UKHospitality Bulletin

This afternoon the Prime Minister announced further changes to the restrictions that will be placed on parts of the UK in order to combat the spread of COVID-19. This follows the announcement made on Friday by the Chancellor; making more economic support available for those businesses forced to shut due to the additional restrictions. UKH continues to challenge the need for these restrictions due to limited evidence of significant transmissions in hospitality.

The Government will introduce a three-tier system of local lockdowns from Wednesday, consisting of three categories, Medium, High and Very High. These tiers will be assigned based upon the local levels of COVID-19 cases within an area and a range of other factors, with each of the levels imposing different restrictions on hospitality venues operating in England. The system is due to be debated by Parliament on Tuesday and become law from Wednesday.

Liverpool City region and nearby authorities will become the first area in the UK to operate under the Very High tier from Wednesday at 5pm. At its most extreme this means that pubs and bars will need to close, though that definition is still to be formally defined.

Nottinghamshire, East and West Cheshire, Manchester, parts of South Yorkshire and North East England have been moved automatically into the High tier, based on existing local restrictions that were present in these areas. This typically extends existing local measures, principally the ban on mingling between households.

The majority of England will be operating under the Medium tier, which is a continuation of national restrictions. The Government will shortly be launching a postcode checker website that will show the restrictions that your site is under or where your customers will be coming from (there is advice that people do not visit Very High areas, and that residents of Very High areas do not travel outside). UKH is clarifying what this means.

The restrictions types and the restrictions that they impose are summarised below.

 

Medium tier

This covers most of the country and is a continuation of the measures that are currently in place. Hospitality venues that operate within these areas are subject to the rule of six, along with the 10pm curfew. The need for table service, test and trace requirements and face coverings away from table, announced over the last few weeks, will also remain in place here.

 

High tier

This level standardises many of the current local restrictions that have been introduced in areas like the North East. It will introduce more stringent restrictions on household interactions, with people being prevented from mixing with other households or support bubbles in indoor hospitality venues.

 

Very High tier

These restrictions will apply to areas where transmission rates are causing the most concern. Wet-led pubs and bars will be required by law to shut in these areas, with all social mixing indoors to be banned. This level will be introduced in Liverpool and the surrounding areas from Wednesday.

The regulations for closure for ‘high tier areas’ has just been published, replicated below and we will get more clarity on how this will operate:

‘Requirement to close businesses selling alcohol for consumption on the premises:

A person responsible for carrying on a business of a public house, bar or other business involving the sale of alcohol for consumption on the premises must cease to carry on that business, unless paragraph (2) applies.

 

This paragraph applies if alcohol is only served for consumption on the premises as part of a table meal, and the meal is such as might be expected to be served as the main midday or main evening meal, or as a main course at either such meal.

 

For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1) —

alcohol sold by a hotel or other accommodation as part of room service is not to be treated as being sold for consumption on its premises;

 

an area adjacent to the premises of the business where seating is made available for customers of the business (whether or not by the business), or where customers gather to drink outside the business, is to be treated as part of the premises of that business.

 

For the purposes of this paragraph, a “table meal” is a meal eaten by a person seated at a table, or at a counter or other structure which serves the purposes of a table and is not used for the service of refreshments for consumption by persons not seated at a table or structure serving the purposes of a table.

As has been the case each time new regulations are introduced, more information will become available over the next few days. UKHospitality has already begun to work through our network of government contacts to find out exactly what these new restrictions will mean for sector businesses – and to ensure they are as practical as possible. The key questions that we will be pursuing this evening are:

What is the definition of a ‘pub or bar’? Is there a threshold on level of food sold? What does a substantial meal mean?

What are the rules about intermingling between households in tier 2?

What triggers a move between tiers?

What businesses will qualify for the enhanced Job Support Scheme?

Can severely restricted businesses receive grants and more appropriate employee support?

Do state aid rules apply to grants?

We will continue to review the key points of contention and push for clarity from Government into what these new rules mean for sector businesses. We will shortly be publishing a detailed grid, outlining what impact the differing restrictions will have on venues shortly, as more information is made available. UKH will also continue to press for additional support to be made available for hospitality businesses. We have warned Government of the concerning lack of support for hospitality businesses in tier 2, and to a lesser extent tier 1 and that without enhanced grant support and enhanced Government contributions to the Job Support Scheme, many are going to fall by the wayside. We are also urging Government to Government to rethink the mandatory 10pm curfew.

UKH will be holding a webinar on Tuesday 13th October at midday, so please do join us as we will have further details. Our Coronavirus FAQs page will be updated as soon as we get more details so please do make sure you regularly check that.

 If you have any outstanding questions relating to the new restrictions, please do get in touch with us on our COVID-19 email CV19@ukhospitality.org.uk.

Kind regards, 

The UKHospitality Team