LOCAL AUTHORITIES in England are receiving a share of £300 million to develop tailored plans to control the spread of COVID-19, which will help to identify and contain potential outbreaks locally in places such as workplaces, housing complexes, care homes and schools. The three upper-tier authorities in Devon will receive £4.9 million in total, with £2.6 million given to Devon County Council and the remaining £2.3 million split between the unitary authorities of Plymouth and Torbay.
Commenting, Central Devon MP Mel Stride who chairs the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee said:
“This new funding, and the flexibility to spend it where they see fit, will be welcomed by our local authorities. This could be spent recruiting additional staff to support local services such as the adult social care sector. Close cooperation with local NHS providers, for example over Test and Trace, will also be crucial. As lockdown measures continue to be lifted to breathe life into our economy we will face pockets of outbreaks, as we have seen in Leicester, and it is vital these are identified and contained effectively.”
The £300 million of funding is on top of the £3.2 billion the Government has provided to support local authorities provide crucial services during the coronavirus outbreak.