• Residents will be restricted by law from mixing with people outside their household in any indoor setting
• Bolton will be brought in line with measures in Greater Manchester

In close discussions with local leaders, the Health and Social Care Secretary, NHS Test and Trace, the Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC), Public Health England (PHE) and the Chief Medical Officer for England have agreed to strengthen local measures in parts of the North East and North West.

Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Halton, Liverpool City Region, (Liverpool, Knowsley, Sefton, St Helens, the Wirral) and Warrington will be brought in line with the latest measures announced on Monday for Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Northumberland and Sunderland in the North East.

From midnight on Saturday 3 October, residents in the Liverpool City Region, Halton, Warrington, Hartlepool and Middlesbrough must not meet anyone outside their household or bubble in any indoor setting, including private homes and gardens. These measures will be enforceable by law and subject to fines. It comes as incidence rates in Liverpool, St Helens, Knowsley, Halton and Warrington are above 170 per 100,000.

We also recommend that people do not meet with anyone outside their household or bubble in outdoor public spaces, such as parks and outdoor hospitality.

Alongside these measures, £7 million of funding will be provided to these local authorities to support them with their vital work.

Schools and COVID-secure settings are not affected and remain open. Residents in these areas are also advised to only travel for essential reasons, such as going to work, or school and are encouraged to walk or cycle where possible.

Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said:

Our strategy is to suppress the virus, protecting the economy, education and the NHS, until a vaccine can make us safe.

I understand how much of an imposition these new measures are. I want rules like this to stay in place for as short a time as possible. I am sure we all do.

The more people follow the rules and reduce their social contact, the quicker we can get Liverpool, and the North East, back on their feet.

In addition, from midnight on Saturday 3 October, Bolton will be brought in line with measures in place throughout the rest of Greater Manchester as case rates have fallen. This means hospitality businesses including bars, pubs, cafes, restaurants can resume table service subject to early 10pm closure and the rule of 6 restrictions.

Bowling alleys, indoor skating rinks, casinos, indoor play, including soft play and conference centres and exhibit halls will also be able to reopen in Bolton. Previous advice against restarting indoor theatrical or concert performances will no longer apply. Restrictions on attending weddings, wedding receptions and funerals will be brought in line with the rest of Greater Manchester and the country.

PHE, the JBC and NHS Test and Trace constantly monitor the levels of infection and other data on prevalence of the virus across the country. The government is prepared to take immediate action should the epidemiological evidence show that further measures are required. Restrictions will only apply for as long as they are necessary to cut transmission of the virus and protect local communities.

As announced previously, childcare bubbles will be able to form in areas of intervention to allow families to share caring responsibilities with another household, as long as they are consistent. This includes formal and informal childcare arrangements.

Changes to the watchlist

North West

• Barrow-in-Furness added as an area of concern
• Cheshire West and Chester added as an area of concern
• Cheshire East added as an area of concern

West Yorkshire

• Wakefield added as an area of concern

South Yorkshire

• Sheffield escalated to an area of enhanced support
• Rotherham added as an area of concern

East Midlands

• Blaby de-escalated to an area of concern

North East

• Hartlepool and Middlesbrough added to areas of intervention

South east

• Spelthorne removed from the watchlist

East England

• Hertsmere removed from the watchlist
• Luton added as an area of concern

Background information

Liverpool City Region includes Liverpool, Knowsley, Sefton, St. Helens, Wirral.

From midnight on Saturday 3 October, residents in Liverpool City Region, Halton, Warrington, Hartlepool and Middlesbrough must not meet anyone outside their household or bubble in any setting, except outdoor public spaces, such as parks and outdoor hospitality.

This builds on measures already in place restricting residents from mixing with other households in private homes or gardens in the Liverpool City Region and Warrington. See the full surveillance report which includes this week’s watchlist and what the different categorisations mean.

The 3 definitions for JBC and PHE’s watchlist are:

• areas of concern
• areas of enhanced support
• areas of intervention

For ‘areas of concern’, upper-tier local authorities (UTLAs) will work with partners, supported by regional PHE and NHS Test and Trace resource, to take additional actions to manage outbreaks and reduce community spread of the virus to more normal levels. Actions taken may include additional targeted testing at high risk areas or groups, for example care homes, enhanced communications around the importance of social distancing, hand hygiene and other preventative measures, and more detailed epidemiological work to understand where clusters of the virus are occurring so that appropriate action can be taken.

On top of this, areas deemed for ‘enhanced support’ will be provided with increased national support, capacity and oversight, including additional resources deployed to augment the local teams where this is necessary. Actions taken may include significant additional widespread testing deployed to the UTLAs, national support for local recommendations put in place to manage outbreaks, and detailed engagement with high risk groups and sectors to help increase the effectiveness of testing and tracing in these areas.

In addition, ‘areas of intervention’ are defined where there is divergence from the lockdown measures in place in the rest of England because of the significance of the spread of COVID-19. There are a range of non-pharmaceutical interventions available to local and national leaders, from extensive communications, expanded testing, to restrictions on businesses and gatherings

See the Contain Framework for more information.

Schools, colleges, teachers and pupils across England will benefit from new remote education support to help children learn at home if they have to self-isolate, the Education Secretary has announced today (1 October).

The new support includes an additional 100,000 laptops to be made available for those children most in need if they’re required to learn at home, as well as expanding the EdTech Demonstrator programme to ensure schools and teachers are able to make best use of technology available to them to enhance the at-home learning given to their pupils.

The Government has also today published a Temporary Continuity Direction, regarding the provision of remote education in schools, under the Coronavirus Act 2020. The Direction means schools have a duty to provide education to children at home, as they do when children are in the classroom.

Thanks to the hard work of teachers and staff, and the collective effort of parents, over seven million children and young people returned to the classroom in September. The Direction will help provide assurances to both pupils and parents that if pupils have to self-isolate at home their education will not be disrupted.

In the event of a confirmed case, schools are following the necessary guidance, including requiring small groups of children to self-isolate. In these cases, continuing to provide education is an absolute necessity. The Direction helps ensure this and sets a clear expectation on the high-quality education they should receive.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said:

The best place for children and young people to learn is in the classroom, which is why we made it a national priority to get all pupils back into schools and colleges full-time, and why I have been so pleased to see millions of them returning over the past few weeks.

We have also, as we would expect, seen small numbers of students self-isolating in line with public health advice. It’s vital these students have access to high quality and consistent remote education.

I know that through the incredible hard work of our teachers and staff, pupils will continue to receive the education they deserve through this academic year, whatever the circumstances, and I will do everything I can to support our schools, colleges and young people in making sure that’s the case.

To support schools and colleges, the Government has added 100,000 laptops to the reserve of 150,000 already made available, and the 220,000 already delivered to those pupils most in need so they can continue their education.

The extra devices will be available to support: disadvantaged children in Years 3-11 who do not already have access to a device; disadvantaged, clinically extremely vulnerable children of all year groups who are unable to return to school, and children in all year groups unable to access remote education whilst attending a hospital school.

Over £1m of additional funding will also be invested in expanding the EdTech Demonstrator programme, a network of schools and colleges that provide peer-to-peer support to help teachers and support workers use technology as effectively as possible.

The EdTech Demonstrator programme, which currently has capacity to provide bespoke one to one support to 3,400 schools and colleges, will be expanded to support a further 1,000. The existing network of Demonstrators will grow to 50 schools and colleges, supported by £1.5m of additional funding.

In total, the programme has already provided support to over 6,000 schools and colleges through webinars, tutorials, and bespoke one to one support to school staff.

New resources for staff, including a good practice guide and school-led webinars, will also be made available. This is in addition to the video lessons offered by the sector-led Oak National Academy, into which the Government is investing £4.84m, and other providers of quality education resources.

The package will also see 80 grants of £1,000 to Further Education (FE) providers across England, providing additional training and support for mentors and coaches specialising in assisting teachers with remote education.

Schools that are accessing free devices or that are newly set up on an education digital platform, are encouraged to access the funded support available through the EdTech Demonstrator programme.

Recent attendance statistics show that 99.8% of state-funded schools were open on 24 September, with the overwhelming majority of children and young people continuing their education with minimal disruption.