BBC Spotlight

Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly will enter tier one and Devon will enter tier two of coronavirus restrictions when the national lockdown ends next Wednesday, the government has announced., external

Differences between the tiers include limits on where households can meet up - for instance, in the new tier one, the rule of six applies indoors and out.

In tier two, the rule of six remains outdoors but there is no household mixing indoors.

Martyn Oates
BBC South West Political Editor

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has set out what the UK government will spend on health, education, transport and other public services next year.

He also briefed MPs about the state of the UK economy and the latest forecasts for the UK's public finances, which have been battered by the Covid pandemic.

But it was a broad brush speech. So, what parts of it will benefit the South West?

And will there be any replacement for EU cash that the UK is about to lose because of Brexit?

Jenny Walrond
Health Correspondent, BBC Spotlight

A further four people have died with Covid-19 in Devon's hospitals.

According to the latest figures, there was one death at Plymouth's Derriford Hospital, one at the Northern Devon Healthcare Trust, one at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital and one at Torbay Hospital.

It brings the total number of hospital deaths in the county related to coronavirus to 293.

In Cornwall, there have been 96 coronavirus-related deaths.

EU money is to help create charging sites for towns and villages with little or no provision.

BBC Radio Cornwall

The EU and Cornwall Council are to spend more than £3.5m to install 150 electric car charging points in Cornwall.

The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is contributing £2.9m and the council said it had committed a further £725,000 to cover the remaining cost for the plans.

The council said the points will be installed at council-owned car parks and offices, as well as towns and villages where there were currently no or little provision.

It would bring the number of public charging points available to more than 360 by 2023, it said.

The government announced last week that plans to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars would be brought forward by 10 years to 2030.

Last year, more than 72,000 electric or hybrid cars were sold in the UK.

In March alone of this year, there were 20,000 sales - indicating a significant upward trend.

Latest news and updates from Devon and Cornwall.

BBC Radio Cornwall

Government plans to bail out regional airports such as Newquay have been welcomed - but some say they do not go far enough.

The new support package will see airports being able to apply for up to £8m of financial help from the government from January.

It will provide business rates relief and cover costs per airport.

It followed industry concerns that regional hubs would struggle to survive without help.

But the managing director of Cornwall Airport Newquay, Pete Downes, said the Cornwall site would not get anything like that amount of cash as the criteria of the package did not support all of its outgoings and lost income.

Earlier this month, Cornwall Airport Newquay was forced to close its doors to all but emergency services, and bosses said the industry was "on the brink".

The airport is subsidised by Cornwall Council, which agreed in September that £5.6m could be diverted from its £12m funding for the Cornwall spaceport, should no other support be secured from the government.

BBC Radio Devon

About a third of schools in Plymouth and Torbay have pupils self-isolating because of coronavirus.

In the Devon county area, it is about 10% of schools.

The latest figures available from Torbay Council show there are 865 pupils and 74 teachers in the area that have tested positive.

Paul Gosling, of the National Association of Head Teachers in the South West, is the head at Exeter Road Primary School in Exmouth.

He said this term had been tough for everyone.

BBC Radio Cornwall

The rate of Covid-19 infections in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly has fallen slightly again to 62 in every 100,000 people.

The England average is 177 per 100,000.

However, four more people have died from coronavirus in the county, bringing the total during the pandemic to 213.

Reading influencers grew in popularity during lockdown as people fell back in love with books.

Stephen Evans drove on after injuring professional rider Jean-Pierre de Villiers, a court hears.

Andrew Segal
BBC South West

A Devon MP thinks the county will be placed in the middle tier of coronavirus restrictions after Boris Johnson announced what would happen when lockdown ended next week.

Anne Marie Morris, the Conservative MP for Newton Abbot, said the county being "on the brink" of tier 2 before the current England-wide lockdown started, and it was possible the county could go over that brink.

Meanwhile, environment secretary and Camborne & Redruth MP George Eustice has warned Cornwall's low number of coronavirus cases did not mean the county would automatically be placed on the lowest level of restriction when lockdown eased.

Mr Eustice told the BBC he believed most of the country will be placed in tier two, although it "has not been decided yet".

BBC Spotlight

A further four people have died with Covid-19 in Devon's hospitals.

According to the latest figures, there were two deaths at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, and one each at Plymouth's Derriford Hospital and the Northern Devon Healthcare Trust.

It brings the total number of hospital deaths in the county related to coronavirus to 289.

In Cornwall, there have been 96 coronavirus-related deaths.

BBC Radio Cornwall

The number of cases of Covid-19 has decreased in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

In the seven days to 19 November, there were 66 cases per 100,000 people - down by 107 on the previous week.

The average area in England had 187 per 100,000.

Tamsin Melville
Political Reporter, BBC South West

Cornwall and Devon's businesses are waiting to see how new Covid rules will affect them when the England-wide lockdown ends next Wednesday.

There will be three tiers - slightly tougher than the last ones - and an announcement is due on Thursday.

Gyms and non-essential shops in all parts of England will be allowed to reopen from 2 December under a strengthened three-tiered system.

Spectators will be allowed to return to some sporting events, and weddings and collective worship will resume.

Where pubs and restaurants are allowed to open, last orders will now be at 10pm, with drinkers allowed a further hour to finish their drinks.

Indoor performances - such as those at the theatre - will also return in the lower two tiers, although with reduced capacity.

The decision on which regions are in which tiers will be based on a number of factors including case numbers, the reproduction rate - or R number - and pressure on local NHS services.

Tier allocations will be reviewed every 14 days, and the regional approach will last until March.

There is no guarantee Devon and Cornwall will return to the lowest tier; but, if they do, businesses can prepare to get back to something near normal.

Rebecca Heane, who runs a homeware shop in Falmouth, said such moves were being welcomed as the High Street should not just be treated as a place to shop.

Richard Whitehouse
Local Democracy Reporting Service

The roof of the Cornwall Energy Recovery Centre (CERC) is finally set to be repaired.

Since it opened in 2017 in St Dennis, the roof of the CERC has been damaged three times, most recently in February 2020, a report to Cornwall Council detailing the repairs said.

On the most recent occasion, two areas of the roof were damaged and the top sheet of the roof came loose and insulation was blown free.

Operator Suez, said that, despite this damage and repairs undertaken to date, the plant had continued to operate and no waste had been diverted to landfill as a result.

The company says that it has been investigating the problems with the roof and was due to start temporary repairs at the end of October so that the roof was weather-proof for the winter.

Suez said the global pandemic and travel restrictions meant investigations into the damage took longer than expected.

Repairs to the roof are planned for summer 2021, which will ensure a design review and “potential redesign” are complete, Suez said.

The gas cookers had passed rigorous testing and were deemed safe but a deadly flaw had been missed.

The story behind the plaque: the fast life and freakishly unlucky death of Karl Edwards.

Adam Hughes, 21, from Cornwall, was on a three-week holiday when he decided to swim across a river.

BBC Spotlight

People in their 20s are no longer the age group with the highest proportion of positive Covid-19 tests across Devon.

The latest figures, based on tests reported between 17 and 22 November, show that across Plymouth and the Devon County Council area, the 50 to 59 age group had the highest proportion of cases, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

But, in Torbay, 10 to 19 year olds are seeing the highest proportion, although the total number of cases in the area is much lower than other places and actual numbers had only slightly risen, the figures showed.

The proportion of positive cases in 10 to 19 year olds has also risen in Plymouth, but in Devon it is flat and has fallen in Cornwall.

The numbers of over-60s testing positive has increased in Devon and Plymouth, but fallen in Torbay and Cornwall.

• Covid-19 in the UK: How many coronavirus cases are there in your area?