COVID-19 Updates – week commencing 29/03/21
More updates of developments from the government and various links to interpretation and guidance.
Go to date:
29 March 2021 …
Tourism Alliance update:
DCMS have updated the Q&A paper on reopening with guidance on a range of issues. These include:
- Coach Tours with multiple households have to wait until 17th May to restart
- TICs can open from 12th April
- Indoor wedding show-rounds have to wait until 17th May
- Heritage Railways have to wait until 17th May to open
- Displays and demonstrations at outdoor attractions such as zoos shouldn’t begin until 17th May
- Passing through an indoor area to get to an outdoor attraction is allowed
- Outdoor water parks can open on 12th April but indoor ones must remain closed until 17th May
Guiding Guidance
First up, we have received the following guidance on guiding from DCMS that will help operators when restrictions ease on Monday and mean that guided activities can be undertaken over the Easter holidays.
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.
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
New Regulations Published
The new Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Steps) (England) Regulations 2021 have been published and looking through there doesn’t seem to be any significant amendments. It will be work bookmarking the following link so that you can easily reference the legislation as we go through the opening phases.
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2021/364/contents/made
Social Impacts of Coronavirus
The ONS has published the latest round of its research on the social impacts of Coronavirus. The main points are:
29% adults felt that life will return to normal in less than six months which is the same as last week
the proportion of adults that felt it will take more than a year for life to return to normal increased to 23% from the 21% last week
Claiming Back Statutory Sick Pay
The Guidance to employers on how to claim back statutory sick pay for employees with coronavirus under the Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme has been updated with a change to the new weekly rate – from 6 April the new rate is £96.35, up from £95.85 previously.
Applying for a Visa for the UK
The Home Office has yet again amended their guidance on visa applications. The ability for people to apply for a visa online if their VAC is closed, which was to have run-out on 31 March, has now been extended to 30 June 2021. This concession applies to any form of UK visa application.
Wales Reopening
The First Minister, Mark Drakeford, has announced that the stay-local rule will be lifted from tomorrow (March 27). Self-contained holiday accommodation, including hotels with en-suite facilities and room service, will be able to reopen to people from the same household or support bubble. The stay local rule will be replaced by an interim all-Wales travel area, which will remain in place until April 12, subject to the public health situation. For the next two weeks, only those with a reasonable excuse, such as work, will be able to travel into or out of Wales.
The current restrictions on international travel for holidays will remain in place.
Other changes include:
- Six people from two different households, excluding children under 11, will be able to meet and exercise outdoors and in private gardens;
- Organised outdoor activities and sports for children and under 18s will be able to resume;
- There will be a limited opening of outdoor areas of some historic places and gardens;
- Libraries and archives will be able to re-open.
https://gov.wales/wales-tourism-sector-starts-re-open-restrictions-are-relaxed
Updated Guidance for Places of Worship
The guidance for places of worship has been updated to take into account the easing of restrictions that will occur on Monday. These changes include:
- The ability to host outdoor services
- The opportunity for singing
- The ability to host out-of-school groups for children
R Number and Growth Rate
And, because it’s Friday, we end with the R Number and Growth Rate figures which are, respectively, 0.7 to 0.9 and -5% to -2%. While still decreasing, these figures are slightly worse that last week and are the same as we saw in the beginning to mid-February.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-r-number-in-the-uk
New £1.5bn Business Rates Relief Fund
The Treasury has announced a new fund for businesses not eligible for the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Business rates relief. The announcement states that the funding will be distributed according to official data on the impacts of the pandemic on different sectors to ensure an even and more proportionate allocation of support across England based on the economic impacts of COVID-19. The funding will be allocated to local authorities based on the stock of properties in the area whose sectors have been affected by COVID-19. Local Authorities will then use their knowledge of local businesses and the local economy to make awards.
I will update you when I find out what the official data is that they are basing this on to make sure that tourism businesses that have missed out on Business Rates Relief previously are included.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/business-rates-relief-boosted-with-new-15-billion-pot
NI Exemption for Covid Testing and Test and Trace Payments
HMRC has announced that any payments that an employer makes to an employee to reimburse them for the cost of a relevant coronavirus antigen test will be disregarded for the purposes of calculating National Insurance contributions. As such, there will be no National Insurance contributions liability for the employee or employer provided that the test that was paid for is one that can detect the presence of a viral antigen or viral ribonucleic acid (RNA) specific to Covid 19.
The disregard will apply to any advance payments or reimbursements made to an employee for the cost of a relevant coronavirus antigen test made on or after 25 January 2021, until 5 April 2021.
In addition, HMRC has also announced that it will disregard payments made under the Test and Trace Support Payment Scheme in England to employees who are on a low income and have been asked to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace so that payments made under the scheme will not be liable to employer or employee Class 1 National Insurance contributions. Employers will also not be liable to Class 1A National Insurance contributions in respect of the payments.
New Report on Testing to Open Air Travel
A new report from Oxera and Edge Health demonstrates that air passenger testing can be used to safely reopen international air travel from 17 May. It found that a single rapid antigen test on-arrival was as effective as completing 10 days quarantine and demonstrates how a risk based ‘traffic light’ framework could be safely introduced to re-open international travel at scale. A single test strategy could be appropriate for countries categorised as medium-risk, with testing and a three days isolation could be used for higher risk countries.
The key findings of the report are:
Rapid antigen tests can reduce the number of ‘infectious days’ of an international arrival by 63% — the same as ten days of self-isolation once compliance is taken into account
A two-test strategy (antigen and PCR) with three-day quarantine could be an effective strategy for screening arrivals from countries with higher prevalence rates of COVID-19, capturing 87% of infectious days – and enabling genomic sequencing to mitigate variants of concern.
Analysis of real-world 2020 US/EU passenger data shows that even a single test at the border would have reduced the imported case rate below existing UK community transmission levels.
https://www.oxera.com/publications/effectiveness-of-dual-testing-schemes-for-air-passengers/
DMO Review Expert Group
The membership of review team for the DMO review has been announced. The membership is:
David Curtis-Brignell
Michael Hirst
John Hoy
Kate Kennally
Franks Rogers
Sarah Stewart
Nigel Wilkinson
Kate Willard
Laura Wyld
Background information on the members of the Expert Group are available on the following link.
CBILS, CLBILS and BBLS Close, Recovery Loan Scheme Opens
Applications for CBILS, CLBILS and BBLS loans end on 31 March 2021 and are being replaced by the new Recovery Loan Scheme, which will run until 31 December 2021 to ensure that businesses can access Government-backed finance during the reopening of the economy. With the end of the old loan schemes the Government has announced that:
- three Bounce Back Loans have been issued every minute since May 2020 launch
- a total almost £180 billion in loans have been issued since March 2020
- the Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF) scheme has supported firms responsible for 2.5 million jobs
Which you can either view as a significant success or the dire state that many businesses.
CJRS Analysis
ONS has published another analysis on use of the CJRS for the period up to 28th February. The main findings are:
- The provisional figures show that 4.7m people were furloughed at the end of February
- The accommodation and food services sector have the highest take-up of furlough with provisional estimates showing this increased to 69% of employers at 28 February.
- Within this, the beverage serving activities sector had the highest proportion of eligible employments furloughed, with a take-up rate of 78%. This was followed by the hotels and similar accommodation sector which had 69%
- The provisional estimates show the number of employments furloughed decreased to 1.15m from 1.23m during February
- Accommodation and food services account for a quarter of all people on furlough
- in the passenger air transport sector, 61% of employers eligible were being furloughed furloughing (35,300 employees)
Updated Guidance for Sports Organisations
DCMS’s guidance for organisations that are holding sports events that are allowed to restart on Monday has been updated to provide detailed guidance on how sports events should be managed to make sure that they are covid secure. The guidance focuses on four principles for covid secure operation:
- Key Principle 1 – Off-field activity
- Key Principle 2 – prior to activity
- Key principle 3 – during activity
- Key Principle 4 – facility usage
Filing Extensions End on 5th April
Companies House is warning businesses that the automatic filing extensions that were introduced last year with regard to the following activities come to an end on 5th April 2021:
- Accounts
- Confirmation statements
- Event-driven filings
- Mortgage charges
However, for accounts filing deadlines that fall after 5 April, companies can still apply for a 3-month extension.
Updates to CJRS Guidance
There has been a update to the guidance to businesses claiming CJRS, to explain that earliest that they can make a claim for May 2021 is 19 April 2021. A new section has also been added regarding the ability to claim for employees that have caring responsibilities. This states that employee are eligible for the grant and can be furloughed if they have Covid-related caring responsibilities that mean they are:
- unable to work (including from home)
- working reduced hours
- Examples of caring responsibilities include caring for:
- children who are at home as a result of school or childcare facilities closing
- a vulnerable individual in their household
The section on training during furlough has also been updated to state:
Furloughed employees can engage in training during hours which you record your employee as being in furlough, as long as in undertaking the training the employee does not provide services to, or generate revenue for, or on behalf of their organisation or a linked or associated organisation. Furloughed employees should be encouraged to undertake training.
Where training is undertaken by furloughed employees during hours which you record your employee as being on furlough, at the request of their employer, they are entitled to be paid at least their appropriate national minimum wage for this time. In most cases, the furlough payment of 80% of an employee’s regular wage, up to the value of £2,500, will provide sufficient monies to cover these training hours. However, where the time spent training attracts a minimum wage entitlement in excess of the furlough payment, employers will need to pay the additional wages
£25m for Tourism Recovery in Scotland
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon today announced £25m of funding to support the tourism sector’s recovery from COVID-19. The programme, which has been developed by the Scottish Tourism Emergency Response Group (STERG) in partnership with businesses, will support the Scottish Tourism Recovery Taskforce objectives.
The recovery programme includes:
- a holiday voucher scheme to create a more socially sustainable and inclusive tourism industry
- a days out incentive scheme to support areas such as attractions, tours, activities and experiences
- a talent development and leadership programme for tourism and hospitality staff
- a Net Zero Pathway to make Scotland’s tourism industry more green and sustainable
- a marketing fund to support organisations to promote their destination or sector when domestic travel is able to resume
https://www.gov.scot/news/gbp-25-million-for-tourism-recovery/
CPT operational update:
COVID TESTING REQUIREMENTS FOR PSV DRIVERS – ENTERING THE UK
PSV drivers do not need to complete a declaration form prior to departure for overseas travel
It should also be noted that France has withdrawn the requirement for a PSV driver to provide a negative test when entering from the UK
All PSV drivers entering England from the EU must have evidence of a negative COVID test taken in the 3 days before arrival
From 6 April, all PSV drivers entering England from abroad (except those arriving from the Common Travel Area) and who will stay in the UK for more than 2 days must be tested for COVID after arrival
The test must be taken within two days of arrival and every 3 days thereafter
There is no requirement for a PSV driver to show evidence of having booked these tests when they arrive at the border
Drivers who live in the UK you do not need to self-isolate during this period
Drivers must also complete a passenger locator form before they travel to the UK
Where can a driver get tested?
Access lateral flow tests will be available through:
- workplace testing, available to employers where employees cannot work from home
- community testing, by getting tested at local authority-run asymptomatic testing sites as well as NHS Test and Trace testing sites
- at home, by collecting lateral flow self-test kits at community sites or ordering test kits online or by dialling 119
- at a haulier advice site
Tourism Alliance updates:
Guidance for Step 1b
The Cabinet Office has produced the full guidance for Step 1b of the Roadmap which came into effect today. 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 reasons, people are advised to minimise travel where possible. This means:
Avoiding making unnecessary trips
Combining trips where possible
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/covid-19-coronavirus-restrictions-what-you-can-and-cannot-do
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 advertisement
DCMS Q&A for Outdoor Activities Operators
DCMS have provided the following Q&A for businesses undertaking outdoor activities that are allowed to open from today
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.
Updated Wedding Guidance
The guidance on wedding has been updated to reflect that they are no longer limited to exception circumstances. However, they are still limited to just six people and receptions are still not allowed. However, outside gatherings that comply with the Rule of 6/two households and that have BYO or delivery catering can take place in line with social contact limits.
New Poster on Rules and Restrictions
A new poster has been produced regarding the rules and restrictions that apply to this phase of the Roadmap which is a good resource for customers and staff
Increased Test and Trace Requirement
It is important to note that the Test And Trace Guidance has been changed to state that from 29 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
Annex A of the guidance has the complete list of businesses that have to comply with this new requirement – there are some odd exceptions such as leisure attractions but I’m informed that they are included as well.
Guidance on Playgrounds and Outdoor Gyms
The guidance on the management of outdoor playgrounds and gyms has been updated has been updated for businesses that are providing this equipment for customers as part of the new relaxations
Guidance on Green Spaces
This guidance has also been updated in line with Step 1b. The key point in the guidance is that, when accessing green spaces, people should avoid travelling further than is reasonably necessary to access a green space.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-on-accessing-green-spaces-safely
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 12 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.
