Council not expecting Tier 3 switch
ALL AREAS: The Royal Borough’s lead member for health says he expects a Government decision on the council’s COVID tier classification to be imminent, but warned that a move into Tier 3 would be of ‘profound concern’.
Councillor Stuart Carroll (Con, Boyn Hill), told the Advertiser yesterday (Wednesday) that the borough’s cases are in line with Tier 2 – high alert – but that he is waiting for central Government colleagues to inform the council of its tier after a review. The Royal Borough has been in Tier 2 since the end of the second
lockdown.
Tiers for local authority areas across England were scheduled to be reviewed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson yesterday, but announcements on these were not set to take place until today (Thursday).
Nearby Slough Borough Council has been placed in Tier 3 since the lockdown, while Bucks Council leader Cllr Martin Tett warned his cabinet this week that he was anticipating a potential move into this category after a ‘rapid’ rise in cases there.
Cllr Carroll said: “We are waiting for a Government decision [on tiers] – that should be happening imminently.
“In the Royal Borough, our cases are very much in line with Tier 2 classification, but we will have to wait for further information from Government as to what they’re seeking to do with the whole country.
“It would be of profound concern if we were to move to Tier 3 and that’s not something we would want to see happen at all. We are making our representation, ensuring that all data are robust and correct, but this is something that’s going to be Government-led.”