Council leaders urge Prime Minister to put Derbyshire into tier two

It is not currently known which tier the Government will decide on for Derbyshire from December 2 when the current national lockdown ends.

But ahead of an announcement due in Parliament today about designated tiers for each area of the country, local leaders have raised concerns about the effect on the Derbyshire economy – which relies heavily on hospitality and tourism industry – if it is placed in tier three, which is the ‘very high’ alert level.

The letter, emailed by Coun Barry Lewis, Derbyshire County Council leader, asks the Prime Minister to ‘put the hospitality and tourism businesses in our county, which have suffered so very much since this global pandemic arriving on our shores, at the core of your thinking alongside the public health considerations regarding where we are placed in the new tiering arrangements.’

Of the letter, CounLewis said: “Where we are placed in the new tiering arrangements will be critical for our businesses and we’ve asked the Prime Minister to consider the impacts the highest tier placing will have on them and consider placing the county into the lowest tier possible.

“Based on the current rate of spread of the virus in Derbyshire, we believe this to be tier two or ‘high alert’.”