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More parts of England destined for Tier 4 restrictions, Matt Hancock confirms

Matt Hancock has confirmed that more parts of England will move to Tier 4 in the New Year due to rising cases of coronavirus across the country.

The Manc The Manc - 30th December 2020
ITV

Matt Hancock has confirmed that more parts of England will move to Tier 4 in the New Year due to the rising number of national COVID-19 cases.

The Health Secretary said he will outline the changes to tiers in more detail at 3pm in the House of Commons.

Asked on Good Morning Britain whether he would put more areas into tougher restrictions, Hancock replied: “Yes, I’m afraid I’m going to have to.”

When prompted as to whether these changes would constitute a national lockdown or a tiered approach, Hancock said: “We’re going to have to extend the Tier 4 areas.”

He then added: “Absolutely it is necessary to take further action, precisely because of the challenges we’re facing right now.”

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The Health Secretary had appeared on GMB to express his delight at the approval of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine – which will be rolled out from January 4.

Hancock stated that he was now “confident the country could get out of the pandemic by spring.”

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In the meantime, however, many parts of the country are expected to face tougher restrictions as the government aims to relieve pressure on hospitals caused by the rising numbers of COVID patients.

The UK recorded over 53,000 cases on Tuesday (29 December) – prompting some scientists to call for a national lockdown.

Early reports have suggested that Cumbria and parts of Lancashire could be included in the areas being upgraded to Tier 4.

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Government aims to ‘turn the tide’ on homelessness with £1 billion funding boost

Emily Sergeant 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. 

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.

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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.  

Featured Image – Gary Knight (via Flickr)

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Avanti West Coast staff set to strike on major days over festive period

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Avanti West Coast staff are set to strike on some major days over the festive period, it has been announced.

Train managers who are members of the RMT Union will stage industrial action on New Year’s Eve and 2 January 2025 after “overwhelmingly rejecting” the train company’s “inadequate proposals” on rest day working arrangements.

On top of this, strikes will also go ahead on Sundays between 12 January and 25 May too.

According to the union, up to 400 members are involved in the dispute with Avanti, and 83% of those voted against a suggested deal.

Strikes were previously planned for 22, 23, and 29 December as well, but they were suspended last week after a suggested agreement was put to a referendum of RMT members.

Avanti West Coast staff are set to strike on several major days over the festive period / Credit: Avanti West Coast

“Our members have resoundingly rejected Avanti’s latest offers in two referendums,” explained an RMT spokesperson. “Sustained strike action is now the only way to focus management’s minds on reaching a negotiated settlement with the union.”

In case you weren’t familiar, Avanti’s West Coast Main Line operates six routes along the west of the UK, including from London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly, as well as services from London to other major cities such as to Blackpool, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Holyhead, Wrexham, and Liverpool.

Avanti has warned its customers that the strikes will likely cause “significant disruption” on the West Coast Main Line.

The train operator took to X to assure that its plans will be confirmed “as soon as possible”.

“The RMT union has announced strike action affecting Avanti West Coast on 31 December and 2 January, along with all Sundays from 12 January to 25 May 2025,” the statement reads on X.

“We’re looking at how this industrial action will impact our services and we’ll confirm our plans as soon as possible.”

An Avanti West Coast spokesperson also added in response to the industrial action being called yesterday: “We’re disappointed our train managers who are RMT members have voted to decline the very reasonable, revised offer made to them to resolve the rest day working dispute and avoid inconveniencing our customers.

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“We remain open to working with the RMT to resolve the dispute.”

Featured Image – Avanti West Coast

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