UK Government waives quarantine for arrivals fully vaccinated from Europe and USA to England

The UK Government has announced that passengers arriving from amber countries who have been fully vaccinated in Europe and the USA will not have to quarantine when entering England, as part of a range of new measures designed to reopen international travel, set out as part of the second Global Travel Taskforce checkpoint review.

From 4 am on Monday 2 August 2021, the following rules apply to passengers who are fully vaccinated in the EU and US:

• EU countries

• Andorra, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, Switzerland and the Vatican City

• The rules are different if you’ve been in France

• You must be fully vaccinated with a vaccine authorised by:

  • the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for Europ

  • Swissmedic for Switzerland

  • the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the USA

• You must have had your final dose of the vaccine at least 14 days before you arrive in England.

• You must still book and take a day 2 test

• Children from the USA and Europe - Children under 18 who are residents of the USA or the listed European countries also do not need to quarantine or take a day 8 test. They must follow the same rules as children and young people from the UK which are in this guide.

Those arriving from France should continue to follow the separate rule. If a passenger has been in France in the 10 days before arriving in England, they must quarantine for 10 days after they arrive and take a COVID-19 test on or before day 2 and on or after day 8, even if they are fully vaccinated. They must follow the advice on how to quarantine if you are not fully vaccinated.

Cruise Sailings

The Government also confirmed the restart of international cruise sailings from England in line with Public Health England guidance. International cruise travel advice will be amended to encourage travellers to understand the risks associated with cruise travel and take personal responsibility for their own safety abroad. Guidance has been published for British people about taking cruise ship holidays during COVID-19.

The guidance warns people that cruises with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases have previously been denied permission to dock or to disembark passengers and that can have serious implications for passengers. It also says that prospective passengers should:

• Check the protocols of the cruise operator to ensure they are comfortable with safety measures.

• Take face coverings, hand gel and wash your hands regularly.

• Consider waiting until they are fully vaccinated before taking a cruise

• Research the medical facilities on the ship

One of the most important warnings is that passengers need to pay for costs including medical care, quarantine, testing and return travel to the UK if their cruise is affected by a COVID-19 outbreak and that people should contact their operator and insurance provider to make ensure they are aware of what is and what is not included in their policy

All measures announced will be kept under review by the Government who continue to be guided by the latest data. In their press release the Government stated they will not hesitate to act should the data show that countries risk ratings have changed.

You can read the press release here or read the red, amber and green list rules for entering England.

Live music venues

The government has expanded on their previous decision to allow the return of live music in concert halls and theatres to include other indoor venues such as function rooms of hotels, or community halls. There will be no restriction to background or ambient levels of volume. Where the venue is a space within larger premises, access to the venue must be effectively controlled and managed and the venue must be sufficiently isolated from the rest of the premises to ensure that the volume of the music in the venue does not breach ambient or background levels in other parts of the premises.

Entry to performances for audiences will be by ticket only. Tickets must be purchased in advance of the performance. Audiences for indoor events must have allocated seating and remain seated, dancing will not be permitted and social distancing of 1m will be required.

New Public Health England Posters

PHE has produced a series of new posters that remind businesses and customers about the new workplace guidance and the behaviours that people should still adopt.

Visit England Feedback (Although it should be noted that this issue does not fall under Visit England’s remit UK Hospitality is the lead)

• Talks are being had with the Home Office about short term working visas for young people but there will be no change on the Brexit imposed border controls for a long term solution.

• UK Hospitality are leading an industry led campaign to attract recruits to the sector and also to attract European workers back and reassure them.

• Visit England are putting together a toolkit to be used (like the Escape The Everyday campaign toolkit) for us all to use to attract attention to this problem and promote tourism and hospitality careers.

Dept for Work and Pensions on Kickstart scheme.

• 6 month placement (work experience on min wage for 16 – 24 yr olds who are claiming Universal Credit).

• Employer who applies to join the scheme should not see this as a job position filling exercise but in addition to roles they are advertising anyway.

• £1500 grant given to employer which can be used, among other things, to get on board bodies who can help train the young person if they don’t have time to do it.

• Applications need to be in by October 2021 as December is the latest you can take someone on and the recruitment process takes around 6 weeks, which isn’t very practical for the summer season.

• Can then be taken on by the business after 6 months placement but no further funding available for business.

• Flexible support fund can help with transport funding to job placement to remove perceived barriers, including electric bikes where public transport is an issue.

For further details click here

Other opportunities via the Job Centre

• Each Job Centre has members of staff who match potential employees with jobs available. The Job Centres should be linked with local hospitality organisations and colleges.

• Employers can make contact with these staff who can help out with social media messaging to promote vacancies and post on https://www.gov.uk/find-a-job to advertise your vacancies.

Springboard

Springboard is a Government fubded organisation positioned to lead the industry response to the challenge of getting 10,000 young people ready for work by 2022;

Springboard will be the central hub managing this process, from outreach and engagement, assessing young people’s needs and signposting them to the most relevant programmes and interventions, through to supporting them into employment.

This is the typical journey we would expect to take young people on into work/

Risk Assessment and Management Templates

There is now a legal requirement for businesses to undertake a risk assessment process for mitigating the risks of Covid to staff, customers and contractors on the premises in the same way that all businesses are currently required to undertake a Health and Safety assessment of their premises. To help with this, HSE has produced a dedicated page for businesses that helps them through this process and contains a good pdf on what to include in a risk assessment that can be used as a template by businesses

DCMS have produced a risk management template specifically for event organisers which sets out examples of the types of risk mitigation measures event organisers can put in place to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission at events. This should be used in conjunction with the events and attractions guidance, which explains the types of events which may need to take additional measures and how these measures can help to reduce risk. It also includes more detail on how you can put these measures in place in different settings.

New Weddings Guidance for Step 4

The Government has published new guidance for people having and holding weddings from 19th July.

• There are no legal restrictions on the number of people that can attend a wedding, civil partnership, reception or celebration.

• Legal requirements for social distancing will no longer apply and you will not need to stay 2 metres apart from people you do not live with.

• Face coverings are no longer required by law in any setting. However, the government expects and recommends that people wear face coverings in crowded areas such as public transport.

• COVID-secure rules, including table service requirements and restrictions on singing and dancing, will no longer apply. However, there are steps everyone should continue to consider to reduce the risk of transmission, which are explained in the guidance.

• All businesses should follow the principles set out in the working safely guidance.

• If someone has been instructed by NHS Test and Trace to self-isolate because they have tested positive for COVID-19, or they’re the close contact of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, they must still self-isolate and not attend.

CJRS Guidance Updated

HMRC has updated it’s guidance to businesses on claiming CJRS to remind operators that, from 1 July 2021, they will pay 70% of wages up to a maximum cap of £2187.50 for the hours the employee is on furlough; and from 1 August 2021, they will pay 60% of wages up to a maximum cap of £1,875 for the hours the employee is on furlough. Employers must top up employees’ wages to make sure they receive 80% of their wages (up to £2,500) for the hours they are on furlough. The caps are proportional to the hours not worked.

HMRC have also updated they guidance on how to calculate CJRS claims to including new examples on working out how much of the minimum furlough pay you can claim for July 2021 and August 2021.

The Move to Step 4

Following the announcement confirming the move to Step 4 of the Roadmap on 19th July, the Government has published top-line guidancethe main points in the top line guidance are:

• All remaining limits on social contact (currently 6 people or 2 households indoors, or 30 people outdoors) will be removed and there will be no more restrictions on how many people can meet in any setting, indoors or outdoors.

• All settings will be able to open, including nightclubs. Large events, such as music concerts and sporting events can resume without any limits on attendance or social distancing requirements.

• All restrictions on life events such as weddings, funerals, bar/bat mitzvahs and baptisms will be removed, including the remaining restrictions on the number of attendees. There will be no requirement for table service at life events, or restrictions on singing or dancing.

• COVID-status certification will not be required in law as a condition of entry for visitors to any setting. Organisations are already able to ask visitors for proof of COVID-status, as long as they meet existing legal obligations including under equality law. The Government is providing a way for individuals to easily demonstrate their COVID-status. This can be achieved by completion of a full vaccine course, a recent negative test, or proof of natural immunity - through the NHS COVID Pass on the NHS app.

• The legal requirements to wear a face covering will be lifted in all settings. To help reduce the spread of COVID-19, published guidance will advise that wearing a face covering will reduce your risk and the risk to others, where you come into contact with people you don’t normally meet in enclosed and crowded spaces.

• Social distancing rules (2 metres or 1 metre with additional mitigations) will be lifted. You should continue to consider the risks of close contact with others, particularly if you are clinically extremely vulnerable or not yet fully vaccinated. Social distancing will only be required in limited circumstances: ports of entry for passengers between disembarkation and border control in order to manage the risk of Variants of Concern being transmitted between individuals; and people who are self-isolating should also continue to socially distance from others, particularly where they have had a positive test. Health and care settings will continue to maintain appropriate infection prevention and control processes as necessary and this will be continually reviewed. Guidance will be updated based on the latest clinical evidence this summer.

• For individual settings where the risks of rapid spread are particularly acute, Directors of Public Health, in consultation with setting operators and relevant departments, will be able to advise that social distancing is put in place if necessary to control outbreaks. This should be targeted, time limited, and apply to settings characterised by enclosed and vulnerable communities such as prisons, immigration removal centres and homeless shelters.

• It is no longer necessary for Government to instruct people to work from home. Employers can start to plan a return to workplaces.

• Regulations that place COVID-secure requirements on businesses, including table service, and distancing between tables, will be lifted. ‘Working Safely’ guidance will be updated to provide examples of sensible precautions that employers can take to reduce risk in their workplaces. Employers should take account of this guidance in preparing the risk assessments they are already required to make under pre-pandemic health and safety rules.

• Businesses must not require a self-isolating worker to come to work, and should make sure that workers and customers who feel unwell do not attend the setting.

• Businesses will be encouraged to ask staff and customers to clean their hands regularly and clean surfaces that people touch regularly. The Government will provide guidance on how businesses can reduce unnecessary contact in the workplace, where it is practical. Operators will still be encouraged to use outside space where practical, and to consider the supply of fresh air to indoor spaces. Carbon dioxide (CO2) monitors could be used to help identify where a space is poorly ventilated with businesses encouraged to take steps to improve ventilation if CO2 readings are consistently high.

• Businesses will be encouraged to display QR codes for customers to check in using the NHS COVID-19 app, to support NHS Test and Trace, although it will no longer be a legal requirement.

• The Government will change the controls that apply in early years, schools, colleges and higher education institutions to maintain a baseline of protective measures while maximising attendance and minimising disruption to children and young people’s education. The Government’s intention is that from step 4 children will no longer need to be in consistent groups (‘bubbles’), and early years settings, schools or colleges will not be required to routinely carry out contact tracing, which will help to minimise the number of children isolating. Contact tracing in specific educational settings would only be triggered if deemed necessary in response to a local outbreak.

• The Government also intends to exempt under 18s who are close contacts of a positive case from the requirement to self-isolate, in line with the approach for those who are fully vaccinated (as set out below). Further detail will be published in due course and the changes are likely to come into effect later in the summer. There will be no restrictions on in-person teaching and learning in universities.

Key Precautions

At the same time as removing restrictions , Government is keeping in place key protections:

• Testing when you have symptoms and targeted asymptomatic testing in education, high risk workplaces and to help people manage their personal risk.

• Isolating when positive or when contacted by NHS Test and Trace or when advised to by the NHS COVID-19 app.

• Border quarantine: for all arriving from red list countries, and for those people arriving from amber list countries, other than those UK residents fully vaccinated in the UK vaccine programme.

• Cautious guidance for individuals, businesses and the vulnerable whilst prevalence is high including:

  • Government is no longer instructing people to work from home if they can,

  • Government expects and recommends a gradual return over the summer;

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  • being outside or letting fresh air in; and

  • minimising the number, proximity and duration of social contacts.

• Encouraging and supporting businesses and large events to use the NHS COVID Pass in high risk settings to help to limit the risk of infection. The Government will work with organisations that operate large, crowded settings where people are likely to be in close proximity to others outside their household to encourage the use of the NHS COVID Pass. If sufficient measures are not taken to limit infection, the Government will consider mandating the NHS COVID Pass in certain venues at a later date

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-response-summer-2021-roadmap/moving-to-step-4-of-the-roadmap

The Prime Minister highlighted the need for personal responsibility as cases continue to rise and the Government has updated the Primary Guidance for businesses in various tourism-related sectors. They have also added a preamble that applies to all the sectors which states:

From Step 4, legal restrictions can be lifted, all businesses can open and the government is no longer instructing people to work from home. To support businesses through this next phase, the ‘Working Safely’ guidance will continue to provide advice on sensible precautions employers can take to manage risk and support their staff and customers.

Businesses still have a legal duty to manage risks to those affected by their business. The way to do this is to carry out a health and safety risk assessment, including the risk of COVID-19, and to take reasonable steps to mitigate the risks you identify.

You should use the guidance to consider the risk within your premises and decide which mitigations are appropriate to adopt. In the long term, we expect that businesses will need to take fewer precautions to manage the risk of COVID-19. We will continue to keep our guidance under review and will remove advice once it’s safe to do so.

A copy of the PM’s press release on his announcement cna be seen here.

The links to the guidance documents can be seen below (please note that the previous ‘Visitor Economy’, ‘Organised Events’ and ‘Heritage Sites’ guidance has been consolidated into the new ‘Events and Attractions’ guidance).

Hotel and Other Guest Accommodation

Events And Attractions

Restaurants, Pubs, Bars and Nightclubs

Shops, Branches and Close Contact Services

Updated Primary Guidance For Tourism And Hospitality Businesses

The primary guidance for businesses in the tourism and hospitality sectors has been updated to take into account the changes that the Government introduced for the period 21st June – 18th July. The guidance documents for different sectors are:

• Visitor Economy

• Hotels And Other Guest Accommodation

• Heritage Locations

• Performing Arts

New Guidance For Travelling To And From England

The Department for transport has published guidance for English residents travelling overseas. The guidance covers:

• What people need to do before they travel

• What people need to do before they return

• What people need to do after they return

• Travelling with children

• The rules regarding travelling to Ireland, the rest of the UK, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man

• Exemptions for work, medical or compassionate reasons

There is no new guidance in the document but it does consolidate existing guidance into one easily understandable document.

There is also a corresponding document for inbound travellers arriving into England from other destinations.

Update on next stage of easing of Coronavirus restrictions in England

The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson was joined by Chief Medical Officer for England, Chris Whitty, and Chief Scientific Adviser, Patrick Vallance, at a press briefing this yesterday evening. It has become increasing apparent over the past couple of weeks that not all the four tests for proceeding to Step 4 of the roadmap would have been met by 21st June. As a consequence Step 4 will be delayed until July 19th, with the exception of weddings and wakes of more than 30 guests which still can go ahead with social distancing. The situation will be monitored daily and, if after two weeks, the risk looks like it has diminished, it could be possible to move to Step 4 earlier. In the meantime, pilots for sporting events, such as the Euros, and some theatre performances will continue.

View the Prime Minister’s statement and the slides and dataset from the briefing.

Updated guidance on what you can and cannot do in England

The guidance on what you can and cannot do in England has been updated with a summary of changes from 21 June. The most pertinent of these are:

• weddings and civil partnership ceremonies and wedding receptions or civil partnership celebrations

• commemorative events following a death such as a wake, stone setting or ash scattering

• large events pilots

• care home visits

• domestic residential visits for children

Weddings and civil partnership ceremonies

While some restrictions will remain in place to enable them to take place safely from 21 June the rules on the number of people who can attend a wedding or civil partnership ceremony, a wedding reception or civil partnership celebration, and a commemorative event following a funeral, such as a wake, stone setting or ash scattering, will change. The number of people who can attend these events in a COVID-Secure venue or other venue (such as a garden of a private home) will be determined by how many people a venue can safely accommodate (including guests of all ages and staff) with social distancing measures in place. In addition there will be the requirement for other measures such as, but not limited to, providing table service, the continued wearing of face coverings and restrictions on dancing and singing, as at present and defined under Step 3. The guidance on wedding and civil partnership ceremonies, receptions and celebrations is due to be updated today (15 June). The guidance on arranging or attending a funeral during the coronavirus pandemic is due to be updated by 17 June.

Large Events Pilots

A limited series of pilot events will continue to take place to produce additional evidence on reopening of these events safely. Attendees will need to show proof of vaccination or a recent negative test. This will include some UEFA EURO 2020 matches at Wembley and a small number of other sports, arts and music performances. The full list of pilots, and further details about the events, will be announced shortly.

Overnight Trips For Out-Of-School Groups

Out-of-school settings can organise domestic residential visits for children in consistent groups of up to 30 children. This replaces the current limit of 6 people or 2 households.

The Prime Minister has advised that this current position will be kept under review with the option to review the progressing to Step 4 as required.

Summary of the Governments National Tourism Recovery Plan

A New Rail Pass

“Working with the Rail Delivery Group, the government and VisitBritain will pursue the development of a new domestic rail tourism product to accelerate the recovery of domestic tourism. Introducing an offer for domestic tourists will encourage sustainable domestic holiday travel and reduce tourism’s reliance on cars. It would build on the success of rail tourism products such as the BritRail pass, which is sold through the VisitBritain Shop and provides international visitors with flexible travel across the network to spread the benefits of tourism across the country, as well as provide discounted attraction entry. The aim is to launch this new domestic rail tourism product later in the year, subject to a successful business case being developed”

£10m of Tourism Vouchers

“The British Tourist Authority will deliver a £10 million consumer promotion with The National Lottery to support the domestic tourist industry. The initiative will see vouchers, or similar, made available to National Lottery players that will be redeemable at tourist attractions across the UK. The scheme will open in Autumn 2021 to encourage off-season trips in support of the hard-hit domestic tourism sector. Businesses taking part will need to ensure they are using the We’re Good To Go industry standard. More information will be made available later in the year”

Consultation on Statutory Registration

“The government will also launch a consultation on the introduction of a Tourist Accommodation Registration Scheme in England. A Registration Scheme is one potential route through which to create a data-driven approach, creating an improved national picture of the precise shape of the accommodation landscape which could feed into a wider Data Hub. Any such scheme could encompass the breadth of the sector, from ‘traditional’ accommodation such as hotels and B&Bs to short term lets in the sharing economy and could be used to underpin future government interventions, for example regarding the regulation of the sharing economy. The rise of the sharing economy has and will continue to play an important role in attracting tourists to destinations across the country and contributing to the UK economy. However, it has created concerns about uneven regulatory requirements and negative impacts on local communities compared to other types of accommodation. The government is committed to hearing the views of all interested parties on the merits and drawbacks of a Registration Scheme, and how any potential scheme could be implemented proportionately to avoid placing a significant regulatory burden on the sector or risking a reduction in supply.”

Sustainable Tourism Plan

“The government will develop a Sustainable Tourism Plan, and put the UK at the forefront of the global discussion on sustainable travel. Domestically, the government will work with industry and the British Tourist Authority to identify achievable ways for the sector to ‘grow back greener’, in ways that will reduce the travel industry’s impact on the natural and built environment, respect local host communities and take their needs into account, and maximise the economic benefits for tourism businesses and their local communities in all regions of the UK. VisitBritain/VisitEngland are working with the tourism sector to celebrate and amplify best practice, and to coordinate an industry response that promotes the UK as a leader in sustainable tourism and puts the UK’s natural landscapes and communities at the heart of the country’s brand proposition.”

Inclusivity Roundtables and Ambassador

“The Minister for Tourism will hold a series of roundtables with stakeholders from across the tourism industry to better understand the barriers holding back participation in tourism. These roundtables will be themed around issues such as guest accommodation, transportation, attractions, working with customers and skills. The aim is to establish a clear baseline of where the UK is in terms of inclusive tourism, and to come up with a series of concrete actions that the government can pursue to make a meaningful difference, above and beyond existing activity.

Later this year, the government’s intention is to recruit a new disability and access ambassador for tourism. The selected individual will promote best practice, help identify ongoing barriers and contribute to strategic thinking around how to improve accessibility in the sector.”

Ministerial Advocacy For Business Events

“The UK government will also enhance its Ministerial advocacy programme. The Events Industry Board notes that advocacy is critical to winning international business events. As such, UK government Ministers will commit to delivering keynote speeches on a regular basis at international business events held in the UK. The government will also work with GREAT and VisitBritain to designate sector-specific UK-wide events ambassadors, who will promote the UK as a location for, and advocate for, events in key industries and sectors. These ambassadors will be pre-eminent and high profile in their field, helping the UK win, grow or retain events that showcase the UK on a global stage and drive growth in strategically important industries. To drive forward these commitments, the government has created a cross-Whitehall group of senior officials in key government departments with an interest in growth and business events. This group will be tasked with developing a target list of international business events for the government to focus on bringing to – and retaining in – the UK, and developing a plan to host them here.”

It will also:

Produce a strategy for sustainable business events, including a blueprint for how to hold more sustainable, low carbon international business events

Assess gaps in business events venue provision, both in terms of regional ‘cold spots’ and whether the UK has the right variety of venues to support its international competitiveness in hosting 21st century business events.

Identify the skills and capacity gaps that have emerged as a result of both the pandemic’s impact on the workforce, and of structural changes to the industry.

To implement that Recovery Plan, a new inter-Ministerial group for Tourism is being established. It will be chaired by the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and supported by the Minister for Tourism.

Demonstrating Covid Status

The DHSC guidance on how people can demonstrate their vaccination status when travelling overseas has been updated to inform travellers that they can now request a COVID-19 vaccination status letter to be posted to them via the NHS.UK website.

I should be noted that it will take up to 5 working days from the date of their second dose appointment before the system is updated so they may need to wait 5 working days before you can use this service. One a request has been made it will then take up to 5 working days for the letter to be received. Here’s the link to the website for requesting the letter:

GREAT Campaign Relaunched

The Government is launching a refreshed GREAT campaign as the UK prepares to take centre stage for the G7 and COP 26 summits this year. The campaign has refreshed branding refocuses that aims to highlight the UK’s distinctive edge as a diverse, innovative and collaborative global nation. The campaign has an annual budget of £60 million (unchanged from previously).

New Entry Restrictions for France

The travel advice for France has been updated to take into account of new testing requirements that the French Government are introducing on 9th June for people travelling from the UK. From this date, people will be able to take a PCR test within 72 hours of departure, or an antigen test within 48 hours of departure. There will be random antigen testing for unvaccinated arrivals.

Those that are fully vaccinated will need to have proof of a negative PCR test within 72 hours of departure, or an antigen test within 48 hours of departure. However, they will not need to justify an essential reason for travel or to self-isolate on arrival. The French Government recognises the following vaccines: Pfizer, Moderna, Oxford/AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson (the vaccines recognised by the European Medical Agency).

“Fully vaccinated” is defined by the completion of a vaccination schedule, specifically:

· 2 weeks after the second dose of Pfizer, Moderna, Oxford/AstraZeneca

· 4 weeks after the single and only dose of Johnson & Johnson

· 2 weeks after the single dose of any of the above vaccines if you have previously tested positive for COVID-19

Children under the age of 18 years old, who are travelling with fully vaccinated adults, will be exempt from requirements to self-isolate and provide an essential reason for travel, regardless of whether the minor has been vaccinated or not.

Travel Traffic Light System

The first review of the traffic light system has provided bad news to both the inbound and outbound tourism sectors. On the outbound side:

Portugal has been removed from the Green list

The following countries have been added to the Red list

Afghanistan

Bahrain

Costa Rica

Egypt

Sudan

Trinidad and Tobago

Sri Lanka

No Countries have been added to the Green List

The changes to the lists will come into effect from 4am on 8th June, meaning that people arriving into the UK from Portugal after this time will have to self-isolate for 10 days and those from the new Red list countries will have to stay in a quarantine hotel.

The UK COVID-19 alert level was reduced from level 4 to level 3 following a joint statement by the UK Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) recommending this change. Secondly, the Prime Minister held a press briefing confirmed England will move to Step 3 on 17th May along with updated guidance for England detailing the changes to the measures which will come into force at this juncture.

• Gathering limits will be eased. Outdoor gatherings will be limited to 30 people with indoor gatherings allowed but limited to 6 people or 2 households (each household can include a support bubble, if eligible).

• Indoor entertainment and attractions will be permitted to open with COVID-secure measures in place including cinemas, theatres, concert halls, bowling alleys, casinos, amusement arcades, museums and children’s indoor play areas.

• People will be able to attend indoor and outdoor events including live performances, sporting and business events. Attendance at these events will be capped according to venue type, and attendees should follow the COVID-secure measures set out by those venues.

• Indoor hospitality venues such as restaurants, pubs, bars and cafes can reopen with COVID-secure measures in place.

• Organised indoor sport will be able to take place for all (this includes gym classes). This must be organised by a business, charity or public body and the organiser must take reasonable measures to reduce the risk of transmission.

• All holiday accommodation will be open (including hotels and B&Bs). This can be used by groups of up to 6 or 2 households (each household can include a support bubble, if eligible).

• Larger events will be able to take place, including conferences, theatre and concert performances, and sports events. (although restrictions on the number of attendees will remain)

• Funeral attendance will no longer be limited to 30 people, instead the number of attendees will be determined by how many people the COVID-secure venue can safely accommodate with social distancing. Limits at weddings, wakes and other commemorative events will be increased to 30 people. Other significant life events, such as bar/bat mitzvahs and christenings, will also be able to take place with up to 30 people.

• There will no longer be a legal restriction or permitted reason required to travel internationally.

Friends and Family

The new guidance on meeting friends and family will emphasise a personal responsibility to remain covid-secure rather than being subject to specific rules. Instead of instructing individuals to stay 2m apart from those they do not live with instead they will be encouraged to exercise caution. Key to this is understanding the guidance on risks associated with COVID-19 along with considering the actions people can take to help keep everyone safe. We are reminded that the risks of close contact may be greater for some more than others while in particular settings and circumstances specific guidance will still have to be followed.

International Travel

The Transport Secretary has published a statement to parliament on the re-opening of international travel on 17th May. There is a mandatory traffic light system for international travel along with a series of rules when returning to England depending on whether you return from a red, amber or green list country. The Secretary asserts that with the roll-out of vaccine programmes increasing overseas he is hopeful of adding more countries to the green list as the summer progresses. However, he cautions that this will be done slowly, and green list countries will be placed on a “watchlist” if we start to have concerns.

VISITOR ECONOMY – from 12 April the following will apply:

Outdoor recreation and visitor attractions can reopen, but indoor areas and settings must remain closed.

Locations which have both indoor and outdoor facilities can open the outdoor areas and facilities, but indoor areas and facilities must remain closed (other than toilets and facilities such as baby changing rooms). Those outdoor venues and attractions that are permitted to remain open can offer food and drink as a takeaway service or to customers that are seated outdoors socially distanced (you can find more information in the section on hospitality. This applies to many visitor economy settings, including:

• ziplining and other active outdoor leisure activities

• adventure parks and activities

• funfairs and fairgrounds

• theme parks,

• water parks, aqua parks,

• drive in events, such as for cinemas, theatres, and other performances

• animal attractions, including zoos, safari parks and aquariums

• skating rinks and trampolining parks

• visitor attractions at film studios

• botanical or other gardens, biomes or greenhouses, sculpture parks, landmarks (including observation wheels or viewing platforms) and model villages

• museums and galleries

• heritage locations such as stately and historic homes, castles, heritage sites and ruins

Non-essential retail can reopen. This will include but not be limited to: clothing stores, charity and antique shops, homeware stores, showrooms (such as for vehicles which would include caravans), retail travel agents, auction houses and markets and betting shops (subject to additional COVID-secure measures, such as limiting the use of gaming machines).

Personal care facilities and close contact services can reopen. This will include: hair, beauty and nail salons, spas and massage centres (except for steam rooms and saunas, which must remain closed), holistic therapy (including acupuncture, homeopathy, and reflexology) and tanning salons. You can find more information in the guidance for close contact services and the guidance for sport facilities (for saunas and steam rooms).

Indoor sports facilities will be permitted to open in addition to outdoor sports facilities. This includes sport facilities such as pitches, courts, golf and mini-golf courses, swimming pools, gyms and leisure centres. You should check the guidance for sport facilities, and ensure you adhere to any relevant measures.

Self-contained accommodation can reopen for leisure stays for groups comprising a single household/support bubble. This is defined as accommodation in which facilities including kitchens, sleeping areas, bathrooms and indoor communal areas such as lounges, sitting areas, and any lifts, staircases or internal corridors used to access the accommodation are restricted to exclusive use of a single household/support bubble. See guidance for hotels and guest accommodation for more information.

Outdoor areas at hospitality venues (cafes, restaurants, bars, pubs, social clubs, including in member’s clubs) can reopen, including for takeaway alcohol. These venues may allow customers to use toilets (and facilities such as baby changing rooms) located inside. At any premises serving alcohol, customers will be required to order, be served and eat/drink while seated (“table service”). You should check the guidance for restaurants, pubs, bars and takeaway services, and ensure you adhere to any relevant measures.

Business meeting/event show-rounds, viewings and site visits for the purpose of viewing the venue for a future booking can take place at venues which are permitted to open at each step of the roadmap, or where a relevant exemption applies. From Step 2, this will include conference centres and exhibition halls, including conference centres located within hotels. Viewings of other venues can only take place from Step 3 - no earlier than 17 May.

Some outdoor events organised by a business, charity, public body or similar organisation, such as fetes, funfairs and fairgrounds, and literary fairs, are permitted. These events can take place if they meet the criteria set out in the section on outdoor events and meet specific conditions: they comply with COVID-secure guidance including taking reasonable steps to limit the risk of transmission, complete a related risk assessment; and adhere to all legal requirements including maintaining group sizes permitted by the social contact restriction at the relevant step in the roadmap, and also preventing mixing between groups; enforcing social distancing guidelines; and mandating face coverings in indoor areas where required. Events guidance will shortly be published for local authorities setting out more information on the events permitted at each step of the roadmap.

Skippered boats can operate, with restrictions for some types of vessel. Boats which are open-air can be used within the legal gathering limits (by groups of up to 6 people or 2 households/support bubbles) and multiple groups are permitted if the boat tour is organised by a business/organisation, a risk assessment is completed which will take into account capacity limits, COVID-secure guidance is adhered to, and people maintain social distancing and do not mingle outside of their permitted groups of up to 6 people or 2 households/support bubbles). Where boats are partially enclosed, attendees may only go indoors to access/use the toilet. Boats which are fully enclosed can only be used by people from the same household or support bubble. The skipper does not count as part of the group. For more information see the waterway guidance from British Marine.

Self-drive holiday hire of boats where people make overnight stays are permitted for people from the same household or support bubble.

See the full guidance to see more and find out what business must still be closed.

HOTEL & OTHER GUEST ACCOMMODATION - from 12 April the following will apply:

Self-contained accommodation can open as follows:

Overnight leisure stays in self-contained accommodation will be permitted. This is defined as accommodation in which facilities including: kitchens, sleeping areas, bathrooms and indoor communal areas such as lounges, sittining areas, and any lifts, staircases or internal corridors used to access the accommodation are restricted to exclusive use of a single household/support bubble. A reception area is not to be treated as an indoor communal area if it is required in order to be open for check-in purposes, but it should only be used for the purposes of check-in. Guests may also use indoor public toilets, baby changing rooms, breastfeeding rooms, and facilities for laundering clothes, which are not to be treated as indoor communal areas. These areas should be cleaned regularly and kept well-ventilated and guests should try where possible to limit their interaction with other households whilst using these facilities. This will mean that any holiday parks, ‘standalone’ holiday lets such as houses and cottages, chalets, yurts, holiday boats, and motels and other accommodation in which kitchens, sleeping areas, bathrooms and indoor communal areas such as lounges, sitting areas, and any lifts, staircases or internal corridors used to access the accommodation are for the exclusive use of a single household/support bubble may open for leisure stays.

Campsites and caravan parks will be permitted to open for leisure stays provided that the only shared facilities used by guests at the campsite or caravan park are receptions, washing facilities (including facilities for laundering clothes), public toilets, baby changing rooms, breastfeeding rooms, water points and waste disposal points. Shower facilities should be operated so as to ensure no household mixing takes place. This would involve either assigning shower facilities to one household group/support bubble, (i.e. making them private), or running a reservation and clean process (whereby one household can exclusively book the shared facilities for a fixed time, and the facilities are cleaned between reservations and kept well-ventilated). Other facilities - receptions, facilities for laundering clothes, public toilets, baby changing rooms, breastfeeding rooms, water points and waste disposal points - should be cleaned regularly and kept well-ventilated and guests should try where possible to limit their interaction with other households whilst using these facilities.

If a site is open to provide self-contained accommodation for leisure stays, permitted businesses or services can also operate on site and can be used by guests and by the general public. This includes:

• Indoor and outdoor sport facilities (swimming pools and gyms), recreation facilities such as ziplining, spas and personal care, and retail. These facilities can open even where access is via shared indoor communal areas such as lifts or corridors, as long as those communal areas are used solely to access the facilities and not to access accommodation. Saunas and steam rooms must remain closed. You should check the guidance for sport facilities, close contact services and retail shops, stores and branches and ensure you adhere to any relevant requirements.

• Outdoor hospitality such as restaurants, cafes and bars. These facilities can open even where access is via shared indoor communal areas such as lifts or corridors, as long as those communal areas are used solely to access the facilities and not to access accommodation. The use of indoor public toilets (and facilities such as baby changing rooms) is permitted even if access is via shared indoor communal areas such as lifts or corridors, as long as those communal areas are used solely to access the facilities and not to access accommodation. You can find more information in the section on hospitality. You should check the guidance for restaurants, pubs, bars and takeaway services, and ensure you adhere to any relevant measures.

• Hospitality venues may provide takeaway food and drink (including takeaway alcohol).

If a site is not self-contained and therefore remains closed for leisure stays, permitted businesses or services can still operate on site and can be used by guests and by the general public:

• Indoor and outdoor sport facilities (swimming pools and gyms), spas and personal care, and retail may open for access by the public as well as for guests staying for legally permitted reasons. These facilities can open even where the entrance is within the hotel and access is via shared indoor facilities such as lifts/corridors. Saunas and steam rooms must remain closed. You should check the guidance for sport facilities, close contact services and retail shops, stores and branches and ensure you adhere to any relevant requirements.

• Outdoor hospitality such as restaurants, cafes and bars can open for the public as well as for guests staying for legally permitted reasons. Outdoor hospitality can open even where the entrance is within the hotel and access is via shared indoor communal areas such as lifts/corridors. The use of indoor toilets (and facilities such as baby changing rooms) is permitted, even if accessed through shared communal areas such as lifts/corridors. You can find more information in section on hospitality. You should check the guidance for restaurants, pubs, bars and takeaway services, and ensure you adhere to any relevant measures. Food and/or drink (including alcohol) can be provided through room service as long as it is ordered by phone or online.

• Communal spaces such as lounges or lobbies may remain open to guests but no food or drink should be served in these spaces, people should not be encouraged to gather and social distancing should be observed.

If your business provides both self-contained and non-self-contained accommodation, both may only open subject to their respective restrictions, for example:

• the hotel may open for legally permitted stays (only)

• the self-contained chalets may open for leisure stays and for legally permitted stays

• the hotel’s indoor facilities may open to the public and to all guests

Read the full guidance to find out more.

Facilities in Accommodation

What facilities can accommodation businesses open from 12 April?

Self-Contained Accommodation

If a site is open to provide se lf-contained accommodation for leisure stays, permitted businesses or services can also operate on site and can be used by guests and by the general public. This includes:

• Indoor and outdoor sport facilities (swimming pools and gyms), recreation facilities such as ziplining, spas and personal care, and retail. These facilities can open even where access is via shared indoor communal areas such as lifts or corridors, as long as those communal areas are used solely to access the facilities and not to access accommodation. Saunas and steam rooms must remain closed.

• Outdoor hospitality such as restaurants, cafes and bars. These facilities can open even where access is via shared indoor communal areas such as lifts or corridors, as long as those communal areas are used solely to access the facilities and not to access accommodation. The use of indoor public toilets (and facilities such as baby changing rooms) is permitted even if access is via shared indoor communal areas such as lifts or corridors, as long as those communal areas are used solely to access the facilities and not to access accommodation.

• Hospitality venues may provide takeaway food and drink (including takeaway alcohol).

Hotels and Other Non-Self-Contained Accommodation

If a site is not self-contained and therefore remains closed for leisure stays, permitted businesses or services can still operate on site and can be used by guests and by the general public:

• Indoor and outdoor sport facilities (swimming pools and gyms), spas and personal care, and retail may open for access by the public as well as for guests staying for legally permitted reasons. These facilities can open even where the entrance is within the hotel and access is via shared indoor facilities such as lifts/corridors. Saunas and steam rooms must remain closed.

• Outdoor hospitality such as restaurants, cafes and bars can open for the public as well as for guests staying for legally permitted reasons. Outdoor hospitality can open even where the entrance is within the hotel and access is via shared indoor communal areas such as lifts/corridors. The use of indoor toilets (and facilities such as baby changing rooms) is permitted, even ifaccessed through shared communal areas such as lifts/corridors. Food and/or drink (including alcohol) can be provided through room service as long as it is ordered by phone or online.

• Communal spaces such as lounges or lobbies may remain open to guests but no food or drink should be served in these spaces, people should not be encouraged to gather and social distancing should be observed.

If your business provides both self-contained and non-self-contained accommodation, both may only open subject to their respective restrictions, for example:

If your site has a hotel with indoor facilities on one part of the site, and a group of self-contained chalets on another part of the site:

• the hotel may open for legally permitted stays (only) ○ the self-contained chalets may open for leisure stays and for legally permitted stays

• the hotel’s indoor facilities may open to the public and to all guests

Coach Trips and Tours

When can coach tours take place?

Step 1b from 29 March: Private hire coach tours are only permitted for a private group of a single household/support bubble. The coach driver and tour guide do not count towards the single household/support bubble rule. Coach trips and tours with multiple groups are not permitted at this step.

Step 2 no earlier than 12 April: Private hire coach tours are only permitted for a private group of a single household/support bubble. The coach driver and tour guide do not count towards the single household/support bubble rule. Coach trips and tours with multiple groups are not permitted at this step.

In Steps 1 and 2, private hire coaches must not accommodate groups containing multiple households (excluding support bubbles) travelling together to the same destination or making the same journey, e.g. for the purposes of a leisure tour, as this is more akin to ‘indoor gathering’ than it is to ‘public transport’ and will therefore not be permitted until Step 3.

Step 3 - no earlier than 17 May: Coach trips and tours with multiple groups will be permitted in line with the wider social contact limits at this stage - in a group of 6 people or 2 households indoors.

Weddings

When can wedding show rounds take place?

Wedding show-rounds, viewings and site visits can only take place at venues when the venue is permitted to open. This means whether an in-person viewing can take place will depend on the current step of the roadmap, and the venues open at that time. For example, in-person viewings at indoor visitor attractions at heritage sites (such as stately or historic homes and castles) can only take place from Step 3 (no earlier than 17 May) when these venues are permitted to reopen.

Viewings at accommodation sites can take place at Step 2. People must not visit a closed venue for the purposes of a wedding viewing. Virtual tours or other arrangements should be considered, until venues reopen. You should refer to the BEIS Government COVID-19: Guidance for small marriages and civil partnerships guidance and Guidance for wedding and civil partnership receptions and celebrations for further details

Business events, meetings, training and education

When can show rounds for business events take place?

Business meeting/event show-rounds, viewings and site visits for the purpose of viewing the venue for a future booking can take place at venues which are permitted to open at each Step of the Roadmap, or where a relevant exemption applies.

From Step 2, this will include conference centres and exhibition halls, including conference centres located within hotels. Viewings of other venues can only take place from Step 3 - no earlier than 17 May.

Can work meetings currently take place?

In-person meetings for work, training or education purposes can still take place but only where it is not possible to carry out the activity from home, and if social distancing can be maintained and the venue can demonstrate it has followed COVID-19 guidance. People should only attend a business meeting in person if it is necessary for them to be there - social meetings with work colleagues should not happen.

Permitted venues, including exhibition and conference centres, can hire out function and event spaces for essential work, education and training purposes, where these events cannot reasonably be conducted remotely in Step 1 and 2. Catering can be provided at meetings and events for essential work, education and training purposes.

Food and drinks must be consumed in line with safetyand social distancing requirements. Arrange specific areas for food and drink provision such as lunches, teas and coffees (serve catering in the room where the meeting is taking place if possible, otherwise in a specific designated area), ensure visitors consume food and drink while seated, manage visitors to avoid crowding (for example, by organising delegates into groups), and arrange seating and tables to maintain social distancing guidelines (2m, or 1m with risk mitigation where 2m is not viable) between customers of different households or support bubbles. You should also use clear messaging on when face coverings should be worn

New Events Guidance

DCMS has published new events guidance that includes Step 2 and Step 3.

At Step 2

An event can take place if all three of the following conditions are met:

• The event takes place outdoors

• Attendees are expected to arrive and leave the event in a staggered manner throughout the day

• It does not involve attendees converging on and congregating in a site for a specific discrete performance or activity, such as a theatre or music performance, OR

• Or the event is a drive-in performance or show.

Examples of events that fit this criteria include:

• Agricultural/flower/garden shows

• steam rallies

• car boot sales

• community fairs/village fetes

• animal and pet shows

• funfairs and fairgrounds

• food and drink festivals

• drive-in cinemas and drive-in live performance events

At Step 3:

An event can take place where:

• People are likely to congregate in one area for the duration of the event.

• People are likely to enter or leave the venue in large numbers at a similar time.

Examples of events that fit this criteria include:

• business events such as conferences, trade shows, exhibitions, charity auctions, and private dining events such as charity or gala dinners and awards ceremonies, and corporate hospitality

• cinemas

• live performances

• circuses

• air shows

• historical /battle re-enactments

• live animal performances such as falconry displays at events

• non-elite and professional sporting events

All events recommencing at Step 3 will be subject to the following capacity caps:

• 1,000 people or 50% of a venue’s capacity, whichever is lower at indoor events

• 4,000 people or 50% of a site or venue’s capacity, whichever is lower at outdoor events

Capacity restrictions must be adhered to at any point throughout the event. For example, a theatre can admit over 1,000 people in a single day, but no more than 1,000 people at one time. If an event runs over the course of multiple days, no more than 1,000 people should be admitted at any one time over that period.

If a single venue hosts multiple different events at one time, and the attendees of each event are separated for the duration of the event (for example, a cinema with multiple screens, or an exhibition centre hosting multiple business events), the 50% capacity cap will apply to each individual event, rather than the venue.

It is important to note that capacity limits refer only to customers. Staff, workers, volunteers, speakers, exhibitors etc are covered by the work exemption and are not included the capacity limit. This includes:

• contractors

• administrators

• delivery staff

• operational team (such as reception, maintenance, cleaning security & stewarding and ticketing staff)caterers and concession stand staff

• presentation/production team

• exhibitors, speakers,

• musicians and performers

Catering and hospitality

Permitted events at each step of the Spring Roadmap may provide hospitality in line with wider hospitality rules.

• In Step 2, outdoor hospitality at events is permitted in groups of up to 6 people, or with one other household.

• In Step 3, outdoor hospitality at events is permitted in groups of up to 30 people and indoor hospitality at events will be permitted in groups of up to 6 people, or with one other household.

• In both steps, there is a requirement for food and drink to be consumed at the table. This means:

• if the venue sells alcohol, then all food and drink must be ordered, served and consumed at a table

• where the sale of alcohol is not offered, customers will need to be seated when consuming food and drink, but can order and collect food and drink from a counter

• If the venue is a cinema, theatre, concert hall or sportsground, then customers with a ticket to the event are able to collect food and drink (including alcoholic drink) to consume at their seats, rather than having to be served at a table.

Where there is no seating available, the stall or outlet can provide a takeaway or delivery service. Takeaway food and drink cannot be consumed in the stall or outlet, or in an area adjacent to the stall or outlet, and customers should be reminded to adhere to safe social distancing when queuing for food and drink by putting up signs or introducing a one-way system that customers can follow or employing extra marshals to enforce this.

In Step 3, indoor private dining events such as charity or gala dinners and awards ceremonies, and corporate hospitality, are permitted. COVID-19 guidance for bars, pubs and takeaway services should be followed for these events.

Events Guidance for Local Authorities

As a companion document to the guidance for businesses regarding Events, DCMS has also produced guidance for local authorities to use when assessing whether to give permission for events to take place. It is useful for businesses to be aware of this when entering discussions with Local Authorities on how their event should take place.

Guidance for Step 1b

The Cabinet Office has produced the full instructions for Step 1b of the Roadmap which came into effect fron 29th March. The key rules are:

People can meet outdoors either in a group of 6 (from any number of households), or in a group of any size from up to 2 households (a household can include an existing support bubble, if eligible)

People can take part in formally organised outdoor sports with any number of people (outdoor sports venues and facilities will be able to reopen)

Childcare and supervised activities are allowed outdoors for all children

Formally organised parent and child groups can take place outdoors for up to 15 attendees. Children under 5 will not be counted in this number

While it is now no longer a legal requirement to only travel for a permitted reason, people are advised to minimise travel where possible. This means:

• Avoiding making unnecessary trips

• Combining trips wherever possible

Updated Guidance on Businesses Restrictions

With the start of Step1b, the guidance on which businesses are able to open and which businesses must remain closed has also been updated. The key points here are the list of types of outdoor activity that are now allowed includes outdoor sports facilities such as:

• Gyms

• swimming pools

• sports courts (such as tennis and basketball courts)

• golf courses, including mini golf

• water sports venues

• climbing walls

• driving and shooting ranges

• riding arenas at riding centres

• archery venues

People can use these venues in a group of six people, or with members of up to two households. It is also worth noting that the guidance states that any closed premises can open for the purposes of:

• enabling access by the site owners or managers, staff or people authorised by them (including volunteers) for maintenance where this is reasonably necessary. This may include exhibit maintenance, animal or plant feeding, or repairs.

• Other work to ensure readiness to open, such as receiving deliveries of supplies, may also go ahead.

• making a film, television programme, audio programme or audio-visual advertisements.

Increased Test and Trace Requirement

It is important to note that the Test And Trace Guidance has been changed to state that from 29th March 2021, every customer or visitor should be asked to scan the NHS QR code or provide their name and contact details, not just a lead member. This requirement applies to:

• Hospitality, including pubs, bars, restaurants and cafés

• Tourism and leisure, including hotels, museums, cinemas and amusement arcades

• Close contact services, including hairdressers, barbershops and tailors

• Community centres, libraries and village halls

Rapid Home Testing For Businesses With 10+ Employees

The Government has announced that it is expanding the workplace testing regime so that businesses with more than 10 staff can order free testing kits for employees to use at home. To get the free tests you must register interest by 12th April. The tests will be sent to employers to distribute to their staff and come with clear instructions about how to take the test. Staff will then complete the test at home, before reporting their results to the NHS using the provided gov.uk address. The tests used for this are the lateral flow tests which can detect the virus in 30 minutes which means that staff can use them prior to coming into work.

Updated Visitor Economy Guidance

As with the primary guidance for Hotels and Other Guest Accommodation and the Visitor Economy Guidance has been updated to include information on:

The reasonable adjustments that businesses are required to make to protect disabled staff

Changes to NHS Test and Trace regulations

Changes to national restrictions from 29 March.

It is important to note when reading the guidance that it is only for the period 29th March to 11th April and will be updated ahead of Step 2 on 12th April.

Legal Requirement to Refuse Entry

With the new requirement for certain businesses to collect the data from all members of a group (as per the above note) this has the potential to cause conflict between customers and staff should a refusal take place. It should be noted that Regulation 16 provides that where certain services are provided, as listed in Part 1 of the Schedule, the person providing the service must take all reasonable steps to prevent access to an individual who refuses to provide the requisite details.

This businesses in Schedule One that this relates to are:

• restaurants, including restaurants and dining rooms in hotels or members’ clubs

• cafes, including workplace canteens

• bars, including bars in hotels or members’ clubs

• public houses.

The following information provides Q&A style clarification across our industry:

Q. Can organised walking or climbing groups take place?

A. Organised outdoor group activities such as walking and climbing groups can take place and can happen with any number of participants, as long as it is undertaken in line with COVID-secure guidance issued by the organising body. Restarting organised sport and physical activity should happen when the leaders (volunteers and / or staff) feel ready and comfortable. There is no obligation for everyone to restart activity from 29th March.

Updated Guidance for Transport Operators

DfT has published guidance for transport operators including organised coach travel which seems to contradict DCMS’s Q&A. This guidance states that:

These rules do not place any capacity constraints on public transport services and private hire vehicles, including organised coach travel. Operators should continue to provide transport services that can accommodate separate multiple groups which conform to the requirements of the relevant social contact rules.

Q. Can outdoor guided tours take place from 29 March and if so can these be for multiple groups of 6?

From the 29th March, outdoor, socially-distanced, organised activities including workshops such as photography, gardening, and crafts at heritage sites and other outside spaces will be permitted.

Other outdoor activities such as themed walking trails will also be permitted, including guided walks consisting of either a single permitted group or multiple permitted groups that are kept separate throughout the tour. These types of activities are subject to the gathering limits set out in the Roadmap - i.e. outside in groups up to a maximum of 6 people (the Rule of 6) or with one other household, though people from different households will still need to socially distance from each other. Support bubbles will continue to be counted as part of the same household.

The tour guide does not count towards the Rule of 6 or 2 households limits.

Q. When will zoos be opening up?

We will seek to reopen outdoor attractions at zoos and other animal attractions at Step 2. Indoor attractions at these venues will follow at Step 3. Operators of these businesses must take reasonable steps to ensure that bookings and admissions follow the social contact rules, and that groups do not mix within the premises. Zoos and other animal attractions should not be operating demonstrations or any other events, such as feedings sessions scheduled for public viewing, until Step 3. Zoos will also be able to reopen outdoor hospitality and non-essential retail at Step 2, provided that these are in self-contained units and are directly accessible from the outdoors (i.e. without going through indoor elements). Although visitor centres and other indoor attractions must remain closed at this step, this does not include toilets or through spaces to toilets or to outdoor areas, such as ticket halls. We will seek to reopen indoor hospitality within animal attractions at Step 3, alongside indoor attractions.

Licensed animal attractions and stand-alone bird of prey displays/performances at outdoor events (away from where the birds are kept, which would not be licensed as animal attractions but likely to have a separate animal exhibition licence) are not permitted to take place until Step 3.

Q. When can swimming pools with slides open?

Outdoor sports facilities such as swimming pools and water sport venues can reopen in Step 1b from 29 March. This is in line with the government's sport and exercise public health objectives. Outdoor water parks, aqua parks and inflatable parks (whether on water or on land) which will be permitted to reopen from Step 2, no earlier than 12 April. Indoor water parks and aqua parks will reopen in Step 3, no earlier than 17 May in line with other indoor entertainment and visitor attractions. Indoor swimming pools will reopen with other indoor sports and leisure facilities in Step 2, no earlier than 12 April. Unless a specific exemption exists, these must only be attended/used in line with the wider social contact limits at this stage - as a single household or bubble indoors and for the purposes of exercise, therefore indoor water slides at these settings should close. The indoor water slides at these settings can reopen in Step 3, no earlier than 17 May when indoor entertainment and water parks reopen

Q. Please confirm that communal changing for pools and indoor sports can reopen from 12 April?

Changing rooms can open at Step 2 - no earlier than 12 April but guidance is that people should arrive at gym/leisure facilities ready and should minimise use of changing rooms.

Q. Why is there a distinction between outdoor watersports & swimming (Step 1b) and outdoor aqua parks used for water sports and swimming (Step 2)?

As it will be difficult to separate sporting from leisure activities taking place in outdoor aqua parks, only outdoor water sports and swimming pools are allowed to open in Step 1b from 29 March for sporting activity. Outdoor aqua parks can open in Step 2 when outdoor leisure entertainment activities are permitted.

Q. When can coach tours take place?

Step 1b from 29 March. Private hire coach tours are only permitted for a private group of a single household/support bubble. The coach driver and tour guide do not count towards the single household/support bubble rule. Only day trips are permitted at this point. Large coach trips and tours with multiple groups are not permitted at this step. Step 2 no earlier than 12 April Private hire coach tours are only permitted for a private group of a single household/support bubble. The coach driver and tour guide do not count towards the single household/support bubble rule. Large coach trips and tours with multiple groups are not permitted at this step. Step 3 - no earlier than 17 May Large coach trips and tours with multiple groups in line with the wider social contact limits

Q. When can indoor elements of outdoor attractions such as botanical gardens, heritage homes, zoos and other animal attractions and landmarks open?

Before Step 3, indoor attractions at venues such as botanical gardens, heritage homes, zoos and other animal attractions and landmarks must close, though the outdoor attractions of these premises can open from Step 1 or 2 (depending on the attraction). Indoor toilet facilities can open at outdoor attractions at Step 2.

Updated Guidance on Self Hire Boats

The Environment Agency has updated the guidance on self-hire boats that applies from Monday. Under the new guidance, boat hire premises can open and people can hire a boat for the day under the following rules:

• An enclosed boat can only be hired by a single household or bubble

• An open boat can be hired by people conforming to the Rule of Six or two households provided social distancing can be maintained between people / different households

Q. When can show rounds for business events take place?

From the 29 March, when the stay at home restriction is lifted, visiting a business event venue for the purpose of viewing the venue for a future booking for a work-based event (even if the venue is otherwise closed) is permitted if this cannot be reasonably done from home. Safety guidelines for workplaces should be adhered to. Viewings where there is not a permitted exemption for work purposes or otherwise, should not be taking place in closed venues at this time.

Q. Can you confirm that opening car showrooms as part of non-essential retail will also include caravan and other vehicle showrooms?

Yes - the guidance for reopening businesses in Step 2 includes showrooms such as for vehicles which would include caravans.

Q. From 29 March: When the stay-at-home rule is lifted, are people allowed to travel to visit/maintain/collect belongings from their caravans on parks although the holiday park would be closed by law? And can owners of a self-catering property visit it ahead of reopening in Step 2 for cleaning and maintenance?

From 29 March, people are permitted to travel to visit, maintain, clean and collect belongings from their self-catering properties and their caravans on parks which are currently closed, but people should minimise travel where possible.

The government has announced an independent review to assess how Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) across England are funded and structured, and how they perform their roles, in order to establish whether there may be a more efficient and effective model for supporting English tourism at the regional level, and if so what that model may be. The review seeks to examine the extent to which the current DMO landscape:

• is economically efficient, effective and sustainable (with regard to funding, structure and performance);

• best enables the government to meet its leisure and business tourism policy objectives at a national, regional and local level;

• engages within the wider local and regional economic landscape, and the current focus on English devolution and levelling up.

DMO Call to Action

A critical part of the review will be establishing as wide an understanding as possible of the financial assumptions and positions of DMOs across England.

A critical part of the review will be establishing as wide an understanding as possible of the financial assumptions and positions of DMOs across England.DCMS is inviting DMOS's to partake in a confidential quantitative survey, available at the link below:

Click here to take part in the survey

The information you provide will be treated with the utmost confidentiality, and the data gathered will be collated and anonymised before it is shared with the independent review team and the review's expert challenge panel, and used to inform analysis.

The survey, which takes around 15 minutes to complete, aims to capture important organisational and financial information about the DMO you represent, so it may help to make sure you have these details to hand before starting on the survey. The survey will be open for responses until 11:45pm on Wednesday 14th April.

Wider DNO Survey

DCMS are grateful for the ongoing support for the review from across the DMO landscape, and for the time taken to provide the information needed to ensurethey have the widest possible data and evidence available before making recommendations to the Secretary of State and Minister for Tourism & Sport.

Please also see the wider call for evidence that was published last week and can be completed via the following link. Closing date for submisison sis 28 April.

Global Travel Taskforce:

The Terms of Reference have been published. Over the coming weeks we will be engaging with transport and tourism stakeholders through a range of meetings, as well as international partner countries, to ensure we have a comprehensive and workable plan. In addition there is an opportunity to offer your thoughts and share any written evidence or ideas by emailing globaltraveltaskforce@dft.gov.uk

Letter from Secretary of State Robert Jenrick to local authorities supporting hospitality reopening

The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government has written to local authorities on government measures to support hospitality businesses to reopen safely, including the intention to extend pavement licences for a further 12 months, making it easier and cheaper for pubs, restaurants and cafes to continue to make al fresco dining a reality with outside seating, tables and street stalls to serve food and drinks. See press notice.

Mandatory form for international travel launched to prevent illegal trips

From 8 March 2021, passengers travelling abroad will need to carry a new form stating that their trip is permitted under national lockdown rules. Stay-at-home rules are still in place, which means it is illegal to travel abroad without a permitted reason, such as for education or work. The form must be completed for anyone travelling outside the UK from England. Different rules apply for international travel from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. People don’t need to complete the form for travel within the UK, to Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man. For further details including downloading the form please read the news story.

The State Aid cap on Covid-19 support grants has been increased

Last week Paul Scully, Minister for Small Business, Consumers and Labour Market, confirmed on Twitter the cap on Covid-19 support grants has been raised to £10.9m and that extending the government’s support will help retail and hospitality chains and the thousands of staff they employ. The guidelines for local authorities have been updated. Grants under the Small Amounts of Financial Assistance Allowance, the COVID-19 Business Grant Allowance and the COVID-19 Business Grant Special Allowance may be combined for a potential total allowance of £10,935,000 (subject to the exact amount applicable under the Small Amounts of Financial Assistance Allowance using the Special Drawing Right calculator). From Thursday 4 March Local Authorities must apply the updated scheme rules set out in updated guidance documents for the following

• Business support package for January 2021 lockdown

• Local Restrictions Support Grant (Closed) addendum

• Additional Restrictions Grant

The updated scheme rules do not apply retrospectively. Therefore, where a Local Authority has previously rejected an applicant’s application before Thursday 4 March on the grounds that the applicant had reached previous scheme limits, the Local Authority must not revisit this decision. The applicant may however submit a new application if still within a current payment cycle. Local Authorities should not accept applications or make retrospective payments to those businesses where the payment cycle has passed.

Free rapid tests for all businesses for regular workplace testing Workplace testing is now available to all businesses, including those with fewer than 50 employees.

Businesses are encouraged to register interest by 31 March to access free workplace testing. Further details can be found from the press release. The portal to register interest is here.

Roadmap

Does the June end to social limits also mean an end of trading restrictions?

The roadmap sets out a gradual, phased reopening where each step proceeds following an assessment of the impact of the preceding steps. The ambition in Step 4 is to remove all legal limits on social contact, reopen remaining settings, and publish accompanying guidance on how best to reduce the risks. Whether and which measures remain at Step 4 will depend on the reviews announced in the roadmap, the impact of the earlier steps, and the scientific data closer to the time

Is the roadmap/steps set in stone and is the roadmap guidance or law?

he timings outlined in the roadmap are indicative, and the Government will be led by data, rather than fixed dates. Before taking each step, the Government will review the latest data and will only ease restrictions further if it is safe to do so. The indicative, ‘no earlier than’ dates in the roadmap are all contingent on the data and subject to change. The roadmap will be underpinned by regulations, though these are yet to be made. As set out in the roadmap, we hope to ease restrictions, incrementally, over a period of time. Until those points people must continue to follow the rules set out in law.

Stay at Home and Minimise Travel

From 29 March, will people travelling without a valid reason be fined over Easter or is this being downgraded to advice to stay local?

Therefore are people allowed to take day trips from 29th March outdoors , once the Stay at Home no longer applies? Stay at Home restrictions will be in place until 29 March. Until then, you will require a reasonable excuse to leave home. From 29 March and until Step 2, we will advise people to minimise travel and not stay overnight away from home. At Step 2, guidance on overnight stays will be lifted and people should minimise travel where possible but they should not be fined. Guidance will be to minimise travel from Step 1b until Step 4 - this means avoiding making unnecessary journeys, combining trips and avoiding travel at peak times where possible. People should avoid travelling further than is reasonably necessary to take part in their activity. From Step 2 and in accordance with rules in place for each step, it will be possible to go on holiday/overnight stays for leisure, but people should avoid making unnecessary journeys to do so.

Rule of 6

Why is the rule now either 6 people or 2 households? We will re-introduce the ‘Rule of Six’ outdoors from 29 March, as well as enabling larger groups to meet if they are from two households. A ‘household’ can include a support bubble where eligible. This rule allows either 6 people from different households or 2 households to gather. Applying either limit provides greater flexibility, recognising the different situations faced by families and individuals; two households will be more helpful for families, while the Rule of 6 is likely to help people in different households to reunite outdoors, including those living alone or in shared accommodation. Those eligible to form a support bubble will still be able to do so, enabling close contact for many of those in most need of support, and will continue to be counted as part of the same household.

Outdoor leisure, attractions, events and venues

Why is there a distinction between outdoor watersports & swimming (Step 1b) and outdoor aqua parks used for water sports and swimming (Step 2)?

As it will be difficult to separate sporting from leisure activities taking place in outdoor aqua parks, only outdoor water sports and swimming pools are allowed to open in Step 1b from 29 March for sporting activity. Outdoor aqua parks can open in Step 2 when outdoor leisure entertainment activities are permitted.

When can active outdoor leisure activity such as ziplining restart? Ziplining and other active outdoor leisure activities can restart in Step 2 - no earlier than 12 April, with outdoor attractions such as adventure parks in line with social contact rules - in a group of 6 people or 2 households outdoors.

When can indoor elements of outdoor attractions such as botanical gardens, heritage homes, zoos and other animal attractions and landmarks open? Before Step 3, indoor attractions at venues such as botanical gardens, heritage homes, zoos and other animal attractions and landmarks must close, though the outdoor attractions of these premises can open from Step 1 or 2 (depending on the attraction). Indoor toilet facilities can open at outdoor attractions at Step 2.

When can funfairs and circuses be permitted to open? Outdoor funfairs and fairgrounds can reopen in Step 2 - no earlier than 12 April. These events will be subject to local authority approval. Groups must be limitedevents and venues to up to 6 people or 2 households. Outdoor circuses can reopen in Step 3 - no earlier than 17 May - with other outdoor performance events. Outdoor circus events will be subject to local authority approval. Funfairs, fairgrounds and circuses will also need to be organised by a business, charity or similar organisation; comply with COVID-Secure guidance with reasonable steps to limit the risk of transmission and the completion of a risk assessment; and ensure that those attending do not mix beyond what is permitted by the social contact limits (unless another exemption exists, such as for work purposes, or supervised activities for children).

When can tenpin bowling centres, trampolining and climbing reopen?

Outdoor climbing walls can open from 29 March. People can use these in a group of six people, or with members of up to two households. Indoor facilities, such as changing rooms, should not be used at this time, although toilet facilities can be accessed. Indoor climbing walls can open from Step 2 - no earlier than 12 April. Unless a specific exemption exists, these must only be attended/used in line with the wider social contact limits at this stage - as a single household or bubble indoors.

Outdoor trampolining parks can open in Step 2 - no earlier than 12 April. Unless a specific exemption exists, these must only be attended/used in line with the wider social contact limits at this stage - in a group of 6 people or 2 households outdoors. Indoor trampolining parks can open in Step 3 - no earlier than 17 May these must only be attended/used in line with the wider social contact limits at this stage - in a group of 6 people or 2 households indoors. Indoor bowling can open in Step 3 - no earlier than 17 May. Unless a specific exemption exists, it must only be attended/used in line with the wider social contact limits at this stage - in a group of 6 people or 2 households indoors.

When can outdoor and indoor swimming pools reopen?

From 29 March outdoor sports facilities such as swimming pools and gyms will be open. People can use outdoor pools and gyms in a group of six people, or with members of up to two households. Indoor facilities, such as changing rooms, should not be used at this time, although toilet facilities can be accessed. At this stage, these gatherings must only include participants - not spectators. Indoor swimming pools can open in Step 2 - no earlier than 12 April. This is in line with indoor gyms, leisure centers, and sports courts. Unless a specific exemption exists, these must only be attended/used in line with the wider social contact limits at this stage - as a single household or bubble indoor.

When can recreational boating take place?

From the 8th March self drive day hire of boats is permitted for the purpose of open air recreation in a public outdoor place (the vessel must be open air) for single household/bubble only. People should minimise time away from home and stay local. From the 29th March self drive day hire of boats is permitted for 6 people / 2 households per boat if the vessel is open air and for a single household if the vessel is enclosed. People should minimise time away from home. From 12 April earliest, 6 people / 2 households per boat (if vessel is open air), single household/support bubble (if vessel is enclosed). Overnight stay only permitted with single household/support bubble on a self-contained boat. People should minimise time away from home. From 17 May earliest, if for day use, up to 30 people (if vessel is open air), or 6 people or 2 households (if vessel is enclosed). If for overnight use, 6 people / 2 households. People should minimise time away from home. As per the waterway guidance, larger gathering sizes can be permitted outdoors (from Step 2) and indoors (from Step 3) where organised by business/organisation, risk assessment completed, Covid-Secure guidance adhered to, and people do not mingle outside their qualifying groups).

Can multiple permitted groups (e.g. multiple groups of 6 on an open air vessel in Step 2) go on a large sightseeing boat tour if they are kept separate on the trip and if the capacity of the boat is capable of ensuring social distancing?

This is permitted if the boat is open air using the permitted organised gathering exemption (where organised by a business/organisation, risk assessment completed which will take into account capacity limits, COVID-Secure guidance adhered to, and people do not mingle outside of their qualifying groups - 6 people / 2 households). Where a boat is partially enclosed, people must only go inside for use of / access to the toilet. The boat skipper and/or guide would not count in capacity limits if they are employed as they would be exempt under the work exemption.

Accommodation

Can you confirm that opening car showrooms as part of non-essential retail will also include caravan and other vehicle showrooms?

Yes - the guidance for reopening businesses in Step 2 includes showrooms such as for vehicles which would include caravans.

From 29 March: When the stay-at-home rule is lifted, are people allowed to travel to visit/maintain/collect belongings from their caravans on parks although the holiday park would be closed by law? And can owners of a self-catering property visit it ahead of reopening in Step 2 for cleaning and maintenance?

From 29 March, people are permitted to travel to visit, maintain, clean and collect belongings from their self-catering properties and their caravans on parks which are currently closed, but people should minimise travel where possible.

Business events, meetings, training and education

Can work meetings currently take place? In-person meetings for work, training or education purposes can still take place but only where it is not possible to carry out the activity from home, and if social distancing can be maintained and the venue can demonstrate it has followed COVID-19 guidance. People should only attend a business meeting in person if it is necessary for them to be there - social meetings with work colleagues should not happen. Permitted venues, including exhibition and conference centers, can hire out function and event spaces for essential work, education, and training purposes, where these events cannot reasonably be conducted remotely in Step 1 and 2.

The UK government has launched three new investment programmes to support communities across the country. There are common challenges and opportunities which the UK government is determined to address in collaboration with local partners in an attempt to make sure that no area is left behind. Details of the new investment programmes can be found here:

Community Renewal Fund

To help the UK prepare for the introduction of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which replaces EU funding programmes, the government is providing £220m between 2021 and 2022 through the UK Community Renewal Fund in order to pilot programmes and new approaches. The prospectus for this funding has been published and will prioritise projects that target investment at communities in need in 100 priority places based on an index of economic resilience:

Levelling Up Fund

Second up is the prospectus for the £4.8 billion levelling up fund to support town centre and high street regeneration, local transport projects, and cultural and heritage assets, and the priority areas for its use.

Community Ownership Fund

The Community Ownership Fund which will enable community groups to bid for up to £250,000 matched-funding to help them buy or take over local community assets at risk of being lost which will then be run as community-owned businesses.

General Economic Status

While the data presented here is not unexpected it does starkly display the economic position we find ourselves in:

• 700,000 people have lost their jobs, the economy shrank by almost 10% last year

• OBR forecast is for GDP to grow 4% this year, then by 7.3% in 2022, and then 1.7%, 1.6% and 1.7% in the last three years of the forecast

• Unemployment predicted to peak at 6.5%

• The government is borrowing 17% of GDP this year

• Next year borrowing will be 10.3% of GDP

Reduced VAT Rate Extension

The temporary reduced VAT Rate of 5% for certain elements of our sector has been revised following the budget announcement. It is essentially the same as previously but will be replaced with a 12.5% rate from 1 October 2021 to 31st March 2022:

The attractions that are potentially eligible for the reduced VAT rate extension can include:

• Shows/Theatres/Cinemas

• Circuses/Fairs

• Amusement parks

• Concerts

• Museums

• Zoos

• Exhibitions

• Similar cultural events and facilities

Examples included in the guidance are a planetarium, botanical gardens, studio tours and factory tours:

Small businesses that are on the flat Rate VAT Scheme will have their VAT rate changed for the 1 Oct 2021 – 31 March 2022 period. The rates are:

Up to 1 Oct After 1 Oct

Restaurants/cafes 4.5% 8.5%

Accommodation 0% 5.5%

Pubs 1% 4%

Full details on Corporation Tax Rate and Super Investment Tax Deduction can be viewed here on the TSE website

Corporation Tax Rate

• This will increase to 25% on April 2023

• A Small Profits Rate of 19% will apply to businesses with a profit of over £50,000

• There will be a tapered rate between profits of £50,000 and £250,000

Super Investment Tax Deduction

To encourage investment, from 1 April 2021 until 31 March 2023, companies investing in qualifying new plant and machinery assets will benefit from a 130% first-year capital allowance. This upfront super-deduction will allow companies to cut their tax bill by up to 25p for every £1 they invest,

Business Rates

• 100% businesses rates holiday until June, followed by a two-thirds discount for the rest of the year.

• The discount is being capped at £2 million per business for properties that were required to be closed on 5 January 2021, or £105,000 per business for other eligible properties.

• The government will legislate to ensure that the business rates relief repayments that have been made by certain businesses are deductible for corporation tax and income tax purposes.

Furlough

The CJRS extension was widely expected and will continue until the end of September with the 80% support rate continuing until the end of June.

From July the government will introduce an employer contribution towards the cost of unworked hours of 10% in July, 20% in August and September, thereby dropping the government’s contribution firstly to 70% and then 60%.

One important change is that for periods starting on or after 1 May 2021 you can claim for employees who were employed on 2 March 2021. The proviso being that you have made a PAYE Real Time Information (RTI) submission to HMRC between 20 March 2020 and 2 March 2021 notifying a payment of earnings for that employee. You do not need to have previously claimed for an employee before the 2 March 2021 to claim for periods from starting on or after 1 May 2021.

SEISS Extension

Similar to the above the SEISS scheme is also being extended until September. The grant will be set at 80% of 3 months’ average trading profits, paid out in a single instalment and capped at £7,500. It will take into account 2019 to 2020 tax returns and will be open to those who became self-employed in the 2019/20 tax year. The rest of the eligibility criteria remain unchanged.

The online claims service for the fourth grant covering February to April will be available from late April 2021 until 31 May 2021 and will be followed by a fifth and final grant covering May to September.

Restart Grants

It was announced that for non-essential retail businesses there will be grants of up to £6,000 per premises while those operating in the hospitality and leisure sector could be eligible for grants of up to £18,000.

There is also to be an additional £425 million of discretionary business grant funding, on top of the £1.6 billion already allocated, to be administered by local authorities.

Recovery Loan Scheme

The outline guidance on the new Recovery Loans that were announced today have been published. Term loans and overdrafts will be available between £25,001 and £10 million per business. Invoice finance and asset finance will be available between £1,000 and £10 million per business.

Finance terms are up to six years for term loans and asset finance facilities. For overdrafts and invoice finance facilities terms will be up to three years. No personal guarantees will be taken on facilities up to £250,000, and a borrower’s principal private residence cannot be taken as security.

Support for Airports

The government is renewing the Airports and Ground Operations Support Scheme for a further six months from the start of 2021-22. This will provide support for eligible businesses in England up to the equivalent of half of their business rates liabilities during 2021-22, subject to certain conditions and a cap per claimant of £4 million. Air Passenger Duty (APD) rates to increase in line with RPI from April 2022 for long-haul flights while reduced and standard short-haul rates will remain frozen.

Animal Funds

The Zoo Animals Fund for a further three months until 30 June 2021.

Culture Recovery Fund

The government will provide a further £300 million to extend the Culture Recovery Fund

National Museums and Cultural Bodies

£90 million will be provided for continued support for government-sponsored National Museums and cultural bodies in England.

Extended Loss Carry Back

The trading loss carry-back rule will be temporarily extended from the existing one year to three years. This will be available for both incorporated and unincorporated businesses.

• Unincorporated businesses and companies that are not members of a corporate group will be able to obtain relief for up to £2 million of losses in each of 2020-21 and 2021-22

• Companies that are members of a corporate group will be able to obtain relief for up to £200,000 of losses in each of 2020-21 and 2021-22 without any group limitations

• Companies that are members of a corporate group will be able to obtain relief for up to £2 million of losses in each of 2020-21 and 2021-22, but subject to a £2 million cap across the group as a whole

Contactless Payment

From today, the maximum amount that can be paid through contactless payment will be raised from £45 to £100.

Apprenticeships

Employers who provide trainees with work experience will continue to be funded at a rate of £1,000 per trainee. Employers who hire a new apprentice between 1 April 2021 and 30 September 2021 will receive £3,000 per new hire. Those setting up or using portable apprenticeship schemes will be able to bid for funds from a £7m pot.

Air Passenger Duty

·APD rates will increase in line with RPI from April 2022

Alcohol Duty

No increases this year

Fuel Duty

No increases this year

Gaming Duty

The government will legislate in Finance Bill 2021 to raise the Gross Gaming Yield bandings for gaming duty in line with RPI.

Infrastructure Bank

A UK Infrastructure Bank will be established in Leeds with £12bn.

Freeports Announced

Eight Freeports announced. They will be in East Midlands Airport, Liverpool, Felixstowe, Humber, Plymouth, Thames, Teesside, and Solent

Help to Grow: Management

The government will offer a new UK-wide management programme to upskill 30,000 SMEs in the UK over three years.

Build Back Better

The Government has also published its Build Back Better strategy for rebuilding the UK economy. It contains six key themes:

• Infrastructure

• Skills

• Innovation

• Levelling Up

• Net Zero

• Global Britain

The Roadmap

In his statement to the House of Commons today, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced outlined how lockdown restrictions will be eased in England. The roadmap is in four steps and before proceeding to the next step, the Government will examine the data allocated to assess the impact of previous steps.

This assessment will be based on four tests:

• The vaccine deployment programme continues successfully.

• Evidence shows vaccines are sufficiently effective in reducing hospitalisations and deaths in those vaccinated.

• Infection rates do not risk a surge in hospitalisations which would put unsustainable pressure on the NHS.

• Assessment of the risks is not fundamentally changed by new variants of concern.

There will be a minimum of five weeks between each step: four weeks for the data to reflect changes in restrictions; followed by seven days’ notice of the restrictions to be eased.

The full roadmap document is available here. A simplified table of the steps is available on pages 47-48. See below for a summary of the key points:

Step 1 (two parts split between 8 and 29 March)

From 8 March:

People will be allowed to spend time in outdoor public spaces for recreation on their own, with one other person, or with their household or support bubble. People must continue to maintain social distance from those outside their household. This is in addition to outdoor exercise which is already permitted.

There will continue to be restrictions on international travel. Holidays will not be a permitted reason to travel. Those seeking to leave the UK must complete an outbound declaration of travel form ahead of departure.

From 29 March

People will no longer be legally required to stay at home, but some restrictions will remain such as continuing to work from home where possible and minimising all travel. The rule of six will return for outdoors, and meetings of two households will also be permitted. This includes in private gardens.

Outdoor sports and leisure facilities will be able to reopen and formally organised outdoor sports will be able to resume, subject to guidance.

Step 2 – from 12 April at the earliest, subject to an assessment of the data against the four tests

Outdoor gatherings must still be limited to six people or two households as in Step 1, and no indoor mixing will be allowed unless otherwise exempt. Additional premises will be able to reopen but should only be visited alone or with household groups:

Non-essential retail

Personal care premises such as hairdressers, salons and close contact services

Indoor leisure facilities such as gyms and spas (but not including saunas and steam rooms, which are due to open at Step 3).

Public buildings such as libraries and community centres

Hospitality venues for outdoor service, without any curfew or the requirement for alcohol to be accompanied by a substantial meal - customers must order, eat and drink while seated

Most outdoor settings and attractions including outdoor hospitality, zoos, theme parks, drive-in cinemas/performances/events will reopen

In addition:

Domestic overnight stays will be allowed and self-contained accommodation - those that do not require shared use of bathing, entry/exit, catering or sleeping facilities - can also reopen, though must only be used by members of the same household.

Weddings, receptions, and commemorative events including wakes will be able to take place with up to 15 attendees (in premises that are permitted to open).

International holidays will not be permitted.

All newly open settings must abide by the social contact rules. This will be accompanied by mitigations including workforce testing and continued social distancing guidance. People should continue to work from home where they can and minimise domestic travel where they can. International holidays will still be prohibited.

Step 3 – from 17 May at the earliest and at least five weeks after Step 2

Most legal restrictions on meeting others outdoors will be lifted, but gatherings of more than 30 people outdoors will remain illegal. Indoors, people will be able to meet socially in a group of six, or with one other household (though it may be possible to go further than this at Step 3 depending on the data). COVID-Secure guidance will remain in place and premises must not cater for groups larger than the legal limits.

Sectors which will reopen include:

• Indoor hospitality, with no requirement for a substantial meal to be served alongside alcoholic drinks, and no curfew. The requirement to order, eat and drink while seated (‘table service’) will remain;

• Remaining outdoor entertainment, such as outdoor theatres and cinemas;

• Indoor entertainment, such as museums, cinemas and children’s play areas;

• Remaining accommodation, such as hotels, hostels and B&Bs;

• Adult indoor group sports and exercise classes; and

• Some large events, including conferences, theatre and concert performances and sports events.

• Controlled indoor events of up to 1,000 people or 50% of a venue’s capacity, whichever is lower, will be permitted, as will outdoor events with a capacity of either 50% or 4,000 people, whichever is lower.

The Government will also make a special provision for large, outdoor, seated venues where crowds can be safely distributed, allowing up to 10,000 people or 25% of total seated capacity, whichever is lower.

In addition, pilots will run as part of the Events Research Programme to examine how such events can take place without the need for social distancing using other mitigations such as testing.

In addition

Weddings, receptions, funerals, and commemorative events including wakes can proceed with up to 30 attendees.

A broader range of stand-alone life events will also be permitted at this step, including bar mitzvahs and christenings.

Step 4 – from 21 June at the earliest, and at least five weeks after Step 3

With appropriate mitigations in place, by Step 4, the Government aims to remove all legal limits on social contact, reopen the remaining closed settings, including nightclubs and enable large events, theatre performances, above the Step 3 capacity restrictions (subject to the outcome of the scientific Events Research Programme) and remove all limits on weddings and other life events, subject to the outcome of the scientific Events Research Programme.

In parallel to these steps, four formal reviews will also take place on the issues of:

• Social distancing and face masks

• The resumption of international travel – the global Travel Taskforce will report on 12 April with recommendations aimed at facilitating a return to international travel as soon as possible while still managing the risk from imported cases and variants of concern. Following that, the Government will determine when international travel should resume, which will be no earlier than 17 May.

• COVID status certification to enable reopening of businesses, mindful of discrimination and privacy

• The return of major events

Further details of business support will come from the Chancellor’s budget next Wednesday. A plan for reacting to local outbreaks will also be published next month, with measures to tackle new variants. He could not rule out implementing restrictions at a local level if required.

New Border Control Measures

The Government has announced new border control measures aimed at preventing new coronavirus variants entering the UK. In a statement to Parliament, the Health Secretary announced a three part programme to achieve this that comes into effect next Monday (15th February). The three components and associated details are as follows:

Hotel quarantine for UK and Irish residents who have visited a red list country in the past 10 days, and home quarantine for all passengers from any other country From entry into the UK will be limited to a small number of ports of entry quarantine will be in an assigned hotel room for 10 days from the time of arrival quarantine will have to be booked and paid online prior to departure and will costing £1,750 for an individual travelling alone (this includes all costs including testing) full guidance will be published on Thursday when the booking site goes live

A 3-test regime for all arrivals

In addition to the pre-departure test, all international arrivals, whether under home quarantine or hotel quarantine, will be required by law to take further PCR tests on day 2 and day 8 of that quarantine. Arrivals will have to book these tests through an online before they travel (as with the quarantine booking site, the site for booking tests goes live this Thursday). If either of these post-arrival tests comes back positive, they’ll have to quarantine for a further 10 days from the date of the test for people home quarantining, the existing Test to Release scheme can still be used from day 5, but this would be in addition to the mandatory 2 tests. The cost of the two tests is indicated by DoH as being £210

Increased enforcement and fines

a £1,000 penalty for any international arrival who fails to take a mandatory test

a £2,000 penalty to any international arrival who fails to take the second mandatory test, as well as automatically extending their quarantine period to 14 days a £5,000 fixed penalty notice, rising to £10,000, for arrivals who fail to quarantine in a designated hote. A sentence of up to 10 years for anyone who lies on a passenger locator form to conceal that they’ve been in a red list country within 10 days of arrival

Full details of the new restrictions can be found on Goevernment website for boarder control and also the updated news section.

Prime Minister’s Statement to Parliament

The Prime Minister made a statement to Parliament regarding the introduction of new control measures for people crossing into the UK and the review process for the Lockdown. The main points of the statement were as follows while full details can be viewed here:

• The Government is to enforce the ban on international leisure travel by asking people at ports of entry why they are leaving and instructing them to return home if they do not have a valid reason to travel.

• The Government we will require all arrivals from the 22 countries from which travel is banned but who cannot be refused entry to isolate in government-provided accommodation - such as hotels - for ten days without exception. They will be met at the airport and transported directly into quarantine, otherwise known as “Managed Isolation Process.”

• The Government will set out the results of the Lockdown review and publish its plan for taking the country out of lockdown when parliament resumes on 22nd February

• The plan will set out a gradual and phased approach towards easing the restrictions, beginning with re-opening schools – which is planned for 8th March at the earliest.

Home Secretary’s Announcement

Following the Prime Minister’s statement the Home Secretary also announced that:

• The details of the “Managed Isolation Process” would be announced this week.

• People in the Managed Isolation Process will be required to pay the costs of using this service.

• The police will step up checks on all people required to self-isolate

• People wanting to leave the UK will have to make a written declaration as to why they legally need to travel (leisure travel is not a permitted reason)

• There will be a review of the current exemptions that apply to travel bans.

Night Time Economy Consultation

The Night Time Economy APPG has launched an urgent inquiry into the impact of Covid-19 on British nightlife. The inquiry is being led by APPG Chair, Jeff Smith MP, who worked in the sector for several years in his earlier career. The APPG is calling for evidence from night time economy businesses, employees, freelancers and consumers to share their views on the challenges facing the sector, its importance to our society and economy, and how nightlife can be reopened. Consultations have run throughout January and a report scheduled to be released this month.

Evidence for the inquiry can still be submitted directly via an online survey , or via TSE where we will collate it on your behalf.

Eligibility for ARG Funding

TSE and the industry have been working to get support for a range of tourism businesses that have been excluded from the Local Restrictions Support Grant payments. Many of these organisations have not been legally required to close, however, lockdown restrictions have it impossible for them to operate. There has been some progress on this in the recent Parliamentary debate and the following statement from Nigel Huddleston:

"The guidance for these additional restrictions grants encourages local authorities to develop discretionary schemes to help those businesses that are perhaps not legally forced to close but are none the less severely impacted by the restrictions put in place to control the spread of covid. These could include, for example, businesses that supply the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors or businesses in the events sector. On this point, I have received a number of reports that some tourism-related businesses, which might not be ratepayers and are not explicitly mentioned in the guidance on these grant schemes, are being deemed ineligible by some local authorities.

To be clear to those local authorities and those businesses, although the ultimate decision is at the local authority’s discretion, the fund can, and in my opinion certainly should, be used to provide grants to tour operators, coach operators, school travel companies, English language schools, event organisers and similar businesses, all of which serve as vital facilitators to the tourism industry even if they do not sell to consumers directly on a specific premise. I therefore encourage and expect local authorities to be sympathetic to applications from those businesses and others that have been impacted by covid-19 restrictions but are ineligible for the other grant schemes".

The LGA have agreed to send this passage out to councils in one of their updates in order to bring some clarity to an otherwise grey area.

FCA Business Interruption Policy Checker and FAQ

Following the Supreme Court test case on a range of business Interruption insurance policies, the FCA has produced a Policy Checker which takes businesses through a process whereby they can check to see whether their insurance policy covers business interruption losses due to coronavirus. It should be noted that each claim will still need to be individually considered to determine whether the policy provides cover for the effects of coronavirus. Policyholders will need to check:

• the extent of their cover including how long it covers them for (length of their indemnity period)

• what losses are included - such as loss of profit, fixed costs or increased costs of working

Additionally, the FCA had also developed a FAQs which gives business further information on:

• How to make a claim

• The disease clauses in policies

• What to do if they have already made a claim or complaint

• What they can claim for.

CBIL Repayment Extensions

Chancellor announced last September that he was going to give Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme lenders the ability to extend the length of loans from a maximum of six years to ten years.

Reports have been received that lenders are refusing to extend the repayment period for some businesses’ CBIL loans. DCMS are keen to know whether this is an isolated problem or something that is occurring across the industry. Consequently, if you are experiencing problems extending their CBIL loan please could you let TSE know.

Christmas Support Payment

BEIS has announced that the deadline for applications for the Christmas Support Payment has been extended to 28 February 2021. This is the payment to wet-led pubs that were severely impacted by the restrictions over the Xmas period. To be eligible a pub must:

• Be based in England

• Derive less than 50% of its sales from food

• Be in an area subject to Tier 2 or Tier 3 local restrictions since 2 December 2020

• Have been established before 1 December 2020

Closure of UK travel corridors

Over the past week the revision to the rules which will probably have most impact on our sector is that of the suspension of the travel corridors and the removal of categories that were exempt from the travel restriction rules. The full list can be found here Coronavirus (COVID-19): jobs that qualify for travel exemptions - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) but of relevance to us are the following:

• business directors bringing jobs and investment to the UK

• journalists

• performing arts professionals

• television and film production

• ornamental horticulture workers

The closure of the UK travel corridors took place as at 4am on Monday 18th January and this means that anyone coming into the country will be required to do the following:

• Have proof of a negative test taken within 72 hours before leaving.

• Fill in passenger locator form.

• Quarantine for 10 days on arrival (although an additional test after 5 days can be purchased to reduce this period)

These rules will remain in force until mid-February although the reviewal process may lead to an extension to this period.

Supreme Court Decision on Busines interruption Insurance

Last Friday the Supreme Court published its ruling on whether a sample of 21 standard business interruption insurance policies covered businesses that were impacted by the Coronavirus outbreak and has substantially allowed the FCA’s appeal on behalf of business interruption insurance policyholders. This is something of a landmark decision which is set to impact on around 370k policyholders comprising of 700 types of policies issued by 60 insurers. Full details can be found here: Business interruption insurance | FCA

This now means that covered policyholders will now have their claims for coronavirus-related business interruption losses paid. The judgment is legally binding on the eight insurers that agreed to be parties to the test case.

The judgment also provides authoritative guidance for the interpretation of similar policy wordings and claims. The FCA has said it will be working with insurers to ensure that they move quickly to pay claims that the judgment says should be paid, making interim payments wherever possible. Each policy needs to be considered against the detailed judgment to work out what it means for that policy, including how much is paid. Policyholders with affected claims can expect to hear from their insurer soon.

Policyholders with questions should approach their broker, other advisers or insurer.

At the moment the guidance for policyholders on how to prove the presence of coronavirus, which is a condition in certain types of policy, is in a draft form and the FCA will issue finalised guidance as soon as possible after the closure of the consultation on 22 January. They will also publish a set of Q&As for policyholders to assist them and their advisers in understanding the test case.

The FCA will also publish a list of policy types that potentially respond to the pandemic based on data that they will be gathering from insurers.

Lockdown Restrictions

The National Lockdown in England was announced, with the guidance for immediate action, and will pass into law from 00:01 on Wednesday 6th January. It will be reviewed on 15th February with changes to restrictions being made dependant on positive results from the new controls.

You must not leave your home unless you have a reasonable excuse, which can include work or education. Should you go out, for exercise as an example, you should remain local thereby avoiding travelling outside of your village, town or the part of a city where you live. In addition you should look to reduce the number of journeys you make overall. The list of reasons you can leave your home and area include, but are not limited to:

• work, where you cannot reasonably work from home

• accessing education and for caring responsibilities

• visiting those in your support bubble – or your childcare bubble for childcare

• visiting hospital, GP and other medical appointments or visits where you have had an accident or are concerned about your health

• buying goods or services that you need, but this should be within your local area wherever possible

• outdoor exercise. This should be done locally wherever possible, but you can travel a short distance within your area to do so if necessary (for example, to access an open space)

• attending the care and exercise of an animal, or veterinary services

• Leaving home to exercise is limited to once a day but for no set period and outdoor attractions such as gardens and grounds can remain open

• Exercise can be taken with one other person which seems to allow one-on-one outdoor training or activities that comply with all other rules such as travel and social distancing

• Any worker with a valid reason can stay overnight in accommodation rather than just essential workers as per previously.

Holidays in the UK and abroad are not allowed, including staying in a second home or caravan, unless it is your primary residence, or staying with anyone who you don’t live with unless they’re in your support bubble.

You can stay overnight away from your home if you:

• are visiting your support bubble

• are unable to return to your main residence

• need accommodation while moving house

• need accommodation to attend a funeral or related commemorative event

• require accommodation for work purposes or to provide voluntary services

• are a child requiring accommodation for school or care

• are homeless, seeking asylum, a vulnerable person seeking refuge, or if escaping harm (including domestic abuse)

• are an elite athlete or their support staff or parent, if the athlete is under 18 and it is necessary to be outside of the home for training or competition If you are already on holiday, you should return to your home as soon as practical.

Tourism-Related Businesses Required to Close

• hospitality venues such as cafes, restaurants, pubs, bars and social clubs; with the exception of providing food and non-alcoholic drinks for takeaway (until 11pm), click-and-collect and drive-through. All food and drink (including alcohol) can continue to be provided by delivery.

• accommodation such as hotels, hostels, guest houses and campsites, except for specific circumstances, such as where these act as someone’s main residence, where the person cannot return home, for providing accommodation or support to the homeless, or where it is essential to stay there for work purposes

• leisure and sports facilities such as leisure centres and gyms, swimming pools, sports courts, fitness and dance studios, riding arenas at riding centres, climbing walls, and golf courses.

• entertainment venues such as theatres, concert halls, cinemas, museums and galleries, casinos, amusement arcades, bingo halls, bowling alleys, skating rinks, go-karting venues, indoor play and soft play centres and areas (including inflatable parks and trampolining centres), circuses, fairgrounds, funfairs, water parks and theme parks

• animal attractions (such as zoos, safari parks, aquariums, and wildlife reserves)

• indoor attractions at venues such as botanical gardens, heritage homes and landmarks must also close, though outdoor grounds of these premises can stay open for outdoor exercise. Outdoor attractions such as gardens and grounds can remain open.

Additional financial support

The Chancellor has just announced grants for businesses, including one-off top up grants for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses worth up to £9,000 per property to help cash flow through to the Spring. Furthermore a £594 million discretionary fund has been made available to support others who have been impacted.

These one-off grants are in addition to any other payments and those other payments may continue if a business emerges from the National Lockdown into a Tier level where they are eligible for a payment.

The one-off top-ups will be granted to closed businesses as follows:

• £4,000 for businesses with a rateable value of £15,000 or under

• £6,000 for businesses with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000

• £9,000 for businesses with a rateable value of over £51,000

Business support is a devolved policy and therefore the responsibility of the devolved administrations, which will receive additional funding as a result of these announcements in the usual manner:

• the Scottish Government will receive £375 million

• the Welsh Government will receive £227 million

• the Northern Ireland Executive will receive £127 million

Travel in Tier 4

Residents must not travel to any part of the country, unless necessary for a permitted reason such as work.

Tier 4 Restrictions

An update to the restrictions for areas that are in tier 4 have also been added. These include social contact rules, advice for guided tours and coach tours, as well as instructions for wedding, civil partnership, wakes and commemorative events. The document also includes the exemptions of when a hotel and other guest accommodation in tier 4 in England can remain open, plus examples of when a business event and meeting venues can be used.

Advice on organised outdoor events in tier 4 has been published. Entertainment venues must close including fairgrounds, funfairs, water parks and theme parks, as well as outdoor Santa’s grottos – although I suspect that Father Christmas is now safely home by now!

Outdoor business events (such as trade shows and exhibitions) and elite sporting events are not permitted. Performing art venues will be closed to audiences, including outdoor performing art activities. All other outdoor events organised by businesses, charitable organisations and public bodies, such as car boot sales, and literary fairs are not permitted.

Regulations now also to allow people to visit the outside areas of animal-based attractions. The amendment allows people:

“…to visit outdoor attractions at an aquarium, zoo or safari park or outdoor animal attractions at a farm, wildlife centre or any other place where animals are exhibited to the public as an attraction.”

View the updated visitor economy guidance.

Coronavirus Local Restrictions Support Grant (for closed businesses)

The Local Restrictions Support Grant sees updated guidance to reflect that all Tier 4 businesses in England who are required to close will be eligible for grants of up to £1,500 for each 14-day period of closure; the grants will be administered by local authorities.

The Government has published new Local Restrictions Support Grants (Closed) Addendum: Tier 4 guidance.

The core of this guidance is that when local restrictions are imposed by government at Tier 4 and a significant number of businesses are mandated to close to manage the spread of coronavirus, then Local Restrictions Support Grant (Open) and (Sector) will cease to apply, and LRSG (Closed) will be superseded by the conditions set out in this addendum:

The Government has published new Christmas bubble guidance which contains a few clarifications:

In Tier 4

• People already on holiday in a Tier 4 area should return to your home as soon as practical

• People resident in Tier 4 are not allowed to form a Xmas bubble within the area or travel outside the are

In Tiers 1,2 and 3

• You may see a maximum of two other households (your ‘Christmas bubble’) on Christmas Day (25 December).

• You cannot see anyone from a Tier 4 area.

• You can stay in private rented accommodation, a hotel, hostel or B&B in England over Christmas (in line with the social gathering rules in your tier) between 24 and 26 December, as long as you are staying by yourself, or with other members of your household and it is necessary for the purposes of seeing your Christmas bubble on Christmas Day.

• If necessary, you can stay in private rented accommodation with members of your household or your Christmas bubble.

People traveling from Overseas

• If you are traveling to the UK from abroad you and your household may join a Christmas bubble on Christmas Day. However, if you normally live abroad and arrive to join friends and family in the UK, you will count as a separate household for the purposes of forming a Christmas bubble.

Important Points

• People from areas outside Tier 4 are allowed to check in to accommodation on the 24th Dec and check out on the 26th Dec when traveling to form their Xmas bubble

• People in Tiers 1 and 2 are advised not to travel for holidays even within other Tier 1 and 2 areas.

On Struday 18 December The Prime Ministers announced the new Tier 4 for London and areas of the South East. This cames into effect from midnight 19 December 2020.

Restrictions on leaving home The new Tier 4 Health Protection, Coronavirus, Restrictions state that: No person who lives in the Tier 4 area may leave or be outside of the place where they are living without reasonable excuse.

• To buy certain goods (eg food and medicine) and services (banking)

• Exercise

• Worship

• Matters related to house sale or residential rentals

• Were required for work

• Elite Athletes

• Medical treatment

• Support/respite/ death bed visit

• Funerals and weddings

  • Exception 11: returning homeException 11- it is reasonably necessary for P to be outside P’s home to enable P to return home from any place where P was on holiday immediately before this Schedule came into force.

Traveling out of a tier 4 area You must stay at home and not leave your Tier 4 area, other than for legally permitted reasons such as:

• travel to work where you cannot work from home

• travel to education and for caring responsibilities

• visit those in your support bubble - or your childcare bubble for childcare

• attend hospital, GP, and other medical appointments or visits where you have had an accident or are concerned about your health

• The full list of exceptions will be published in the Regulations.

Traveling to a tier 4 area from a tier 1, 2, or 3 area You should not travel into a Tier 4 area from another part of the UK, other than for reasons such as:

• travel to work where you cannot work from home

• travel to education and for caring responsibilities to visit those in your support bubble - or your childcare bubble for childcare

• to attend hospital, GP, and other medical appointments or visits where you have had an accident or are concerned about your health

Staying away from home overnight You cannot leave home for holidays or stays overnight away from your main home unless permitted by law. This means that holidays in the UK and abroad are not allowed. This includes staying in a second home or caravan or staying with anyone you do not live with or are in a support bubble with. You are allowed to stay overnight away from your home if you:

• are unable to return to your main residence

• need accommodation while moving house

• need accommodation to attend a funeral or related commemorative event

• require accommodation for work purposes or to provide voluntary services

• are a child requiring accommodation for school or care

• are homeless, seeking asylum, or a vulnerable person seeking refuge

• are an elite athlete or their support staff or parent, if the athlete is under 18 and it is necessary to be outside of the home for training or competition

Businesses Restrctions

The following businesses in Tier 4 will be required to close:

• hospitality venues such as cafes, restaurants, pubs, bars and social clubs; with the exception of providing food and drink for takeaway (until 11pm), click-and-collect, drive-through or delivery

• leisure and sports facilities such as leisure centres and indoor gyms, indoor swimming pools, indoor tennis and basketball courts, indoor fitness and dance studios, indoor climbing walls

• entertainment venues such as theatres, concert halls, cinemas, museums and galleries, casinos, amusement arcades, bingo halls, bowling alleys, skating rinks, go-karting venues, indoor play and soft play centres and areas (including inflatable parks and trampolining centres), circuses, fairgrounds, funfairs, zoos and other animal attractions, water parks and theme parks

Attractions All indoor and outdoor attractions are required to close including safari parks. The exemptions being

outdoor areas at visitor attractions such as:

• sculpture parks

• landmarks, including observation wheels or viewing platforms

• botanical or other gardens, biomes or greenhouses

• stately or historic homes, castles, or other heritage sites;

Accommodation The restrictions for accommodation businesses in Tier 4 are the same as Tier 3, in that all accommodation has to close. The exceptions to this include the provision of accommodation to a person who:

• need the accommodation for work

• is unable to return to their main residence

• uses that accommodation as their main residence

• needs accommodation for the purposes of a house move

• needs accommodation to attend a funeral or following bereavement of a close family member or friend

• needs accommodation to attend a commemorative event to celebrate the life of a person who has died

• needs accommodation to attend a medical appointment, or to receive treatment

• is a carer of a vulnerable person or a person who has a disability and needs respite

• is isolating themselves from others as required by law

• is an elite athlete or the coach of an elite athlete and needs accommodation for the purpose of training or competition or, where an elite athlete is a child, their parent

• needs accommodation to visit a person who is dying

• is homeless or seeking refuge

Importantly, accommodation businesses are allowed to host people who were staying in that accommodation immediately before the time when the area in which the accommodation is located became part of the Tier 4 area,

Food and Drink The restrictions on food and beverage businesses are the same as Tier 3 – only delivery or takeaway, except for room service. Businesses can:

• sell food or drink for consumption off the premises between the hours of 05:00 and 23:00

• sell food or drink for consumption off the premises between the hours of 23:00 and 05:00 by delivery or collection in response to internet or phone orders or by drive-through

• There are also exemptions for ports/airports/motorway service areas and two-channel tunnel rail areas.

Conference and Events Conference cenres and exhibition halls are required to close so far as they are used to host conferences, exhibitions, trade shows, private dining events, or banquets. The exception to this rule are: •other than conferences, trade shows or events which are attended only by employees of the person who owns or is responsible for running the conference centre or exhibition hall.

Gatherings The amendments make it illegal for a person to organise or be involved in a gathering of people, the exemptions include:

• Education

• Training that is required for qualifications

• Work-related meetings

• Weddings (max 6 people)

Regional Alert Levels and Tier Regulations

South East alert level from 00.01 on Saturday 19th December Tier 1: Medium alert Isle of Wight Restriction guidance for Tier 1: Medium alert

Tier 2: High alert East Sussex, West Sussex, Brighton and Hove,

Hampshire, Oxfordshire Restriction guidance for Tier 2: High alert

Tier 3: Very High alert Slough, Kent, and Medway

Surrey (excluding Waverly)

Buckinghamshire., Berkshire,

Hastings and Rother

Portsmouth, Gosport and Havant Restriction guidance for Tier 3: Very High alert

Summary posters showing the guidance for each tier level are available for download on GOV.UK.

Christmas rules, and tier review information from the announcement on Wedesnday 16 December

Prime Minister’s Statement

The Prime Minister made a statement to parliament on Wednesday with a number of messages related to activity over the Christmas break. The key points were:

• The current rules regarding Christmas travel and Christmas bubbles will not change.

• However, the Government want people to rethink their Xmas plans around the message that “a smaller Christmas is going to be a safer Christmas, and a shorter Christmas is a safer Christmas”.

• If possible don’t travel from a high prevalence to a low prevalence area and avoid staying away from home overnight if you can.

• No one should be gathering in large groups to see in the New Year

For further information and the full statementcan be iewed here.

Self-Isolation Period Reduced From 14 to 10 Days

The Chief Health Officers of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have published a joint statement that, having reviewed the evidence, the number of days that people need to self-isolate if they have come into contact with Coronavirus has been reduced from 14 days to 10 days from 00:01am on Monday 14 December in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland (this is already in effect in Wales). This reduction in the length of self-isolation also applies to people returning to the UK from countries that are not on the Air Corridors list – so that quarantine period will be 10 days or 5 days for those using the Test to Release option which starts on 15th December.

People who test positive should continue to self-isolate for 10 days from onset of symptoms or 10 days from point of taking a positive test if asymptomatic.

Early Outbreak Management Cards

The Government has produced a series of action cards that provide instructions for business on what to do in the event of one or more confirmed cases of coronavirus in the organisation. Each of the cards is sector specific and centres round four key steps

1. Confirm

   • 
     

2. Contacts

   • 
     

3. Check

   • 
     

4. Call

   • 
     

Links for;

Food and Drink Card

Accommodation and Holiday centre card

Attractions and entertainment venues card

Tavel sector card

Social Distancing Guidance Updated

The Government has updated the guidance on social distancing for the tier levels:

Tier 1

Tier 2

Tier 3

Outdoor public places include:

• parks, beaches, countryside accessible to the public, forests

• public gardens (whether or not you pay to enter them)

• allotments

• the grounds of a heritage site

• outdoor sports courts and facilities

• playgrounds

In all tiers, you can continue to meet in a group larger than 6 if you are all from the same household or support bubble, or another legal exemption applies.

Christmas hotel measures

DCNS have providd further clarity on the Christmas exemption for hotels and other accommodation that are allowed to open between 22 and 28 December 2020. Accommodation may open during this period for people to stay in order to be located near their Christmas bubbles.

The regulations state under the closure of holiday accommodation: (5) Sub-paragraph (1) does not apply during the period beginning with 22nd December 2020 and ending with 28th December 2020.

This exemption allows individuals and households to travel into and out of Tier 3 on the 22nd December to stay at a hotel or other accommodation and leave on the 28th December to travel home. However people travelling on the 22nd December must not see their Christmas bubble until the 23rd December when the Christmas period begins. "Christmas period” means the period beginning with 23rd December 2020 and ending with 27th December 2020 when people are allowed to meet their Christmas bubble. Likewise people travelling home from the hotel or other accommodation provider on the 28th December must not meet with their Christmas bubble again after the 27th.

Updated Support Bubble Guidance

The Guidance on how to form support bubbles has been updated to clarification of how support bubbles work for those in more than one type of bubble, and simplified regarding on travelling to form a support bubble. The main points being

Xmas Support Payment for Wet-Led Pubs

The Government has published the eligibility criteria for the Wet0Led Pub Xmas Support Payment.Businesses may be eligible if they:

• are based in England

• derive less than 50% of your sales from food

• are in an area subject to Tier 2 or Tier 3 local restrictions since 2 December 2020

• were established in the pub before 1 December 2020

You cannot get funding if your business:

• has exceeded the permitted state aid threshold

• is in administration, insolvent or has been struck off the Companies House register

Guidance on Serving Alcohol Outside

I have received a number of questions regarding whether outdoor attractions and events can serve food and alcohol to visitors. DCMS have provided the following advice on this:

Tiers 1 and 2

Where there is no seating available, the stall or outlet will be providing a take away service. The customer can order their food and drink including alcohol to eat and drink anywhere in the outdoor setting. Customers should be reminded to adhere to safe social distancing when queuing for food and drink by putting up signs or introducing a one way system that customers can follow or employing extra marshals to enforce this. Customers eating and drinking in the outdoor setting should not gather in groups of more than 6 people

Tier 3

Outdoor stalls can offer food and drink as a takeaway service but alcohol may only be sold as delivery or click and collect

If seating is provided in or adjacent to the outlet supplying the food and drink, then customers have to comply with the usual rules associated with the different Tiers in terms of table service and substantial meals in tiers 1 and 2 and closure of seating areas in Tier 3

• Alcohol And The Performing Arts

The Primary Guidance for the Performing Arts Sector have been updated to clarify that alcohol that statement that “Venues should also only serve alcohol without a substantial meal to ticketed customers for 30 minutes before, during and 30 minutes after the performance or screening means that they can serve alcohol for a maximum of 60 mins in total

Visitor Economy

The following guidance has been produced by DCMS to provide more detail for Tourism business – the Visitor Economy Primary Guidance.

Points of note:

• Guided tours may operate in line with the relevant social contact restrictions in each tier, meaning all groups would need to be kept separate at all times.

• Coach tours may take place in Tiers 1 and 2, in line with social contact restrictions and with all necessary Covid-secure measures in place. They are advised against in Tier 3 given wider advice against travel.

• Hotels may keep open any onsite facility (such as gyms and spas) not otherwise closed by law outside the hotel setting.

• If a heritage railway service is provided primarily for dining or other recreational purposes; or for the carriage of passengers from the same start and end point then this is an indoor attraction and must close in Tier 3. If the heritage railway service is going from place to place (i.e. point A to point B), it is considered 'public transport' and can be permitted if required for the purposes of transport in Tier 3 provided all social distancing and face covering requirements are followed.

• Accommodation providers in Tier 3 can check people in on the 22nd dec and out on the 28th Dec

Travel and Overnight Stays

• These are permitted between Tiers 1 and 2, and people must adhere to the rules of the tier they are in or that in which they usually live, whichever is strictest. Travel into and out of Tier 3 is advised against, but there are exemptions e.g. work and education.

• The list of exemptions for hotels and other guest accommodation to remain open in Tier 3 has been expanded to include: volunteering, medical and respite stays, and education and training for all not just for children.

Business Events and meetings

• Event spaces can be hired out for essential education, work and training purposes.

• Business events are permitted with a cap of 50% or 1000 indoors in Tiers 1 and 2.

• In Tier 3, large business events such as conferences, exhibitions and trade shows are not permitted indoors, or outdoors with the exception of drive-in events.

• In Tier 3, smaller business meetings are advised against, but may take place with up to a total of 30 people if reasonably necessary - for example for the purposes of work that cannot be done at home.

• Meals can be served at business meetings and events, and business meetings can be held in hospitality venues - as long as BEIS guidance is followed.

• Private dining and corporate hospitality are not allowed, and no event should be social in nature.

Outdoor events

• Business events, elite sports, and live performances in performance venues will all operate under restrictions of a cap of 50% or 4000 people, whichever is lower in Tier 1 and a cap of 50% or 2000 people, whichever is lower in Tier 2. The cap does not include venue or site staff.

• In Tier 3 outdoor business events and sporting events are not permitted unless they are drive-in.

• All other outdoor events such as funfairs and fairgrounds, car boot sales, and literary fairs are permitted across all tiers and are not subject to these caps, but they must follow all relevant COVID-Secure guidance.

Christmas Guidance From 23 December to 27 December, people may choose to form a Christmas bubble. Christmas bubbles can gather in private homes - including second homes and caravans - and in private rented accommodation such as short term holiday lets.

To enable Christmas bubbles to meet between 23 and 27 December, hotels, hostels, B&Bs and boarding houses are permitted to take bookings for leisure travel in all tiers from 22 December to 28 December. Guests must check out on or before 28 December.

• If a member of the Christmas bubble uses the hotel, hostel, B&B or boarding house as their main residence then the Christmas bubble can gather there.

• If no one in the Christmas bubble lives in the hotel, hostel, B&B or boarding house, the Christmas bubble may not stay there together. However, people may still stay in hotels, hostels, B&Bs and boarding houses in permitted groups over this period:

• In Tier 1: Medium alert, in groups of up to 6 people, other than where a legal exemption applies.

• In Tier 2: High alert and Tier 3: Very high alert, in groups of a single household or support bubble.

• Hospitality such as restaurants and bars within hotels and other guest accommodation may operate in accordance with wider tier restrictions:

• In Tier 1: Medium alert, people may attend in groups of up to 6 people, other than where a legal exemption applies.

• In Tier 2: High alert, people may attend with those in their own household or support bubble.

• In Tier 3: Very high alert, hospitality including hotel restaurants and bars will be closed. Accommodation providers will still be able to provide food and drink including alcohol through room service as long as it is ordered by phone or online.

Read full guidance about restrictions over the Christmas period

Updated Lockdown Guidance

The Government has just published an updated version of the national lockdown guidance but have not indicated what they have changed in the guidance.

Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Holiday

The Government has announced that to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee next year, the late May Bank Holiday will be moved to Thursday 2 June and an additional Bank Holiday created on Friday 3 June to create a four-day weekend. The four day celebrations will feature an extensive programme of events throughout the UK which will also help boost tourism recovery.

DCMS - Q&A

Q. Is there any further information on the Job Retention Bonus? This has caused concern with the larger hotel/tourist groups.

A. The Chancellor has said that a retention initiative will be reintroduced at an appropriate time but no further detail. We will continue to work with HMT to get more clarity.

Q. For rural areas, is there clarification on what is considered acceptable travel for exercise?

A. While people are allowed to travel in order to exercise, we ask that you minimise the distance you travel. There are no limits on how far you can travel for work where necessary. Travel for recreation and exercise should be kept to a short distance. Travel for permitted purposes, such as essential retail, should be kept within reasonable bounds.

Q. Can you self-isolate in a hotel before you have an operation? A. You can stay in a hotel to self-isolate as required by law.

Travel Corridor Update

This week the following countries and territories have been removed from the Air Corridor List

And the following countries have been added to the Air Corridor list

• Bahrain

• Cambodia

• Chile

• Iceland

• Laos

• Qatar

• Turks & Caicos Islands

• UAE

All these changes apply UK-wide and will come into effect from 04:00 on Saturday 14th November.

Regional Alert Levels and Tier Regulations

The full statement delivered to Parliament by the Health Secretary can be viewed here.

South East alert level from 2 December 2020 Tier 1: Medium alert Isle of Wight Restriction guidance for Tier 1: Medium alert

Tier 2: High alert East Sussex, West Sussex, Brighton and Hove, Surrey, Reading, Windsor and Maidenhead, West Berkshire, Hampshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire Restriction guidance for Tier 2: High alert

Tier 3: Very High alert Slough, Kent, and Medway Restriction guidance for Tier 3: Very High alert

Summary posters showing the guidance for each tier level are available for download on GOV.UK.

The Government’s Winter Plan for England

This afternoon Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave a statement to the House of Commons on the Government’s COVID-19 Winter Plan. The Prime Minister confirmed that the national restrictions in England will end on 2 December and that the country will move back into a regional tiered approach. These tiers will be tougher than previously. On Thursday 26 November the government is due to announce which areas are in which tier. A postcode checker will also be available to show which restrictions apply in which area.

In the meantime guidance on the restrictions that will be applicable in each tier has been published. Please see the key guidance from each area below. The new rules will come into effect from the beginning of Wednesday 2 December, from which time people will be able to leave home for any purpose and meet people outside their household subject to the rule of 6, collective worship and weddings can resume, shops and gyms can reopen (see caveats below).

Tier 1: Medium alert

• People must not socialise in groups larger than 6 people, indoors or outdoors, other than where a legal exemption applies

• Businesses and venues can remain open, in a COVID secure manner, other than those which remain closed by law, such as nightclubs

• Hospitality businesses selling food or drink for consumption on their premises are required to:

  • Provide table service only, for premises that serve alcohol

  • Close between 11pm and 5am (hospitality venues in airports, ports, on transport services and in motorway service areas are exempt)

  • Stop taking orders after 10pm

• Hospitality businesses and venues selling food and drink for consumption off the premises can continue to do so after 10pm as long as this is through delivery service, click-and-collect or drive-through

• Early closure (11pm) applies to casinos, cinemas, theatres, concert halls, museums, bowling alleys, amusement arcades, funfairs, theme parks, adventure parks and activities and bingo halls. Cinemas, theatres and concert halls can stay open beyond 11pm in order to conclude performances that start before 10pm

• Public attendance at outdoor and indoor events (performances and shows) is permitted, limited to whichever is lower: 50% capacity, or either 4,000 people outdoors or 1,000 people indoors

• Public attendance at spectator sport and business events can resume inside and outside, subject to social contact rules and limited to whichever is lower: 50% capacity, or either 4,000 people outdoors or 1,000 people indoors

• Weddings and funerals can go ahead with restrictions on numbers of attendees – 15 people can attend wedding ceremonies and receptions, 30 people can attend funeral ceremonies, and 15 people can attend linked commemorative events

• People who live in a tier 1 area and travel to an area in a higher tier should follow the rules for that area while they are there. Travel to or overnight stays in tier 3 areas should be avoided other than where necessary, such as for work, education, youth services, to receive medical treatment, or because of caring responsibilities. Travel through a tier 3 area as part of a longer journey is permitted

Tier 2: High alert

• People must not socialise with anyone they do not live with or who is not in their support bubble in any indoor setting, whether at home or in a public place

• People must not socialise in a group of more than 6 people outside, including in a garden or a public space

• Businesses and venues can continue to operate, in a COVID-Secure manner, other than those which remain closed by law, such as nightclubs

• Pubs and bars must close, unless operating as restaurants. Hospitality venues can only serve alcohol with substantial meals

• Hospitality businesses selling food or drink for consumption on their premises are required to:

  • Provide table service only, in premises which sell alcohol

  • Close between 11pm and 5am (hospitality venues in airports, ports, transport services and motorway service areas are exempt)

  • Stop taking orders after 10pm

• Hospitality businesses and venues selling food and drink for consumption off the premises can continue to do so after 10pm as long as this is through delivery service, click-and-collect or drive-through

• Early closure (11pm) applies to casinos, cinemas, theatres, museums, bowling alleys, amusement arcades, funfairs, theme parks, adventure parks and activities, and bingo halls. Cinemas, theatres and concert halls can stay open beyond 11pm in order to conclude performances that start before 10pm

• Public attendance at outdoor and indoor events (performances and shows) is permitted, limited to whichever is lower: 50% capacity, or either 2,000 people outdoors or 1,000 people indoors

• Public attendance at spectator sport and business events can resume inside and outside, subject to social contact rules and limited to whichever is lower: 50% capacity, or either 2,000 people outdoors or 1,000 people indoors

• Weddings and funerals can go ahead with restrictions on numbers of attendees – 15 people can attend wedding ceremonies and receptions, 30 people can attend funeral ceremonies, and 15 people can attend linked commemorative events such as wakes or stonesettings

• People can continue to travel to venues or amenities which are open, but should aim to reduce the number of journeys you make where possible

• People who live in a tier 2 area, must continue to follow tier 2 rules when travel to a tier 1 area. Travel to or overnight stays in tier 3 areas should be avoided other than where necessary, such as for work, education, youth services, to receive medical treatment, or because of caring responsibilities. Travel through a tier 3 area as a part of a longer journey is permitted

Tier 3: Very High alert

• People must not meet socially indoors or in most outdoor places with anybody they do not live with, or who is not in their support bubble, this includes in any private garden or at most outdoor venues

• People must not socialise in a group of more than 6 in some other outdoor public spaces, including parks, beaches, countryside accessible to the public, a public garden, grounds of a heritage site or castle, or a sports facility

• Hospitality settings, such as bars (including shisha venues), pubs, cafes and restaurants are closed – they are permitted to continue sales by takeaway, click-and-collect, drive-through or delivery services

• Accommodation such as hotels, B&Bs, campsites, and guest houses must close. There are several exemptions, such as for those who use these venues as their main residence, and those requiring the venues where it is reasonably necessary for work or education and training

• Indoor entertainment and tourist venues must close. This includes:

  • play centres and areas, cinemas, theatres and concert halls, trampolining parks, soft play, casinos, bingo halls, bowling alleys, skating rinks, amusement arcades, adult gaming centres, laser quests and escape rooms, snooker halls

• Indoor attractions at mostly outdoor entertainment venues must also close (although indoor shops, through-ways and public toilets at such attractions can remain open). This includes indoor attractions within:

  • zoos, safari parks, and wildlife reserves, aquariums, visitor attractions at farms, and other animal attractions, model villages, museums, galleries and sculpture parks, botanical gardens, biomes or greenhouses, theme parks, circuses, fairgrounds and funfairs, visitor attractions at film studios, heritage sites such as castles and stately homes, landmarks including observation decks and viewing platforms

• Leisure and sports facilities may continue to stay open, but group exercise classes (including fitness and dance) should not go ahead. Saunas and steam rooms should close

• There should be no public attendance at spectator sport or indoor performances and large business events should not be taking place. Elite sport events may continue to take place without spectators

• Large outdoor events (performances and shows) should not take place, with the exception of drive-in events

• Weddings and funerals can go ahead with restrictions on the number of attendees – 15 people can attend wedding ceremonies, wedding receptions are not allowed, 30 people can attend funeral ceremonies, 15 people can attend linked commemorative events

• Organised outdoor sport, and physical activity and exercise classes can continue, however higher-risk contact activity should not take place

• Organised indoor sport, physical activity and exercise classes cannot take place indoors. There are some exceptions

• People can continue to travel to venues or amenities which are open, but should aim to reduce the number of journeys they make where possible

• Travel to other parts of the UK, including for overnight stays should be avoided, other than where necessary, such as for work, education, youth services, to receive medical treatment, or because of caring responsibilities. Travel through other areas as part of a longer journey is permitted

See the full guidance for the exemptions from gathering limits in all tiers

New BEIS FAQ on the Grant Schemes

BEIS has published a new FAQ for Councils regarding the administration of, and eligibility for, the various grant schemes. There is a range of information that will be helpful for tourism businesses when applying for a grant. Some of the useful questions are:

25. If a mixed-use premises is evenly split between services that are required to close and services that can remain open, how should Local Authorities distribute grants to the business?

In order to qualify for the LRSG (Closed), businesses will be required to declare their main service themselves. Its main service should constitute more than a 50% proportion of the overall business. If a business is unable to demonstrate that its main service has been required to close, it may be able to apply for a grant through the discretionary LRSG (Open) or ARG schemes.

30. Where a business operates seasonally and was therefore closed on the date before local restrictions were introduced but remains an active business, can it still qualify for a grant under the LRSG (Closed) scheme? Can occasional use by owners during the period of closure be discounted?

Yes, as long as the business was not insolvent, in liquidation or subject to a striking off notice on that date, it can be considered to be trading and is therefore eligible to receive grants under this scheme. Any occasional use by owners during the period of closure, must be lawful under the terms of the restrictions applicable within the Local Authority.

31. If a business operates for only part of the week and was therefore closed on the day before relevant restrictions began, is it eligible to receive grants under this scheme?

Yes, as long as the business was not insolvent, in liquidation or subject to a striking off notice on that date, it can be considered to be trading and is therefore eligible to receive grants under this scheme.

36. Are self-catering accommodation operators and similar businesses, which do not own the accommodation they manage and do not ordinarily serve customers on site, eligible to receive grants under this scheme?

In order to qualify for this grant, the business must be part of the business rates system. Therefore, businesses that manage the accommodation remotely must be the eligible business rates payers for that hereditament to receive a grant through the LRSG (Closed) scheme. If they are not, then they would need to apply for a grant through the discretionary LRSG (Open) or ARG schemes.

48. Why is there a presumption that under ARG, Local Authorities should not be supporting the self-employed when so many self-employed and company directors paid dividends are excluded from SEISS & CJRS? If Local Authorities were to check that these businesses declare that the money was to go towards fixed costs would that be acceptable?

Discretionary grants, including the ARG, can be used to support the self-employed. However, the ARG must not be used as a wage supplement, rather as a support to the business that the self-employed person runs. In addition, the Local Restrictions Support Grant (Closed) is available to support self-employed people who are liable for business rates.

50. Can ARG funding be allocated to BIDs?

The ARG funding can be provided to Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) bodies to support them with the shortfall in their levy income, provided that the BID body is not the Local Authority, or a company under the control of the Local Authority.

55. Can Local Authorities make multiple payments to the same customer for ARG?

As the ARG is a discretionary scheme, Local Authorities may decide to pay multiple grants to the same business. However, Local Authorities may wish to focus on businesses that are not already receiving support through other Local Restrictions Support Grant schemes.

The Government has released guidance on the rules that have been agreed between the four home nations on the restrictions regarding friends and families meeting over the Christmas period

Xmas Bubble Guidance

Between 23 and 27 December:

• you can form an exclusive ‘Christmas bubble’ composed of people from no more than three households

• you can only be in one Christmas bubble

• you cannot change your Christmas bubble

• you can travel between tiers and UK nations for the purposes of meeting your Christmas bubble

• you can only meet your Christmas bubble in private homes or in your garden, places of worship, or public outdoor spaces (ie., not in pubs and restaurants0

• you can continue to meet people who are not in your Christmas bubble outside your home according to the rules in the tier where you are staying

• you cannot meet someone in a private dwelling who is not part of your household or Christmas bubble

People in a Xmas Christmas bubble are allowed to stay in private rented accommodation but are not allowed to meet in any other indoor setting, such as a pub, hotel, retail, theatre, or restaurant. In these settings, people have to comply with the rules that apply to the Tier in which they are meeting.

But Xmas bubbles are able to meet outdoors in public places such as:

• parks, beaches, parts of the countryside open to the general public

• public gardens (whether or not you pay to enter them)

• allotments

• playgrounds

Eat Out to Help Out Analysis

The Government has published an analysis of the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme which contains a number of very interesting findings. Among these are:

CJRS Analysis

The Government has also published an updated analysis of the CJRS. The main findings of this are:

SEISS Analysis

Completing a trifecta of analyses, the Government has also published an analysis of the uptake of the Self Employment Income Support Scheme.

his analysis, in comparison to the CJRS, indicates the tourism related businesses are not one of the highest beneficiaries of this scheme. By way of comparison, there are 800,000 people in the construction sector and 217,000 in the transport and storage sector that made claims compared to just 72,000 is arts, entertainment and recreation, and 54,000 in accommodation and food services. This could well indicate the problems that many self-employed people in the tourism and hospitality sectors have experienced in terms of eligibility.

New Testing Strategy for International Arrivals

The Global Travel Taskforce has been working to develop a new regime for improving the management of international arrivals into England. The Government has now announced that new strategy and funding for airports.

The key points of the strategy are:

In terms of funding for airports, the Government has announced that:

Global Travel Taskforce recommendations

The Global Travel Taskforce recommendation report and a Written Ministerial Statement which sets out the key recommendations has been published today. The report recognises the importance of international travel to the UK and the impact of COVID-19 it also contains a section on International Travel Recovery Measures. Overall the report makes 14 key recommendations to ensure clear public health measures, increase demand safely and take the lead on global standards. These include:

Clarification regarding Christmas illumination trails during national restrictions.

The Government does not wish to see large events taking place that risk lots of people congregating. The new National (No. 4) Regulations enable outdoor recreation following gatherings limits to continue, which includes walking the outdoor grounds of venues with Christmas illuminated trails.

The Government is content for these installations to proceed, only if the following conditions are met:

• All sites operating Christmas illumination trails will be expected to operate within strict social distancing and COVID-safe guidelines.

• Each site must ensure that crowds are controlled, and that there is no singular event that has more people in attendance (e.g. a launch night).

• Each site must take measures to ensure that visitors do not congregate around particular installations.

• Each site must provide assurance on how visitor numbers will be controlled, and how social distancing will be maintained throughout (e.g. one-way routes, crowd management, etc).

• Operators will need to ensure that any food or drink provision at these sites is in line with the requirements set out in the Regulations. Please also refer to the Visitor Economy guidance.

• We would expect operators to make clear that the requirements set out in the Regulations around household groups and linked household groups to be strictly adhered to.

• Relevant Local Authorities should ensure that these steps are taken, and will have the power to close these down where the steps above are not taken.

Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) updated website for financial support for businesses during coronavirus (COVID-19)

Please see the press notice from BEIS here which indicates that there is £2.2 Billion in grants available to support businesses that have been required to close.

BEIS have updated their website with details of how to apply for Local Restrictions Support Grants. This information can be found in the links below:

Check if your business is eligible for a coronavirus grant due to national restrictions (for closed businesses)

Check if your nightclub, dance hall or adult entertainment business is eligible for a coronavirus grant due to national restrictions

Check if you're eligible for the coronavirus Local Restrictions Support Grant (for open businesses)

Check if you're eligible for the coronavirus Local Restrictions Support Grant (for closed businesses)

Check if you're eligible for the coronavirus Additional Restrictions Grant

Guidance updates Q&As

Q. Are voluntary workers classified as workers and can they continue to work on a voluntary basis? A. Under the national restriction regulations, voluntary workers are covered by the same exceptions which paid workers are covered by, including general restrictions on leaving the home and gathering. This means where it is reasonably necessary to leave the home in order to volunteer, and where it is not reasonably possible for a volunteer to provide their voluntary services from home, a volunteer is able to continue to volunteer outside of their home.

Q. Some wineries and breweries sell directly to the public – can they still do this as a food and drink business? A. Yes, these businesses may operate in line with the restrictions around the sale of food and drink. If food or drink is provided for consumption on a premises, then that premises must close. Food or drink, including alcohol, may be provided for consumption off the premises through click and collect or deliveries.

Q. Can those staying in a hotel for work purposes and who are in work bubbles eat together in the hotel restaurant?

A. Restaurants and bars within guest accommodation should remain closed; there are no exemptions to this in the regulations. Food and/or drink including alcohol can be provided through room service as long as it is ordered by phone or online.

Eligible for the Coronavirus Additional Restrictions Grant

A short piece of guidance on eligibility for the ARG has been published which stated that Local councils have the freedom to determine the eligibility criteria for these grants. However, the government expects the funding to help those businesses which – while not legally forced to close – are nonetheless severely impacted by the restrictions

This could include:

Eligible For The Coronavirus Local Restrictions Support Grant (for closed businesses)

Similarly, guidance on eligibility for the LRS Grant has been published. The eligibility criteria are:

Businesses are not eligible if:

Eligible For a Coronavirus Grant Due to National Restrictions (for closed businesses)

The next one is the eligibility criteria for businesses that have to close as a result of national restrictions

To be eligible your business:

Businesses are not eligible if:

Eligibility for Local Restrictions Support Grant (LRSG (Open)

Finally we have the eligibility criteria for the LRSG (Open) Grant.

To be eligible your business:

• is in an area subject to ‘High’ or ‘Very High’ local restrictions since 1 August 2020 and has been severely impacted because of the local restrictions

• was established before the introduction of Local COVID alert level: High restrictions

• has not had to close but has been impacted by local restrictions

Businesses are not eligible if:

• your business was established after the introduction of local restrictions in your local council area

• your business is in administration, insolvent or has been struck off the Companies House register

• you have exceeded the permitted state aid threshold

Main Extended CJRS Guidance

Full details can be seen here. Some of the key points are

Check Which Employees Can Be Furloughed

There is separate guidance detailing how the employment status of workers impacts on a businesses ability to furlough them. Some of the key points here are:

Calculate How Much You Can Claim

This is the online calculator that will help you determine how much you can claim. The key points here are:

For Employees on Fixed Pay

For Employees’ on Variable Pay

Further details can be seen here.

• Employees who were on your payroll on 19 March 2020, you should calculate 80% of the higher of:

  • the wages earned in the corresponding calendar period in the tax year 2019 to 2020

  • the average wages payable in the tax year 2019 to 2020

• For all other employees’ you should calculate 80% of the average wages payable between 6 April 2020 (or, if later, the date the employment started) and the day before they are furloughed on or after 1 November 2020

How To Claim

Once you have calculated how much you can claim, there is a separate online portal for making an application. The cut-off dates for claims are:

Claim must be submitted by:

November 2020

14 December 2020

December 2020

14 January 2021

January 2021

15 February 2021

February 2021

15 March 2021

March 2021

14 April 2021

It is important to note that 30 November 2020 is the last day employers can submit or change claims for periods ending on or before 31 October 2020.

Reclaiming Statutory Sick Pay

The guidance to employers on reclaiming Statutory Sick Pay has been updated so that now the repayment will cover up to 2 weeks SSP starting from the first qualifying day of sickness, if an employee is unable to work because they have been advised by letter to shield because they’re clinically extremely vulnerable and at very high risk of severe illness from coronavirus.

Clarification on Reopening Date

The end of the lockdown is a 00:01 on Thursday 3rd December – this being 28 days after the lockdown started (5th Nov).The lockdown guidance reads:

“The new measures will apply nationally for four weeks up to and including Wednesday 2 December.”

Updates to Lockdown Grant Guidance

The Guidance for Local Restrictions Support Grants and Additional Restrictions Grants has been updated to explain the Local Restrictions Support Grant strands and further explain the Additional Restrictions Grant. However, this update is more directed to Local Authorities on their management of the Grants rather than business eligibility so we await further guidance for businesses on these grants

Grants for Accommodation

One of the most pressing questions that I’ve been getting is whether accommodation businesses are eligible for the Local Restrictions Support Grant (Closed) or the discretionary Additional Restrictions Grant. DCMS still haven’t received guidance on this from the Cabinet Office but recognise how urgently the industry needs this and will come back to us as soon as possible.

Kick Start Gateways

Another update to the Guidance for the Kick Start Guidance to say that requests to be added to the Kickstart gateway list will no longer be accepted after 16 November 2020. However, organisations can still operate as a Kickstart gateway and submit a Kickstart Scheme grant application even if they're not on the list.

COVID-19 Situation update 10 November 2020

• To see the number of cases of COVID-19 in England and the UK visit the UK COVID-19 dashboard.

• To see the number of cases globally see the World Health Organisation dashboard.

Guidance updates Q&As

Q. Can the outdoor elements of botanical gardens be open, even if the indoor parts (hot houses etc) are closed?

A. Yes. Indoor attractions at botanical gardens, heritage homes and landmarks must close, but outdoor grounds of these premises can stay open.

Q. What does it mean for people already on holiday? A. At the time that restrictions are brought in, if people are currently on holiday and it is not reasonable for them to curtail their stay, they may finish their holiday as planned; the duration of stay should only be as long as reasonably necessary and they should return home as soon as practical. People must comply with the ‘stay at home’ requirements and make every effort to reduce socialising indoors outside of their household whilst in holiday accommodation in the meantime.

Q. If lockdown starts at 1am Thursday what is the situation with guests already booked to stay and can hotels serve breakfast to guests leaving on Thursday morning? A. Guests are allowed to finish their bookings if they were started before Thursday; the duration of stay should only be as long as reasonably necessary and they should return home as soon as it is practical to do so. They will need to comply with the ‘stay at home’ requirements in their holiday accommodation. Restaurants, dining rooms and bars in hotels will need to close from Thursday therefore breakfast in the hotel restaurant cannot be served, but room service is permissible.

Q. What purposes can hotels and accommodation providers remain open for?

A. Overnight stays and holidays away from primary residences will not be allowed. This includes staying in a second home or caravan, or staying with anyone you do not live with or are in a support bubble with. Guest accommodation providers such as hotels, B&Bs and caravan parks may remain open for the specific reasons set out in law, where guests:

* Are unable to return to their main residence

* Use that accommodation as their main residence

* Need accommodation while moving house or attending a funeral

* Need to self-isolate as required by law

* Need accommodation for the purposes of their work, or children who need accommodation for the purposes of education

* Are elite athletes, their coach or (in the case of an elite athlete who is a child), the parent of an elite athlete, and need accommodation for the purposes of training or competition

* Are currently in that accommodation at the time when national restrictions come into force.

* Are visiting from abroad on holiday or for work purposes

* Are being provided accommodation to relieve homelessness

* Accommodation providers may keep their business open to provide accommodation to vulnerable groups including the homeless, to host blood donation sessions, or for any purpose requested by the Secretary of State, or a local authority.