ST HELENS Borough Council will lobby the government to request that the national track and trace system be devolved to local authorities.

The proposition was one of a series of requests in a motion put forward by Labour councillor Seve Gomez-Aspron at full council on Wednesday.

Cllr David O’Keefe, leader of the Green Party group on the council, withdrew a similar motion in favour of an amendment to the Labour counterpart.

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The amendment called for all money that is currently going to private companies for track and trace to cease immediately, and that funding instead go to local public health teams and NHS Laboratories.

Cllr O’Keefe said the NHS Test and Trace has been an “interesting experiment”, but said it was “time to pull the plug”.

“We do have track and trace teams and we’ve always had them at our local public health teams and environmental health teams,” he said.

“Now, we also have NHS Laboratories, yet the vast amount of money has gone into private companies who have no experience or background in public health.

“And the results are in – it hasn’t worked and it’s time to pull the plug on it.”

Cllr Anthony Burns, cabinet member for public health, leisure, libraries and heritage, said the NHS Test and Trace service, which is primarily run by Serco along with a host of other private companies, has been a “farce”.

He also said the government’s tiered system, which has now been superseded by the national lockdown, has been “confusing” and “too little too late.”

Cllr Burns said: “Boris (Johnson) continues to over-promise and under-deliver, rejecting the advice of the professionals, such as the scientists, and running with his own waffle.

“He is confusing, he’s not leading. He’s arrogant and won’t learn from his mistakes, never mind admit them.”

Cllr Burns said he hopes the government will now use this time to reflect on the lessons learned during the pandemic and to put renewed focus on getting the track and trace system right.

He also said the government need to give clear instructions to the public, saying people “don’t know if they’re coming or going”.

The attacks on the government on the night and in the motion prompted a fierce rebuttal from Conservative councillor Rob Reynolds.

Cllr Reynolds criticised calls for a continuation of the government’s furlough scheme – something that has already been announced since the motion was published.

He also rejected a claim in the motion that the most vulnerable have been “abandoned” by the government, saying St Helens has received around £71 million throughout the crisis.

Cllr Reynolds said the motion “achieves nothing for the residents of St Helens” and accused Cllr Gomez-Aspron of using it for personal publicity.

“This motion demands that the government does something that they’ve already done and condemns them for doing something that they objectively haven’t done,” he said.

“And all we’re going to do about any of it is send another letter.

“This motion is ridiculous. It achieves nothing for the residents of St Helens.

“But it will get the name of Cllr Gomez-Aspron in the local papers, and I suspect that was all it was ever meant to do.”

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Cllr Reynolds said the Conservative group, who were without leader Allan Jones after he had to leave the meeting early, could not support the motion.

Responding to Cllr Reynold’s comments, Cllr Gomez-Aspron branded his Tory rival “lazy” and said he was “out of touch”.

The Newton councillor said Cllr Reynolds, who represents Rainford, had “come out to bat for Boris Johnson”, rather than residents in his own ward.

Cllr David Baines, leader of the council, said the motion was simply about urging the government to do their part.

“The community spirit, resilience and kindness in our communities is incredible,” Cllr Baines said.

“I’ve always been extremely proud to be from St Helens but never more so than this year. When we faced our toughest challenges together we stood up and, we met them head on.

“We did more than our bit as a council. Local residents, businesses and charities did theirs.

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“We now need government to do theirs. And that’s what this motion is about.”

The motion was passed following a vote. Cllr Reynolds and fellow Conservative councillor Linda Mussell voted against.

The leader of the council and its chief executive of write now write to the government to make the requests outlined in the motion.