Reference: D52363
Decision Maker: Director of Public Health
Decision status: Recommendations Approved
Is Key decision?: No
Is subject to call in?: No
What decision has been taken:-
The Director of Public Health has given –
1. Leeds City Council (“the Authority”), in exercise of
the powers conferred by regulation 4(1) of the Health Protection
(Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) (No. 3) Regulations 2020
(“the No. 3 Regulations”), gives the following
direction.
2. The Authority considers that the following conditions are
met:-
a. this direction responds to a serious and imminent threat to
public health;
b. this direction is necessary for the purpose of preventing,
protecting against, controlling or providing a public health
response to the incidence or spread of infection by coronavirus in
the Authority’s area; and
c. the prohibitions, requirements or restrictions imposed by this
direction are a proportionate means of achieving that
purpose.
3. Before giving this Direction, the Authority has had regard
to-
a. any advice given to it by its Acting Director of Public Health;
and
b. the need to ensure that members of the public have access to
essential public services and goods (including whether the
individual premises forms part of essential infrastructure).
c. The Authority’s Public Sector Equality Duty under section
149 of the Equality Act 2010
4. The Authority has taken reasonable steps to give advance notice
of this direction to the owner or any occupier of the premises or a
person carrying on/managing a business from the premises to which
the direction relates.
Authorisation is given to issue a direction to prohibit both venues
hosting wedding ceremonies/receptions or other celebratory
gatherings, meaning that the restaurants would only be able to take
bookings and accept parties of up to 6 persons or single household
groups.
A brief statement of the reasons for the decision:-
Legal -
The Regulations give the power to the local authority to issue a
Direction if the authority considers that the following conditions
are met -
a) that giving such a direction responds to a serious and imminent
threat to public health,
b) that the direction is necessary for the purpose of preventing,
protecting against, controlling or providing a public health
response to the incidence or spread of infection by coronavirus in
the local authority's area, and
c) that the prohibitions, requirements or restrictions imposed by
the direction are a proportionate means of achieving that
purpose.
Authorisation is given to issue a direction to prohibit both venues
hosting wedding ceremonies/receptions or other celebratory
gatherings, meaning that the restaurants would only be able to take
bookings and accept parties of up to 6 persons or single household
groups.
La La’s restaurant, 501 Leeds and Bradford Road, Pudsey,
Leeds LS28 8EE and Mumtaz restaurant, 1 & 2 Mackenzie House,
Chadwick Street, Leeds, LS10 1PJ must implement restricted entry to
the Premises of any persons who enter for the purpose of a wedding
ceremony/reception or celebratory gathering in order to protect the
Leeds population and populations of surrounding Local Authorities
from the significant Public Health risk of COVID-19 and the spread
of this highly infectious disease
The Authority considers that the following conditions required
under the Regulations are met -
1: This direction responds to a serious and imminent threat to
public health;
The infection rate of COVID-19 across Leeds has continued to rise
over the last few weeks, our 7 day infection rate is now 367.6 per
100,000 (period 24th to 30th September), therefore it is essential
ensure all measures are in place to protect the public’s
health.
Furthermore there continues to be an upward trend across Leeds and
the whole of Yorkshire and Humber. We continue to see widespread
community transmission across Leeds.
Events of this nature are likely to lead to more people
congregating within a specific area. This will increase the
likelihood of people from different households coming into closer
proximity with each other, increasing the risk of transmission of
COVID-19 and worsening the local situation.
2: This direction is necessary for the purpose of preventing,
protecting against controlling or providing a public health
response to the incidence or spread of infection by coronavirus in
the Authority’s area;
The data demonstrates clear evidence of ongoing and heightened
transmission of COVID-19 across Leeds. Allowing premises to host
wedding ceremonies/receptions or any other celebratory events with
parties above 6 or from a single household to take place that would
lead to large numbers of people congregating together and
represents a threat to ongoing measures to contain the virus and
limit its transmission. Such a threat is mitigated by the premises
adhering strictly to the restrictions set out in Regulations and
Guidance. Information received from West Yorshire Police and Leeds
City Council enforcement officers indicate these premises are not
adhering strictly enough to the restrictions and so not mitigating
the threat.
There are a high number of situations across different settings
affecting schools, workplaces and care homes. All wards now have a
rate of over a 100 per 100 000 and 26 wards have shown significant
increase in rates over the last 2 weeks. Leeds is currently in
enhanced restrictions to minimise spread and harm.
3: The prohibitions, requirements or restrictions imposed by this
direction are a proportionate means of achieving that
purpose;
Holding the weddings or similar events poses an additional,
unnecessary risk to the local spread of infection in a context of
rising infection rates across Leeds and the prevention of the event
is the only and proportionate response to the current situation.
The restrictions on these two premises may have a disproportionate
affect on the Asian community but this has been mitigated by the
availability of other premises who are not restricted in this way
and that these two premises can still operate in a limited
way.
The Public Sector Equality duty means we have to consider how
decisions affect people who are protected under the Equality Act.
Decisions can be made that may be seen as having a negative impact
as long as mitigation has been considered. In this case the
mitigation is that the Health Protection Regulations have been put
in place to protect lives. If this decision was challenged the
mitigation in this case is that the protection of lives would be
seen as a priority over any potential challenges of discrimination
or disadvantage.
Wards Affected: (All Wards);
Contact: Lynne Hellewell, Public Health Business Manager 0113 3786042 Email: lynne.hellewell@leeds.gov.uk.
Publication date: 09/10/2020
Accompanying Documents: