Surrey borough's tighter COVID-19 rules could be 'long term', warns council leader

Elmbridge’s council leader has warned residents to be prepared that higher Covid-19 restrictions could be long-term.

It was announced on Thursday (15 October) that the Surrey borough would move from the lowest tier, medium, up to the next level, high alert, from 00.01am on Saturday.

Council leader Stuart Selleck said yesterday (19 October) he did not want people to expect this to last only until the next review in two weeks.

He said: “Bear in mind other parts of the country have had restrictions for two or three months. This is not a short-term decision one way or the other. We have to view it in terms of a much longer term.”

He is not against accepting the severest restrictions of tier three, if the situation does not improve.

He said: “Lancashire’s done it, Liverpool’s done it, because they recognise that the pain that their residents have gone through unfortunately has not had the desired effect, so you have to react.”

Though Cllr Selleck, also leader of Molesey Residents’ Association, was not surprised by the move, he was perplexed because residents had been observant of the rules of six, he said. “No one has put a finger on why” the number of cases in Elmbridge has continued to rise.

“I go around Molesey and I think, how can this be happening in Elmbridge? The vast majority were adhering and over-adhering to tier one restrictions, so we are surprised that this information’s coming through, that Elmbridge has been put into the higher category.”

But the numbers are rising and so doing nothing was not an option – and if he fought a move to a higher tier “it would be imposed anyway,” he said.

“If you get to a level where your gut instinct says, hang on this is getting out of control, for whatever reason, action has to be taken urgently.

“You can’t stick your head in the sand.”

He added: “There is no way we could turn round to the government and say, you’ve got this totally wrong, because there is no evidence to prove that one way or another.

“There’s a certain generation that, even though we’re only in tier two, they’re very worried. That nervousness has to be addressed.”

Councillor Christine Elmer, portfolio holder for community and corporate development, said there was a wide range of views in the borough, with some wanting full lockdown and others distrusting the numbers.

She said: “It’s a balancing act all the time; you’ve got residents on the one hand wanting more restrictions, and you’ve got others that actually think it’s gone too far already. It’s a really tough line to call.”

University cities of Exeter (rate per 100,000 population is 1,160) and Oxford (1,172) remain in tier one yet both their rates surpass tier two Elmbridge (790) and London (average 820).

An Elmbridge Council spokesperson said: “It’s not just the numbers, it’s direction of travel, NHS impact, contact-tracing intelligence, lots of other factors. It’s also not just contained within one certain area of Elmbridge.”

Cllr Selleck added: “It’s unfortunately spread right across the demographic, it’s not one particular age group that’s had all the effect.

“At what stage does tier three kick in, I don’t know.

“I don’t know what powers I or any leader has to resist. There’s no point in having confrontation, because that doesn’t achieve anything for the residents.”

He urged people to follow the restrictions: “We want residents to understand the severity of the situation we’re all in.

“If they are responsible and have confidence that we’re helping them, then we’ll get through this very quickly, If they don’t, well we won’t.”

Tier two means households are banned from mixing indoors – not only in people’s homes but also in pubs and restaurants.