COVID-19 Updates – week commencing 10/01/22
More updates of developments from the government and various links to interpretation and guidance.
Go to date:
10 Jan 2022
12 Jan 2022
14 Jan 2022
14 January 2022 …
Tourism Alliance update:
- Reduction In Self-Isolation Period
The Government has announced that, from Monday, the isolation period for people who test positive for Covid will been cut to five days in England. This means that people will be able leave isolation from the start of day six after two negative tests. The guidance on this is still to be published so I’ll send it through when I get it.
- Business Impact Survey
ONS has published the results of their latest business impact survey which covers the period from 29th December to 9th January. It shows that while 76.7% of all businesses are fully trading at the moment, accommodation and food services is the sector most impacted by omicron with only 57.6% of businesses trading fully. This is followed by transportation with only 66.3% of businesses trading fully.
The survey also indicates that 60% of businesses in the accommodation and food sector experienced a decrease in revenue over this period compared to just 32% across all industries. This is followed by the Arts, Entertainment and Recreation sector in which 40% of businesses reported a decline in venue.
In the survey 11% of businesses reported that they had no cash reserves, while 7% reported low or no confidence they would survive the next three months. This compares to the 26% of businesses having no cash reserves and 40.8% of businesses having low or no confidence in their survival in the Financial Impact survey that we completed this week.
- Social Impact Survey
ONS has also released another wave of its social impact survey. Some of the key points for the tourism industry are:
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- UK daily flights were 68% of the level seen in the equivalent week of 2020 in the first week of January. The is about 2.5 times the number of daily flights in 2021 which is a step in the right direction.
- The seven-day average estimate of UK seated diners fell by 48 percentage points in the week to 10 January 2022, to 88% of the level in the equivalent week of 2020; in London and Manchester seated diners fell by 23 and 57 percentage points over the same period
- Scotland Provides £9m to Tourism Businesses
The Scottish Government has announced at £9m financial package for tourism sector businesses impact by Omicron, This funding is split between affected businesses in the following areas:
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- coach operators
- day tour operators
- hostels
- inbound tour operators
- outdoor/marine
- visitor attractions
https://www.gov.scot/news/supporting-the-tourism-sector/
- New Threshold for Business Rates Switch
One thing that we have been lobbying on for some time is for the Government to introduce a threshold for self-catering rentals that stops second home owners telling councils that their holiday home is a self-catering cottage, getting it put on Business Rates and then claiming Small Business Rates Relief, meaning that they pay no tax on their holiday home.
DHLUC is will announce tomorrow that they have now closed this loophole. However, they have made a mistake in not aligning the threshold for the days the property must be let with the threshold for HMRC’s Furnished Holiday Letting Rules threshold – which is that a self-catering property must be let for 105 days a year to be considered to be a business.
Instead DHLUC has set the threshold at only 70 days which causes a number of problems. One of the more interesting ones is that residents in London can legally let their residential property for 90 days a year, meaning that they will still be able to escape paying council tax.
12 January 2022 …
Tourism Alliance update:
Financial Impact Survey
First thank you to everyone who contributed to the Financial Impact Survey. Here are the top line figures for the whole sector and analysis here for responses from coach operators.
- Countries Will Approved Vaccine Programmes
The guidance on which countries people can arrive from under the approved proof of vaccination has been updated to state that people from Albania, Andorra, Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Israel, Jersey, Moldova, Monaco, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Panama, Turkey can use EU DCC to add proof of vaccination status in the UK passenger locator form.
- Guidance Businesses On Testing updated
The guidance to employers has been updated to reflect the change in policy from today on the need to take PCR tests if you test positive using a lateral from test.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/nhs-test-and-trace-workplace-guidance
The new guidance is:
If any of your workers get a positive rapid lateral flow test result but do not have any of the main symptoms of COVID-19, they should report their result and self-isolate. They do not need to take a follow-up PCR test unless:
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- they want to claim the Test and Trace Support Payment
- they have a health condition that means they may be suitable for new COVID-19 treatments
- they are taking rapid lateral flow tests as part of research or surveillance programmes, and the programme asks them to do so
- they are an international arrival and have a positive day 2 rapid lateral flow test
They can end self-isolation after 7 days, following 2 negative rapid lateral flow tests taken 24 hours apart. They should not take the first rapid lateral flow test before day 6.
This change in the guidance is also reflected in the updated guidance to the public.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/nhs-test-and-trace-how-it-works
- Self-Employment Income Support Guidance Updated
The guidance for Self-Employed people claiming SEISS funding has been updated to include a new section for people who have still not made a claim because of either:
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- An HMRC error
- Other exceptional circumstances
People who have not made a claim because of these reason have until 28th February to contact HMRC and explain why they’ve not been able to make a claim. When they contact HMRC they will need their:
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- National Insurance number
- Unique Taxpayer Reference
- Answer further questions related to why they have been prevented from making a claim
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/return-to-your-claim-for-the-self-employment-income-support-scheme
10 January 2022 …
Tourism Alliance update:
- Change In Testing Rules For Travel Into England
The guidance has been updated to show that from today, people who qualify as fully vaccinated do not need to take a COVID-19 test before travel to England.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-testing-for-people-travelling-to-england
- Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grants Allocations and ARG Third Tranche
The spreadsheets on the Gov.uk website have now been updated to show the new allocations to councils for Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grants Allocations and ARG Third Tranche grants.
One point of interest is that the ARG spreadsheet shows that a number of Councils did not receive the second tranche of ARG funding in May because they failed to disperse their existing grant allocations by the Government deadline – which means that businesses in these areas were denied financial support because of failings by their council. Councils in this category seem to include Southend on Sea, Exeter, Epping Forest and North Lincolnshire.
Here is a copy of the press release that goes with these allocations
- Wales Stays At Alert level 2
At their latest review, the Welsh Government has decided that the country will stay at Alert level 2. This means that people must:
- Wear a face covering (unless there is a reasonable excuse not to wear one) in all indoor public places, including when not seated in a pub, café or restaurant.
- Meet no more than five other people at a café, restaurant, pub or other public premises (unless with their household of a larger number). This applies to both outdoor and indoor areas of the premises.
- Work from home if they can.
- Self-isolate for seven days if they test positive for COVID-19. People should take a lateral flow test on day six and day seven. If either test is positive they should remain in isolation until two negative lateral flow tests or after day 10, whichever is sooner.
- Not take part in an organised event indoors of more than 30 people or outdoors for more than 50 people. All organised events must be organised by a responsible body and have a risk assessment.
https://gov.wales/people-asked-keep-wales-safe-alert-level-2-measures-stay-place
- Social Impacts of Coronavirus
The latest wave of ONS’s survey on the social impacts of Coronavirus have been published. This is more interesting that usual as it covers the Xmas period which the survey being undertaken between the 15th December and 3rd January. Some of the results which show the impact on tourism and hospitality businesses are:
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- Only 29% of people said that they were meeting up with family or friends in restaurants, pubs, bars or cafes (down from 34% previously)
- Only 13% said that they were going to a Christmas market (down from 22% previously)
- 35% said that they expect it would take more than a year for life to return to normal (interestingly, only 20% said that at Xmas in 2020 when vaccines were first being rolled-out, indicating that people are more pessimistic than they were a year ago).
- Accommodation Registration Call For Evidence
With DCMS’s call for evidence on accommodation registration due out soon, I thought is would be worthwhile highlighting a new Research briefing from the House of Common Library which collates a wealth of information on the short-term lettings sector and the issues involved.
https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8395/CBP-8395.pdf
- R Number And Growth Rate
This week’s R number and Growth Rate are, respectively, 1.2 to 1.5 and +3% to +6% which demonstrates the speed with which the Omicron variant is going through the population. By comparison, the figures were only 1.0 to 1.2 and 0% to +3% last week.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-r-value-and-growth-rate
