{"id":23376,"date":"2020-08-25T16:29:37","date_gmt":"2020-08-25T15:29:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=23376"},"modified":"2020-08-25T16:29:37","modified_gmt":"2020-08-25T15:29:37","slug":"not-quite-lockdown-for-brum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=23376","title":{"rendered":"\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Not quite lockdown\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 for Brum \u00c2\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

It was announced today (August 25) that Birmingham City Council is to introduce a series of legally enforceable measures from tomorrow to try and contain the spread of\u00c2\u00a0Covid-19 apparently now taking hold of the city. Earlier government recommendations will now become enforceable by law.<\/p>\n

The move comes after consultation with the UK government over a recent spike in Birmingham\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s case numbers \u00e2\u20ac\u201c despite figures in recent days seem to suggest the number of cases were coming down.<\/p>\n

The new powers will allow the council and police to investigate reports of business premises which are failing to comply with Covid-secure risk assessments \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and issue fines.<\/p>\n

They will allow local council chiefs to restrict access to, or even close bars or restaurants if they are deemed to be creating a risk.<\/p>\n

It will also give the council powers to prohibit certain types of event taking place on the basis of a maximum event size, including life events such as weddings or funerals \u00e2\u20ac\u201c although the council has said there is no intention to change the numbers of people that can attend these events.<\/p>\n

It will also give officials the power to restrict access to, or close, public outdoor places if there is believed to be a public health need to.<\/p>\n

Move welcomed <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The move was welcomed by Unite. Unite regional secretary for the West Midlands Annmarie Kilcline said,\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u015bHopefully these measures will help prevent the need for a full-scale lockdown in Birmingham, which would have a severe impact on the regional economy, put our public services under further strain and affect the mental well-being of every citizen.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThese measures should be a reminder to all employers and organisations, if one were needed, that strict social distancing and safety measures must be maintained.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

Leader of Birmingham City Council, Ian Ward agreed. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhile the recent figures show our rates are going down, we cannot be complacent,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bNo one wants to see a continual \u00e2\u20ac\u0098stop, start\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 approach as to what citizens can do and where they can go, least of all our business community,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThese new powers will allow us to intervene when businesses are putting staff and customers at risk of infection. By all working together to take action now, we can hopefully bring the numbers down, prevent further restrictions and protect the health and jobs of people across the city.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

A sentiment noted by Kilcline. \u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnite has thousands of members across the West Midlands, from manufacturing and the food and drink sector to the NHS and local government, and any further tightening of the lockdown will have a potentially devastating impact on firms, jobs and the wider economy. We must do all we can to avoid that scenario.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

What is becoming clear, Kilcline believes, is that there is not going to be any kind of \u00e2\u20ac\u0098easy fix\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 before a Covid-19 vaccine is developed.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAs we approach autumn and winter and the risk of full localised lockdowns increase, the government must ensure affected communities receive the help they need.<\/p>\n

Job retention scheme extension <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnite has been advocating for the job retention scheme to be extended for a longer period of time and to include short time working provisions \u00e2\u20ac\u201c as has happened in countries in Europe. As an absolute rock bottom minimum, extra support for workers who need to stop\u00c2\u00a0work\u00c2\u00a0because of local lockdowns must be available. The same goes for those facing eviction\u00c2\u00a0during a local lockdown,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she added.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere must also be no repeat of the situation in Leicester, where\u00c2\u00a0no additional funding\u00c2\u00a0from Whitehall was available during its lockdown, despite the extra pressure that was put on public services, such as the NHS and local government.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnite is committed to\u00c2\u00a0work constructively with all stakeholders, including the Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street, to bring this current outbreak in Birmingham under control,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 concluded Kilcline.<\/p>\n

Compiled by Amanda Campbell @amanda_unite <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was announced today (August 25) that Birmingham City Council is to introduce a series of legally enforceable measures from tomorrow to try and contain the spread of\u00c2\u00a0Covid-19 apparently now taking hold of the city. Earlier government recommendations will now become enforceable by law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1308,1],"tags":[788,1295,1310],"wps_subtitle":"Birmingham leaders tighten enforceable lockdown rules","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23376"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23376"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23376\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23382,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23376\/revisions\/23382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}