restrictions imposed following the confirmation by Health Secretary Matt Hancock earlier this month that a “new variant” of coronavirus has been detected in the UK, which first forced London and large parts of the South East into Tier 4 “stay at home” measures over the festive period.
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It also comes after millions more people were then moved into tougher restrictions on Boxing Day, with some six million people entering Tier 4, and a further four million people placed into Tier 3.
This thus brought the total of people in Tier 4 to 24 million, which was 43% of the population.
The approval of the new vaccine is set to accelerate UK’s immunisation campaign – with 100 million doses of the Oxford jab already ordered – and is has prompted Matt Hancock to express confidence the country could now “get out of the pandemic by spring”.
Two shots will be required for maximum effect, and the rollout of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is scheduled for 4th January.
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This is a BREAKING NEWS story – More to follow.
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For the latest information, guidance and support during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the UK, please do refer to official sources at gov.uk/coronavirus.
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Manchester locals appealing for more information over a month after from finding family member’s body
Danny Jones
A Greater Manchester family are still calling for more information now over a month on from the discovery of a man’s body at his Chorlton home.
William Riddell, 49, was found dead in the bedroom of a property on Astbury Avenue at approximately 11:35pm on Sunday, 10 November after being found by his stepdaughter, Sarah Hayden.
Details surrounding his passing are still scarce but a 47-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder but has since been released on bail “pending further enquiries”, leaving Sarah and the rest of her family still none the wiser as to the exact nature of his death.
Preparing to spend their first Christmas without him, they have issued a desperate appeal for more information, urging anyone who might have information to come forward.
#APPEAL | The family of a man who died last month are appealing to the public for information as they face their first Christmas without him.
Billy Riddell was sadly found dead at his property in Manchester, with enquiries continuing.
Riddell, more commonly known as Billy by those close to him, was described as a “good, caring man with a big heart” and a popular figure in the local area.
Speaking via Greater Manchester Police, Sarah, said: “I want to be Billy’s voice and get answers for him. Billy was a nice and lovely man and all the community knew who he was. He was well-liked and we gave him a good send-off at his funeral.
“I would just ask anyone who knew him or has any information to come forward and tell police. Even if you think it’s a little or small thing – please come forward. We just want to get to the bottom of what has happened.”
Detective Inspector Alex Wilkinson, who serves on GMP‘s Major Incident Team, added in an official statement: “The family of Billy deserve answers following his death and we are working hard to ensure they get exactly that.
“We have closely supported Sarah and the wider family over the last month, and we will continue to provide assistance wherever we can as they face their first Christmas without him.
“While a suspect has been bailed, we are still working flat-out to understand more about Billy’s life, the people he was close to, and events leading up to his death just over a month ago.”
With that in mind, both GMP and Riddell’s family are asking anyone who might know anything or have information regarding people associated with Billy to come forward, reiterating that “even if you consider something to be small – your help could greatly benefit our investigation.”
You can contact police via 101 or by using the live chat function HERE, quoting log 3227 of 10/11/24.
Alternatively, you can contact the UK’s independent charity, Crimestoppers, anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online.
Government aims to ‘turn the tide’ on homelessness with £1 billion funding boost
Emily Sergeant
Nearly £1 billion of funding is being pumped into Council budgets to help “break the cycle of spiralling homelessness” in 2025.
As part of the Government‘s wider ‘Plan For Change’, and in a bid to help tackle, reduce, and prevent homelessness next year, it’s been announced that more resources will be be made available for workers on the frontline who provide essential services to get rough sleepers off the street and into secure housing.
This significant investment means Councils will now be “better equipped” to step in early and stop households from becoming homeless in the first place.
According to the Government’s plans, these funded measures will include mediation with landlords or families to prevent evictions, helping homeless people find new homes, and providing deposits to access private renting.
This government is determined to tackle, reduce and prevent homelessness.
— Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Gov (@mhclg) December 18, 2024
The funding will also be used to address the growing use of B&Bs and nightly-let accommodation, and the streamlining of funding structures to make it easier for Councils to spend their cash.
Areas across the UK can also choose to channel resources into services such as Housing First.
Housing First has been massively successful in Greater Manchester, and has helped house hundreds of our region’s rough sleepers since it was first piloted, being described as “life-changing” along the way.
More than £633 million of the funding will be allocated for the Homelessness Prevention Grant – which is a £192 million increase from this year – while £185.6 million will go to the Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant, more than £37 million to the Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme, and £5 million will be for the Emergency Accommodation Reduction Pilots.
This new £1 billion funding boost comes after it was announced back in September that Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions will be abolished in England next year as part of the landmark Renters’ Rights Bill.
It will also look to support the Government’s ambition to deliver the biggest increase in social and affordable housing in a generation – with an extra £500 million ploughed into the Affordable Homes Programme to build tens of thousands of affordable homes across the country.
The Manc -
30th December 2020 
