Give local health teams more powers

Covid cases in our towns have risen steeply in the last few weeks and that makes this a really tough time for lots of people. Families are worried about seeing loved ones, about our NHS, and about local jobs.
Test and Trace system needs an overhaulTest and Trace system needs an overhaul
Test and Trace system needs an overhaul

We need a clear plan from Government to turn things round – both to get the virus back under control, and also to support local jobs and businesses. So far that’s not been happening – the messages have been very confused, the health plan isn’t yet clear enough and jobs in the north are being particularly hit. The Prime Minister needs to urgently sort things out.

Alongside new health restrictions there has to be proper support for jobs – otherwise the north south divide will grow further.

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After the Government brought in Tier 2 rules for Wakefield District last week, I spoke to pub landlords and café owners in Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford. All of them had seen business plummet, all of them were cutting staff hours or jobs, some were considering closing altogether.

Yet none were getting any extra support. That’s wrong. A lot of people’s jobs are at stake. Similarly, under the tighter Tier 3 restrictions, much more support is needed especially for low paid workers whose jobs are likely to be hit.

As I told the Health Minister in Parliament, in order to maintain support for new health restrictions, the Government needs to listen to those who are being most affected by them. The new restrictions particularly affect the north – so there has to be an urgent plan for jobs in the north so we don’t have a return to the 1980s.

The Government also needs to make sure that their health plan is clear enough and strong enough to get the virus back under control and to make progress before Christmas so that people have something to look forward to.

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Yet Ministers seem to be drifting and changing the rules every few days in a confused way. That makes it harder for people to follow the rules and risks things just getting worse throughout the winter which would be much tougher on everyone.

As for the test and trace system, I despair about the way it is being run. The Government is pouring millions into private test and trace contracts with big companies like SERCO. Yet thousands of contacts are being missed. Local public health teams are doing a far better job.

Shockingly SERCO just announced even higher profits this year – over £160m. They are profiting from failure while our communities are struggling. It’s appalling. The Government should give the money to local public health teams to run Test and Trace instead.

This is a critical moment. We need a proper Government plan so that the country and our communities can pull together again now so there is progress by Christmas.