COVID-19 Updates – week commencing 30/08/21
More updates of developments from the government and various links to interpretation and guidance.
Go to date:
31 August 2021 …
- Changes to the Green and Red Lists
Following the latest review , the following changes have been made which will come into effect on Monday 30th August.
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- Montenegro and Thailand will move to the red list
- The Azores, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Liechtenstein, Lithuania and Switzerland will move to the green list.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/red-amber-and-green-list-rules-for-entering-england
- DCMS Sectors Economic Estimates 2019
DCMS has just published monthly economic estimates of sectors under it’s responsibility. The data below is indexed to 100 in January 2019, so the figures show that the economic contribution of tourism in June 2021 was 81% of what it was in January 2019.
| 2021 January | 61 |
| 2021 February | 62 |
| 2021 March | 63 |
| 2021 April | 69 |
| 2021 May | 76 |
| 2021 June | 81 |
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dcms-sectors-economic-estimates-monthly-gva-to-june-2021
They have also published a paper on the regional economic contribution of sector under their responsibility for 2019. The disappointing aspect to this is that the figures cover everything except tourism which doesn’t help with the understanding of the performance of the sector or the impact of the pandemic on the sector.
New Participation Survey
DCMS have also announced a new Participation Survey that will begin running in October 2021 and will be a main evidence source for DCMS and its sectors by providing statistically representative national estimates of adult engagement with the DCMS sectors. The survey’s main objectives are to:
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- Provide a central, reliable evidence source that can be used to analyse cultural, digital, and sporting engagement, providing a clear picture of why people do or do not engage.
- Provide data at a county level to meet user needs, including providing evidence for the levelling up agenda.
- Underpin further research on driving engagement and the value and benefits of engagement.
The Participation Survey will collect data on engagement in:
- arts
- museums and galleries
- libraries
- heritage
- tourism
- major cultural events
- major sporting events
- sport
- gambling
- digital sectors
It includes information on frequency of participation, reasons for participating, barriers to participation and attitudes to the sectors.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/participation-survey
R Number and Growth Rate
This week’s R number and Growth Rate are, respectively, 1.0 to 1.1 and 0% to +2% which is pretty much the same as last week so new cases are pretty stable.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-r-value-and-growth-rate
Guidance For Businesses That Have Staff Travelling Overseas
With international travel increasing, the Government has updated the guidance for businesses whose staff regularly travel overseas. The core guidance is that if you’re an employer that requires staff to travel regularly across UK borders you must:
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- make sure your employees understand what coronavirus tests they have to take after international travel
- take reasonable steps to support them in taking these tests
You have a legal obligation to do this if:
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- you employ more than 50 people
- any of your employees, including agency workers, have to take COVID-19 tests for work purposes
Further information, including a link on how to establish a workplace testing regime are available at
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-employer-testing-duty
Right To Work Checks
The Government’s guidance on the Right To Work checks that employees are required to undertake has been updated to reflect that the temporary changes on how the checks are to be conducted have been extended until 5 April 2022. These temporary changes are:
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- Checks can be carried out over video calls
- Job applicants and existing workers can send scanned documents or a photo of documents for checks using email or a mobile app, rather than sending originals
- Employers should use the Home Office Employer Checking Service if a prospective or existing employee cannot provide any of the accepted documents
If you are carrying out a temporary adjusted check, you must:
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- Ask the worker to submit a scanned copy or a photo of their original documents via email or using a mobile app
- Arrange a video call with the worker – ask them to hold up the original documents to the camera and check them against the digital copy of the documents, record the date you made the check and mark it as “adjusted check undertaken on [insert date] due to COVID-19”
- If the worker has a current Biometric Residence Permit or Biometric Residence Card or has been granted status under the EU Settlement Scheme or the points-based immigration system you can use the online right to work checking service while doing a video call – the applicant must give you permission to view their details.
With many tourism businesses desperate for staff, it is important that they follow these procedures to avoid accidently recruiting someone who is not entitled to work in the UK
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-right-to-work-checks
Passenger Arrivals Into The UK
The Home Office have issued a report on arrivals into the UK since the start of the Coronavirus Pandemic up to August this year. Some of the key findings are:
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- From April 2020 through to August 2021, there have been 15,505,800 arrivals into the UK – which is 90% down on the corresponding pre-pandemic period
- While 1,439,800 passengers arrived in the UK in July 2021, this is down 87% from July 2019
- Arrival numbers for July 2021 are only 14% higher than they were in July 2020 meaning that the rate of recovery is slower than expected by the Tourism Recovery Plan.
DMO Review
Finally, a quick update on the DMO Review. The finalised report has now been submitted to the Tourism Minister and Culture Secretary so unless there are any significant issues with the report it should be published within the next few weeks.
2 September 2021 …
Tourism Alliance update:
CJRS Guidance Updated
With the end of the furlough scheme coming up at the end of the month, HMRC has updated the guidance to businesses to inform then that, when the scheme ends, they must either:
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- bring their employees back to work on their pre-existing terms and conditions
- terminate their employment (normal redundancy rules apply to furloughed employees)
- agree with employees any changes to terms and conditions of employment (rules for contractual changes apply to furloughed employees)
It should also be noted that when businesses make decisions about how and when to end furlough arrangements, equality and discrimination laws will apply in the usual way.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wages-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme
Payments By Councils
The data on grant distributions by councils for the period to 25th July has been published. As ever, it’s the distribution of ARG grant funding that is important as unless councils distribute all their funding, they are not eligible for the third and final tranche and businesses in their area will miss-out as a result.
Most councils have now distributed all the funding that they received but there are still some exceptions in tourism areas such as:
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- City of York
- Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames
- Southend
- Stratford-Upon Avon
- Westminster
- Winchester
Kickstart Update
There has been a small update the guidance for the Kickstart Scheme to make it easier for businesses to make a variation to their grant agreement in order to take on additional employees through the scheme. This can now be done through the following link.
https://www.apply-kickstart-grant-employer.service.gov.uk/
Compliance With Quarantine Requirements
ONS has published an analysis of quarantine requirements for people arriving into the country from Amber countries during the period 12-17th July. The main findings are that:
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- the majority (83%) of adults arriving in England from an amber list country or territory fully adhered to coronavirus (COVID-19) quarantine requirements.
- 77% of respondents were fully adherent to both quarantine and coronavirus testing requirements
- Only 59% of people fully understood the rules in place during quarantine, while the remaining 41% either misunderstood or were unsure of them
