22nd April 2021
Dear Member
COVID-19 UPDATE
There is not a lot to report as we head towards May 17th re-opening. Below are a couple of points to note.
- All members should dust off their risk assessments and make sure you have put in place all the usual Covid -19 risk mitigation measures. Please note as per my previous Update that rules may well be different, particularly around the various test, track and trace schemes in the three nations of GB. There is a new poster to display in England available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/978552/staying-covid-secure-poster-ventilation-step.pdf
- In Scotland hospitality venues will have to display capacity limits.
- Grants – more discretionary grant funding from local authorities is still waiting to be allocated. If you are in the supply chain do keep asking. If you need any help, our public affairs company are willing to help. They have had some success in getting money from recalcitrant Councils. Let me know if this is of interest. There is a deadline for its distribution of 30th June (in England).
- In Scotland it has been confirmed that pubs cannot make their machines available until level 2 restrictions are in place – i.e. on May 17th, when arcades will also be allowed to open. Background music is allowed. The FM, Nicola Sturgeon yesterday confirmed a timetable that had the country at Level 0 by the end of June. We are meeting with the SG on Monday.
- In Wales, dates have moved around for various re-openings but arcades and pubs are not affected. We are meeting with WG tomorrow morning to get a prelude to FM, Mark Drakeford’s announcement on Friday. May 17th is again the date we are looking at.
EAG Online – I hope everyone who attended the EAG on-line found it a useful and productive iteration of EAG. I was intrigued and pleasantly surprised by how well the technology facilitated virtual interactions and the ability of exhibitors to showcase their wares. The seminars were really good. I am sure we are all looking forward to the physical Show in 2022 but I suspect virtual elements of what we do, will remain.
BactaPortal – we showcased the new bactaPortal at the recent round of Regional meetings to great acclaim. The Portal will provide a platfom for the digital delivery of bacta’s members services with Customer Interaction and Self-Exclusion the first products to appear. LCCP compliant, the Portal will allow you to undertake quick, secure and paperless CI and SE interviews with customers on a completely refreshed easy to use package. We will put the demo version of the product in members’ hands in mid-May with a go-live date of mid-June. Training videos and guides will help you train your staff and we will be running webinars on the product in the run up to launch.
In the meantime could I ask all users to log on to the self-exclusion system to make sure all your records are up to date as we will need to be able to offer self-exclusion to our customers from that date.
Many thanks and stay safe.
Kind regards
John