Councils warn they cannot legally enforce ‘local lockdowns’

Local authority leaders have warned that councils do not have the legal powers to enforce a ‘local lockdown’ to prevent clusters of coronavirus cases spreading.

Matt Hancock, Health and Social Care Secretary, has previously claimed that the launch of the NHS test-and-trace system would enable ‘local lockdowns’ in an attempt to suppress outbreaks in the future. This is because tracing the contacts of those who turn out positive will allow for the monitoring of the emergence of hotspots.

However, the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee has heard that ministers need to urgently spell out what a local lockdown might mean in practical terms or risk a local outbreak spreading out of control.

Greg Fell, director of public health for Sheffield, said that while councils did have the power to act to control smaller outbreaks, such as in a school or a workplace or a care home, that did not apply for larger areas. Ian Hudspeth, the Conservative leader of Oxfordshire county council, said that central government needed to confirm what is meant by the local lockdown, including ‘clear guidance as to those powers and what is expected of us’.