29th September 2020
Dear Member
COVID-19 UPDATE
I just wanted to give members a quick update on where we are:
England
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- We are continuing to lobby on the curfew issue. We have a meeting with the Minister later today to talk about this as well as additional support for our sector on VAT, MGD and on Rates Relief across the supply chain.
- Jukeboxes – new Rules came into effect today stating that music in pubs cannot exceed 85dB measured at source. Please let me know if you have any issues with this.
- We have updated our Guidance to reflect recent Government policy changes. You can download version 4.6 below:
Scotland
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- We are still lobbying to allow music in pubs. The new Rules in England may help. We raised this with a lead advisor to the FM last week and he didn’t have a problem. It seems the issue is stuck with Ministers. We have written and so has the Scottish Beer and Pub Association.
- We continue to press for rates relief for 2021/22.
Wales
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- Additional lockdowns have been announced in Wales covering Neath, Port Talbot, Vale of Glamorgan and Torfaen. Our sector is not directly impacted.
- £20 million of an additional £80 million for the Welsh Resilience Fund has been ring-fenced for the leisure and hospitality sector. Guidance on applying for grants will be published on 5th October.
The bacta Convention and AGM will be held on 26th November. It will be a virtual event. The Shadow DCMS Minister, Alex Sobel has agreed to speak. Details will follow in due course.
Kind regards,
John
