Some important news from the last couple of weeks regarding the national fight against Coronavirus to be aware of, with new restrictions in certain areas of the country where the rate of transmission has increased. The Government has also reintroduced travel restrictions to certain countries where the risk to British nationals has been deemed to be unacceptable. You will need to quarantine when returning from these places.
Locally there has been good news. The toilet facilities in Queen's Park Cafe have been reopened allowing people to visit who otherwise would not have been able. We have also seen encouraging statistics in regards to local police recruitment as well as funding to keep our streets safer and to improve local school facilities. Additionally the Chancellor's 'Eat Out to Help Out' scheme has up to now been a great success with many local restaurants reporting fantastic levels of footfall earlier this week.
Dr Kieran Mullan
MP for Crewe & Nantwich
New Covid-19 Measures
Updated Travel Advice
Eat Out to Help Out
Safer Street Fund and Police Officer Recruitment
Toilet Facilities in Queen's Park
School Improvement Projects
Visor Delivery
Business Grants
Cat Award - Peter Cooper
Traffic Report
New Covid-19 Measures:
Last week the Prime Minister announced new national measures in the fight against Coronavirus. We always said that the planned easing of lockdown measures would be reviewed regularly and that keeping everybody safe would always be the Governments top priority. I know how difficult this will be for many businesses that are affected. They are difficult decisions for any Government to make. These include:
- A postponement for the reopening of higher risk venues such as Casinos and Bowling Alleys for at least a fortnight
- From the 8th August mandatory face mask will also be extended to indoor places where you come in contact with people you do not usually meet such as places of worship, cinemas, galleries and museums
The Health Secretary also announced that new guidelines were to be introduced in some parts of England due to an increase in Coronavirus cases. The areas affected are Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and East Lancashire.
In these areas the rules include:
- Having no visitors inside your home, if you live in the affected areas
- Public venues in the affected area such as pubs and restaurants can open but you should not meet people from outside your household or social bubbles
You should therefore avoid meeting friends and family who live in the above areas for the time being in indoor settings. I think it is good to have these rules in mind just incase we have a local lockdown. I have seen nothing to suggest we will but this is sadly the new normal for us all now.
https://www.gov.uk/…/coronavirus-outbreak-faqs-what-you-can…
Updated travel advice:
As you may be aware, last week the Government updated their travel advice and restriction for those returning from Spain and Luxembourg. Additionally last night Belgium, the Bahamas and Andorra were also added. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office now advises against all but essential travel to these destinations and as such they have been removed from the list of exemption countries and territories who do not require 14 days of self-isolation upon your return to the UK. This is because the risk of travel has been assessed as unacceptable and, although it may be difficult for some, protecting the public is always the highest priority.
The Government was clear from the start that a country’s place on the exemption list was subject to the continued control of Coronavirus cases and that there was always a risk that the rules could change at very short notice. As we approach Summer Holiday season, I would encourage anyone who is planning on travelling abroad to be aware of any recent developments and understand that no travel at the present time is completely risk free. There is always a chance that the rules could change very quickly while you are away, and you should be prepared for such an eventuality. You can read the FCO travel advice for every destination here: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice
Eat Out to Help Out Restaurants:
Chancellor Rishi Sunak recently unveiled the "Eat Out To Help Out" scheme as part of a series of measures to restart the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic. This scheme opened on Monday 3rd August and customers can receive a discount of up to £10 off per head if they eat out from Monday to Wednesday at participating restaurants.
As an MP for Crewe & Nantwich, I am looking to support businesses in my constituency and I encourage all my constituents to consider visiting eating establishments participating in this scheme.
Find a registered establishment near you by entering your post code on the government website: https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/eat-out-to-help-out/find-a-restaurant
Safer Street Fund & Police Officer Recruitment:
I am pleased to see that the Cheshire Police Crime Commissioner will receive £550,000 to crack down on burglary and theft in crime hotspots. There is strong evidence that crimes such as these can be prevented by tactics that either remove opportunities to commit crime or act as a deterrent by increasing the chances of an offender being caught. This funding will help pay for:
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More CCTV cameras
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Improving Home Security
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Neighbourhood Watch Schemes
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Street lighting
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Crime Prevention Advice
The Home Secretary Priti Patel said "I will not stand by while criminals inflict fear and misery on our communities. That is why I set up this fund to ensure we are doing all we can to prevent people falling victim to these crimes."
In more good news in the fight against crime the Government also announced that the Police Officer recruitment drive, which began in September, has already recruited 4,300 into local Police Forces – 54 of which are here in Cheshire. This means we are well on our way to deliver on our manifesto commitment for 20,000 new Police Officers.
Toilet Facilities in Queen's Park:
Many residents have been in contact with me regarding the lack of open toilet facilities in Queen's Park Café and I know it is important for enabling some people to visit. I am pleased to learn that the toilets at the Café are now open again. Thank you to Cheshire East for finding a safe and sensible way to resolve this issue.
School Improvement Projects:
I was pleased to see this week that the Government has fast-tracked 580 Building projects worth £560 Million. These projects will, increase pupil capacity, de-carbonise classrooms and Improve the quality of school buildings. This funding comes on top of £1.4 billion this year to improve schools and a £14 billion injection into the school system over the next three years – ensuring every child has the opportunity to fulfil their potential.
The Oaks Academy in Crewe will be one of the schools to benefit from this, with a project worth over £680,000.
Visor Delivery:
It was a pleasure to meet with NTCG The Lighthouse Centre, Crewe to pass on some visors provided by NHS Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group - CCG. It has been great to see local organisations working together to support each other during COVID. We were also able to pass on visors to Hopes and Beams.
Business grants:
On 2 May the Government announced a new discretionary grant for small businesses that didn’t fit the criteria for the existing grant schemes. Cheshire East previously rolled out their criteria for the first two phases of this grant. Phase 3 will is now accepting applications until 8am 17 August 2020. This third phase is opened up to a wider range of businesses.
Applications can be made via this link.
You do not need to apply if you have already applied under the previous two phases as your application will be rolled over. I would encourage all businesses that haven’t applied for phase one or two to gather any information they feel will be useful, this could be evidence of continued costs as well as evidence of a drop of income and apply as soon as possible as I anticipate a high level of applications with a limited amount of funds to award. The full criteria can be found at https://www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/pdf/covid-19/discretionary-grant-policy-phase-3.pdf
Cat Award – Pete Cooper:
This week’s Community Hero for The Cat 107.9 Pete has been a volunteer at Leighton Hospital for 3 years and is on the Main Entrance as a Meet and Greet.
Nominating him, Carole Salmon said “He is always smiling and keen to support staff and visitors and plays an integral role all in his own time. Especially at the moment he is ensuring everyone entering the building at that busy area is given a mask to wear during their time in the hospital. His Christmas suit went down a storm in 2019 and people were giving him donations for MCHC to have a selfie with him!”
Well done and thanks for the cheers Pete! I really hope Pete enjoys his special cake made by local baker Gill Clark at Baked by Gill. I understand this will be the last of the weekly CAT awards with the award moving to a monthly one. I'll be continuing to highlight the award but would also like to promote other stories so if you know of any other stories please get in touch.
Traffic Report:
Stoneley Road - Closed 9th August 8am-5pm
Cherry Tree Road - Closed 13th August till 17th August
Deneside Avenue - Closed till 14th August
Denver Avenue - Closed 12th August till 17th August
Yew Tree Road - Closed 12th August till 18th August
Milton Drive - Closed 13th August till 19th August
Millstone Lane - Closed till 10th August
Closed for Town Centre Social Distancing:
Pillory Street, Nantwich
Pall Mall, Nantwich
Hospital Street, Nantwich
Church Lane, Nantwich
Heath Street, Crewe
Hill Street, Crewe
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