Sturgeon: Buck stops with me on local lockdowns
●First Minister rules out ‘standoffs’ as restrictions imposed on Manchester
Nicola Sturgeon said “the buck stops here” as she vowed not to become embroiled in disputes over local coronavirus lockdown levels to be introduced in Scotland early next month.
As Prime Minister Boris Johnson imposed tough restrictions on Greater Manchester last night, after talks aimed at reaching an agreement ended in acrimony, the First Minister said she would not "offload "decisions north of the Border on to councils.
Ms Sturgeon said the Scottish Government would ultimately make the rules but would be "as collaborative as possible" and it was her "driving ambition" to avoid a repeat of the UK Government' s row with local leaders in north-west England.
The planned new tiered system of lockdown restrictions will come into force in Scotland on Monday, 2 November, if approved by MS P sat Holy rood next week. The First Minister said some are - as may face stricter measures than those currently in force in the Central Belt, where licensed hospitality venues have been temporarily closed. At the Scottish Government’ s corona virus briefing she said she will update the country about the temporary restrictions on hospitality businesses today. Without an extension to existing restrictions, hospitality would be allowed to re open in the five health boards currently facing closures-Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Ayrshire and Arran, Lothian, Lanarkshire and For th Valley. Ms Sturgeon said the new measures in the tiered framework, if approved by MSPS, will come into effect to coincide with the UK Government’s new furlough scheme.
She said: “What that means is over the course of next week we will be assessing the up -to - date data and assessing whether all of the country would go into a certain level of the new framework or whether parts of the country would go into one level and other parts of the country into another.
“As part of that we will be considering, of course, whether there are parts of the country that need tough er
restrictions than those in place in the Central Belt right now, or whether there are parts of the country that might be able to have less tough restrictions.
“We need to assess that on the basis of the up-to-date data.” Ms Sturgeon is set to have a meeting with party leaders later today to discuss the planned tiered structure. She said she hopes a “reasonable degree of cross-party consensus” will be reached before the framework is debated. However, opposition parties will have the chance to pro - pose amendments to a Scottish Government motion on the framework.
Ms Sturgeon said: “In pub - li shing the outline framework later this week, I would also intend to then have a few days where there are comments made on that and we might t weak it ahead of the parliamentary debate to take account of any obvious points that people wanted to be rectified.”
She said flexibility will also be important in the framework, adding: “It’s important we get it as right as possible. “It’s equally important, given what we’re dealing with, that we don’t become an absolute prisoner of any framework because we need to retain a degree of flexibility.
“But it is also important to recognise that applying that framework is where the really difficult decisions will lie and ultimately government has to take those decisions and the buck has to stop with us for those decisions.”
The Scottish Government faced renewed calls from the hospitality sector to extend the business support on offer for areas forced to close due to new restrictions. The Scottish Hospitality Group which represents several of Scotland' s biggest pub and restaurant chains such as G 1 Group and Signature Pubs label led the current support a“postcode lottery”.
Highlighting Manchester’s unsuccessful push for more funding from the UK government, spokesperson for the SHG Stephen Montgomery said the sector“must be given adequate support” if restrictions are extended.
He said :“Not only is in formation conflicting, much of the support is inaccessible. It is absurd to believe that specific sectoral support should be based on a one size fits all approach.
“Some operators outside the central belt have been forced to close over the 16 day period as they cannot trade viably under the current restrictions, therefore they are not eligible for full Scottish Government support or access to the new furlough scheme.
“We still have no detail on how the ‘furlough top up’ will be calculated, no clear guidance on what happens to our staff from the start of November when the current furlough ends, or how the new job support scheme will be administered.
"Despite constantly asking for more engagement, we are still only hearing about restrictions on the day which does not allow businesses to prepare appropriately. A stop start approach with no notice is unfairly penalising the industry and costing businesses on average £4,000 a week on top of other losses.”
Hospitality businesses are at the fore front of thee conomic pain caused by Covid -19 due to enforced closures for several months during the initial lock down and again under the current temporary restrictions.
Nic Wood, owner of the Signature Pub Group, said: “It is not unreasonable to ask government to work with us on finding a solution to safeguard an industry that is the backbone of Scotland’ s economic prosperity.”
At Downing Street last night, Mr Johnson would not say how much financial support Greater Manchester will reci eve as he forced it into Tier 3 restrictions.
The region' s mayor Andy Burn ham held last-ditch talks with the Prime Minister yesterday and has accused him of creating a "winter of real hardship" for residents. Mr Burn ham is believed to have been offered £60 million, but after refusing to accept, the amount announced this evening is now just £22m.
Appearing at this evenin g’ s press conference in D owning Street, the Prime Minister suggested there would be other support, but refused to say how much. He said: “This offer was proportionate to the support we have given Merseyside and Lancashire, but the mayor didn’t accept this unfortunately. “I’ ve simply got to look at the data, alas the number of deaths, hospital admissions and we have to act.
“Because not to act would put Manchester’s NHS, and the lives of many of Manchester’s residents, at risk."
Asked five times for an actual number of how much support the region would get, Mr Johnson instead insisted it was a “generous package”.
He continued: “The £22m that I described that’s additional to other support, we are of course always happy to consider that.
"Greater Manchester will have access to all kinds of funds, particularly to help with testing and tracing.
"The funds are there, they're massive. What we couldn' t do, was do a deal with Greater Manchester that would have been out of kilter with agree - ments already reached with Merseyside and Lancashire.”
Pubs and bars will be closed, unless they are serving substantial meals, for a 28- day period, along with betting shops, casinos, bingo halls, adult gaming centres and soft play areas. The measures are expected to come into effect on Saturday.