Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he (a) consulted Halton Borough Council or (b) received any representations from that Council or the Director of Public Health for Halton before to announcing the additional covid-19 measures on Friday 18 September 2020 to be implemented for the Liverpool City Region.

Regional teams held discussions with Directors of Public Health (DPH) for all affected areas before the consultation. No further representations were made by either the council or the DPH for Halton.

The decision was based on the strong links between all the areas for work, family and socialising, as the incidence rate continued to rise in Halton in line with the rest of the region. At 11-17 September 2020 the weekly incidence rate was 60.7 per 100,000 population, which was significantly above the national average. A further discussion was held with the collective DsPH for Merseyside and deputy for Halton post the GOLD meeting on 17 September.