saying they will not open in the case of liverpool and hartlepool schools.ey are not going to use the government advice and they will stick to staying at home. it suggests there‘s been a sticky few couple weeks for the government. a lot of people do seem to view that last sunday‘s statement by the prime minister didn‘t entirely clear things up. there was mixed messages. i think government say otherwise. they ensure they are pushing very hard to sort things out. they are determined to follow whatever the correct scientific advice is a. isn't that the point, we don‘t always get to see all the scientific advice. it‘s ha rd to see all the scientific advice. it‘s hard to make an informed opinion over what the government is saying. exactly. particularly when one keeps reading contrary advice. the mail on sunday story for example, two doctors disagreeing on measures. we don't know. this hasn't been around for long enough to know exactly what we're doing and how we should be doing it. or anything we're doing and how we should be doing it. oranything else. you could

say early june is but some councils like liverpool and hartlepool say earlyjune is too soon to reopenhe gates. so could some areas do things differently? there was a lack of consultation about that 1st of june there was a lack of consultation about that 1st ofjune date and it isa about that 1st ofjune date and it is a little inflexible to say it must happen by then because there are different issues in different places. again, listen to people locally, work with them and i think we can find the solution but i think it is the way that is being done thatis it is the way that is being done that is creating that kind of reaction, particularly in the north, where the infection remains high. labour wants more information on the science underpinning the plans and says ministers must deliver on a schools testing programme but while children appear to be at low risk of becoming ill from coronavirus, how much do they carry it? what we have seenin much do they carry it? what we have seen in countries where schools have remained open is that there have not been big outbreaks in schools and where

we're joined now by the leader of hartlepool borough council, shane moore.defy the national government, it is not the case at all. this is a decision taken between the local authorities and all the local schools. we know, looking at the sides and fax that hartlepool and the majority of the north—east is tracking at about two weeks behind london so, right now, the first of june weeks behind london so, right now, the first ofjune is not really appropriate to reopen schools en masse. logic would suggest that you might be able to reopen them by the middle ofjune? not putting a date on it. we are continuing to look at the infection rates in the north—east and more locally in hartlepool but as it is currently on an upward trend, we need to keep an eye on that before making a firm decision. i guess you can make a decision. i guess you can make a decision on behalf of local authority schools, but academies could go their own way. they could. however, in hartlepool right throughout our crisis all of our academy trusts have worked really well with the local authority,

neil nottingham, ceo of the eden academy trust in hartlepool, thank you.s said gyms and swimming pools can open on may 25th, with cinemas and theatres following in mid june. italy is also allowing people to travel in and out of the country from the third ofjune. it's a significant change in a nation that imposed one of the world's most rigid coronavirus lockdowns, and suffered significant loss of life. more than 31,000 italians have died of covid—i9 since late february, but the infection rate has fallen quickly. in neighbouring austria, lockdown measures are being eased steadily but surely. bethany bell, our correspondent has more. well, yesterday cafes a nd restau ra nts opened after two months of lockdown. people have been out today having pizzas and things like this, it is slow but steady, we are told, so far, people going out to visit. also, some of the border controls between austria and its neighbouring countries, like germany, are beginning to ease. germany is now allowing people who have family on both sides of the borders to cross more easily, and

it seems places like liverpool, they already save the schools will not go back, i think hartlepool, ort are still fairly high it seems different to what the other parts of the country. they again as well have said they don't want they children going back to school on june the ist. sol children going back to school on june the ist. so i think will have it originally and it will be split, ican it originally and it will be split, i can understand why at the teachers do not want to be like a canary in the cage. you don't want to be like that. we have seen again today that hancock saying he would not recommend this if things were not say. but as soon as as he says, the problem is it is not left versus right. we hope you will not be was that we have the unions are not deliberately doing this. we do believe they have the best interest of the kids and the teachers at heart. but we do not know for certain. and that it is what is holding this back. people are worried, people are still were to go out in the streets. so it is not surprising that there is this residence until there is some proof ab

but some councils like liverpool and hartlepool say early june is councils like liverpool and hartlepoolne is too soon to reopen the gates, so could some areas do things differently? there was a lack of consultation about the 1st of june there was a lack of consultation about the 1st ofjune date and it's about the 1st ofjune date and it's a little inflexible, i think, to say it must happen by then because there are different issues in different places. again, listen to people locally, work with them, and i think we can find a solution but i think it's the way it's being done that is creating that kind of reaction, particularly here in the north where the infection remains higher. labour wa nts the infection remains higher. labour wants more information on the science underpinning the plans and says ministers must deliver on a schools testing programme, but while children so far appear to be at low risk of becoming very ill from coronavirus, how much do they carry it? what we have seen in countries where schools have remained open is that they have not been outbreaks in schools, and where

but some councils like liverpool and hartlepool say that i gene is too soon to reopen the gates.o things differently? there was a lack of consultation on that 1st ofjune date and it is slightly inflexible to say that it must happen by then because there are different issues in different areas. listen to people locally, work with them and i think we can find a solution, but it is the way it is being done which is creating this reaction, particularly here in the north, whether infection remains high. labour wants more information on the science and says ministers must deliver on a school testing programme but whilst children are at low risk of becoming ill from coronavirus, how much to be carried? we have seen in countries where schools remain open is that there has not been big outbreaks in school and were as has been it has been associated with events were a lot of people gather, not in regular classrooms. it is usually an adult that has had the infection and spread it. keeping their distance in denmark, the plan for england is conditional on the science. schools in wales will no

but some councils, like liverpool and hartlepool, say earlyjune is too soon to reopen the gates.nformation. what gavin needs to do, the education secretary, is publish the science to why they're making the decision they're making now, and ensure there is a testing and tracing which he promised yesterday that on the first ofjune that would be available, but at the moment we've not seen any evidence that they can provide that, they haven't got the staff in place they said they needed to have the tracing, so testing and tracing and isolation is really important to tracking the virus. schools in wales won't reopen on the first ofjune and may not restart at all before the summer in scotland or northern ireland. some parents think england should take the same approach. valerie brooker lives in surrey and has two daughters. she thinks it's too soon to go back to school. my youngest bronwen, she has asthma, she's on two inhalers. charlotte, she has full on learning difficulties, and she has had pneumonia when she was five years old. i don't want her getting a second bout of pneumonia. it

but some councils, like liverpool and hartlepool, say earlyjune is too soon to reopen the gates.. what gavin needs to do, the education secretary, is publish the science to why they're making the decision they're making now, and ensure there is a testing and tracing which he promised yesterday that on the first ofjune that would be available, but at the moment we've not seen any evidence that they can provide that, they haven't got the staff in place they said they needed to have the tracing, so testing and tracing and isolation is really important to tracking the virus. schools in wales won't reopen on the first ofjune and may not restart at all before the summer in scotland or northern ireland. some parents think england should take the same approach. valerie brooker lives in surrey and has two daughters. she thinks it's too soon to go back to school. my youngest bronwen, she has asthma, she's on two inhalers. charlotte, she has full on learning difficulties, and she has had pneumonia when she was five years old. i don't want her getting a second bout of pneumonia. it's just no

now we are hearing some local authorities, like liverpool, hartlepool, are advising that they don‘t thinkphasise that the stay alert message is for england. scotland, wales, northern ireland can make their own decisions in terms of what they want to see and they are sticking with the stay at her message. now there is an added layer of complexity where you have seen some local authorities saying actually, 1st of june some local authorities saying actually, 1st ofjune is not wise for ourarea. actually, 1st ofjune is not wise for our area. you have different r rates in different parts of the uk. it isa rates in different parts of the uk. it is a complicated situation, with just a couple of weeks to go before this earlyjune date. schools are going to have to make decisions as to who they listen to, and of course you have also got a fragmented school system, with some local authority schools, academies as well, and parents will have to make decisions as well because they are not going to be fined if they don‘t send their children back to school. they are being left to make some kind ofjudgment

different nations of the uk but now we're hearing different local authorities like liverpool and hartlepooling they don't think there should be a return to schools and saying to parents not to send kids back so who do they listen to? and is important to emphasise the stay alert message and a return to school plan is for england, scotland, wales and northern ireland can make their own decisions in terms of what they want to see and they are sticking with the stay at home message but now you have an added layer of complexity with some local authorities like liverpool saying that it's not something it is wise for the area. you have different r rates in different parts of the uk so it's complicated with just a couple of weeks to go before this earlyjune date. schools will have to make decisions as to who they listen to and of course you also have a slightly fragmented school system with some local authority schools, academies for example as well. parents will have to make decisions as well because they will not be fined if they do not send their children back to school so they are being left to

liverpool, burly and hartlepool are some that won't direct schools to re—open from istjune. 0thers some others have written to parents saying it might not be possible for all to open.“ for some reason the school did want to continue to open, when the local authority was advising not, to it would need to be very clear about its reasons for that decision, why had they come to a different decision from the local authority. schools have become a sticking point for the government. it was meant to bea for the government. it was meant to be a national plan to get children in england back in the classrooms, but the decision on whether to re—open is likely to be taken at a local level. re—open is likely to be taken at a local level. borisjohnson has pledged that the track and trace scheme to contain future outbreaks will be in place by firstjune and will have 25,000 trackers. speaking at prime minister's questions, he said he had growing confidence that the operation will be world beating. 0ur assistant political editor, norman smith, is at westminster. we have date, he has outlined a date, norm

liverpool, bury and hartlepool are some of the council that will not direct schools reopen from the 1stfor all schools to open. if, for some reason, the school did want to continue to open when the local authority was advising not to, it would need to be very clear about its reasons for that decision. why had they come to a different decision from the local authority? schools have become a sticking point for the government. it was meant to be a national plan to get children in england back into the classrooms, but the decision on whether to reopen is likely to be taken at a local level. emma knights, is from the national governance association — which advises school governors and trustees. good afternoon. what are you saying to governors, or what are governors querying with you, what should they do, who should they listen to? governing boards are talking to school leaders and head teachers and executives as your own news pointed out, things change on a daily basis. we are getting more and more information. so governing boards and head teachers need to look at all the sources of informat

we know liverpool, hartlepool are saying they are not going to open their schools on the first ofjunell a lot more thinking as to socialjust in thing mechanisms in schools, how does that work. other european countries are facing the same dilemma. germany and denmark are slowly reopening classrooms using social distancing, but italian pupils will stay at home until september. meanwhile, the latest daily death toll was 170, the lowest figure since the day after the lockdown began on the 24th of march. however, numbers are typically lower on the weekends. the total number of people who have died in the uk after testing positive for the virus is now 34,636. the positive for the virus is now 311,636. the only permanent solution of course is a vaccine. some scientists believe one may not come for at least a year or perhaps never. but the pharmaceutical company astrazeneca has signed an agreement to make 30 million doses available in the uk by september if it can find a vaccine that works. in israel, its government has held its first meeting, the joining forces between benjamin netanyahu joi

hartlepool are saying for example that too many people are getting the virus.we don‘t believe we can do it in health, if we don‘t believe we can do itina health, if we don‘t believe we can do it in a way that is consistent with public health, and of course we wouldn‘t do it, but i think we should be able to get to a point where we can get all schools in england starting in this very cautious and progressive way that i described the number of limited yea rs described the number of limited years starting. can we also talk about vaccine? we are hearing that there is work being done on the vaccine and there seems to be so much resting on it. this is being done at a superfast feed. there has never been seen made in such a short period of time. can you guarantee, first of all, it‘s safety? period of time. can you guarantee, first of all, it's safety? of course we wouldn‘t have any vaccine if we we re we wouldn‘t have any vaccine if we were not sure of its safety. ijust think i would be really quite cautious on this, and speak to you and your viewers, we are trying ou

while schools in wales northern and scotland may keep their doors shut till september liverpool and hartlepool have gone against the government's reopening time line and will remain closed in june unless newcastle and gateshead councils refused to adopt the stay alert slogan siding with the other home nations on that. i'm not joined by teacher and teaching union official who works with liverpool city council damien mcnulty damian good of you to join us so well why is liverpool choosing to defy the government as it seems well it's not necessarily defying the government we've just heard their culture secretary say if schools are safe to open then the should from the 1st of june and that's absolutely the position of liverpool city councillors take it not so their schools won't open but they will open when they are safe to do so and they're working very closely with trade unions who represent the workforce to ensure that it's safe for the staff to come back and the young people so you may not deem it to be safe until maybe the autumn september but of course the government could force you to open s

what we are also seeing is that if you are in liverpool, if you are in hartlepool, where the infectionhealth bodies there are going to make decisions locally. what we are hearing from other local authorities as they are making a judgment on behalf of their communities. that would be really reassuring to people in those communities that context is being taken into communities that context is being ta ken into account. communities that context is being taken into account. because ultimately what might be right in the south of england may not be right in other parts of england. we spoke this time last week, ahead of you having a meeting with other school leaders and scientific advisers, did you come out of that virtual meeting feeling any more reassured personally?” virtual meeting feeling any more reassured personally? i did. iwent into it essentially as somebody who isn't a scientist at all. i'm an educationalist, posing three questions. are we asking the right questions. are we asking the right questions of the scientists? i think we are. did we get answers? i think we are. did we get

liverpool, bury and hartlepool are some of the councils that will not direct schools to re—open from be possible for all primary schools to open. if, for some reason, the school did want to continue to open, when the local authority was advising not to, it would need to be very clear about its reasons for that decision — why had they come to a different decision from the local authority? schools have become a sticking point for the government. it was meant to be a national plan to get children in england back in the classrooms, but the decision on whether to re—open is likely to be taken at a local level. elaine dunkley, bbc news. as lockdown restrictions are eased, and people start going back to work, it's even more important to keep hygenic in the home. lucy yardley is a professor of health psychology at the university of southampton and the university of bristol, and a member of sage — the government scientific advisory group. she's been working on best practices to keep coronavirus at bay at home. thank you so much forjoining us here on bbc news. you do see whole families going d