December 3, 2020 4.07 pm This story is over 9 months old

Grantham MP calls for tier 2 for south Lincolnshire only

He wants to split Lincolnshire into two tiers
The infection rates in Lincolnshire up to November 26. | Map: Gov UK

The MP for Grantham and Stamford said Lincolnshire should be divided into two lockdown tiers, with the south of the county going into tier 2, while central and northern areas remain in tier 3.

Gareth Davies MP voted in favour of the new three-tier system, but he disagrees with the ranking for his constituency: “In the south of Lincolnshire we all know that we very rarely travel to the north where they are having extremely high rates of infection, so it is only right that the government look at south Lincolnshire on its own merits.”

South Holland and South Kesteven are the only two districts in Greater Lincolnshire with lower infection rates than the national average, but are still in tier 3 restrictions.

Gareth Davies added: “I was profoundly disappointed to see this given that our rates of infection were more in line with a tier 2 classification.”

“We have been assigned to tier 3 because of the extremely high rates of infection in the north of the county, specifically East Lindsey and Boston.”

Gareth Davies, Grantham and Stamford MP

On December 2, South Holland had the lowest infection rate in Greater Lincolnshire, with 121 per 100,000 of the population. It ranked 208th in the country out of 380 authorities.

South Kesteven was the second lowest district in Greater Lincolnshire with an infection rate of 148.1 on December 2 and ranked 151th.

Both districts are below the national average of 157.6, and infection rates are reducing each day.

| Data: GOV UK / Table: The Lincolnite

Gareth Davies has worked with Sir John Hayes, MP for South Holland and the Deepings, to call for a review of their specific tier on a more localised basis, so that the movement patterns of south Lincolnshire residents are better reflected.

Together with Sir Edward Leigh MP, County Council Leader Martin Hill and other local leaders, they wrote to the Prime Minister to call for a district-based approach to tiering.

Sir John Hayes, South Holland and the Deepings MP.

Matt Hancock replied: “We will formally review the data and tier allocations for all area across England on December 16 and every two weeks thereafter, and I can assure you that we will again assess each area individually, including areas within Lincolnshire such as south Lincolnshire, on its own merits based on the five criteria we set out in the Winter Plan.”

He added the government will take “into account the very challenging impact of tier 3 measures.”

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