Doubts over Covid rules at tourist spot
“Dogmatic” Covid controls that push down the capacity of a top Bath attraction have been called into question.
Finance boss Andy Rothery said the Roman Baths were expected to reopen in April and admitted Bath and North East Somerset Council had not anticipated the lockdown continuing into the summer.
The venue reopened in May along with the Fashion Museum and Victoria Art Gallery - but missed the normally lucrative Easter weekend and early May bank holiday, and the reduced capacity caused a £4.5 million shortfall in the authority’s income from heritage services.
Speaking at the corporate policy scrutiny panel meeting on September 27, Andy Rothery, the council’s chief finance officer, said: “When we set the budget for 2021/22 we didn’t anticipate that government restrictions were going to go on until around the July period.
“The budget assumed that the Roman Baths would be open and generating income from April 1, so that has impacted on the inyear position.
“Our Roman Baths figures are still struggling because of reduced capacity to keep Covid compliant. It’s still a very challenging financial context.
“We do anticipate [parking and Roman Baths income] to start building back up. It is below prepandemic levels.”
The Roman Baths website says although social distancing and other safety requirements have been eased, it has kept them in place to keep visitors and staff safe.
But Councillor Winston Duguid said: “If the government aren’t supporting us, are we being too dogmatic on so-called Covid restrictions [at the Roman Baths]?
“We’ve got to protect our staff, we’ve got to protect the citizens, but are we being too robust on that given the government has decided [there will be] no more support for the likes of B&NES Council?”
Heritage services are normally a key source of income for B&NES Council, so the lockdown had a bigger impact on its finances than many other authorities. The income they generate to fund key services is not expected to recover to prepandemic levels until 2025/26.
Cllr Shaun Hughes said people are not queuing around the block waiting to get into the Roman Baths but asked if there would be more visitors without the social distancing measures in place.
Mr Rothery replied: “Is there enough demand in the marketplace to completely fill the bars you know up to the pandemic levels?
“At the moment I can’t answer that one in detail.
“We’d only be able to go on what happens to the booking system to see if there are inquiries going way above ticket bookings to indicate surplus demand.”
He said the council could not predict if there would be another national lockdown, so recommended a £5 million Covid contingency fund in next year’s budget.