Leader's pledge as Solihull - and region - teeters on brink of Tier 3 - The Solihull Observer

Leader's pledge as Solihull - and region - teeters on brink of Tier 3

Solihull Editorial 30th Oct, 2020   0

“THIS Covid-19 pandemic is costing lives, jobs, wellbeing and futures. What we do next is a MUST and not a request. I know I can count on you all to do the right thing for Solihull.”

That was the message from Council Leader Ian Courts as the region teeters on the brink of being moved up to Tier 3 restrictions.

He said: “Across this great borough of Solihull and indeed across the West Midlands, we have endured huge impacts on our daily lives, coped with adversity and some of us have sadly lost people we love and care about.

“I am proud of how we, the people of Solihull, with our public services; including our NHS staff, our schools, our police, and our council staff, alongside our businesses and our learners have met this adversity.




“However, the green shoots of recovery from Covid-19 and a return to normal life have slipped away from us.

“We are now firmly in a second wave of the pandemic.


“Our Covid-19 positive case rates are rising to levels which we saw earlier in the year.

“People are becoming very poorly again and tragically more people are succumbing to this virus.”

He added that the region’s hospitals were now nearly at capacity and a decision on what further measures to take were imminent to get on top of the second wave of Covid-19.

“In the coming week I will be working alongside my fellow leaders and the WMCA Mayor to lead discussions with government ministers,” he said.

“We now need to understand the case for national Tier 3 restrictions and push for new measures that will work for us.

“Crucially we need clarity on how we can spend the least time with any additional measures and how we then de-escalate them.

“I will be pushing for the right financial package to help us prevent and overcome the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic in Solihull.

“I have to be clear that this will mean more enforcement measures for the small number of people in our borough who are not prepared to follow the law and guidance.

“Solihull is the engine of our West Midlands economy but it is spluttering and will stall if we do not get on top of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“All of this work is based on one clear and unequivocal fact. Every single one of us MUST follow the current and any future restrictions and guidance.”

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