Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will set out the criteria for moving a local area from tier two covid-19 restrictions to tier one.

The Joint Biosecurity Centre closely monitors a range of data - case rates, hospital admissions, positivity and age distribution - to understand and track the spread of the virus across local areas. This data combined with local insight and professional judgement from local partners and leaders is used to make recommendations on the escalation and de-escalation of areas to Local COVID Alert Levels.

Recommendations for the allocation of areas to Local COVID Alert Levels are made at a weekly meeting of the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care-chaired Local Action Committee, with the Chief Medical Officer and senior representatives from NHS Test and Trace, Joint Biosecurity Centre and Public Health England, before decisions are finalised, where necessary, by the COVID-O Cabinet Sub-Committee and the Prime Minister.