Fast-track law to let us dine in the streets

NEW laws to enable outdoor drinking, dining and shopping are to be fast-tracked through the Commons within a week.

Ministers will today publish a Business and Planning Bill designed to help the hospitality and retail sectors trade outdoors this summer.

The legislation will make it easier for local authorities to turn streets over to businesses struggling to cope with social distancing indoors.

Boris Johnson has asked ministers to fast-track the legislation so that it is in place by July 4, when the hospitality sector largely reopens. Controversial plans to reform Sunday trading laws have been dropped from the Bill to ensure it passes through Parliament quickly.

A Government source said: ‘People talk about the café culture on the continent and we want to recreate something like that here this summer – you could call it al fresco Britain. It obviously depends on everyone adopting a can-do attitude to try and save the summer, but we are going to play our part by cutting red tape and getting out of the way of business.

‘You could see closed- off streets laid out with tables and chairs for dining. We are removing the need for planning permission for outdoor markets, so you could see small shops and boutiques which are struggling with social distancing setting up market stalls.’

The move is designed to counter criticism that guidance for indoor hospitality and retail is too onerous and offputting to customers.

Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith yesterday said ‘red tape and caveats’ in hundreds of pages of guidance published for business would make it impossible for many firms to operate profitably.

But ministers hope the new outdoor freedoms could help keep many firms afloat this summer.

The focus of the new legislation, which will allow outdoor trading without the need for planning permission, is on creating a much more permissive business environment outdoors, where scientists believe the virus spreads much less easily.

Temporary changes to licensing laws will allow many more licensed premises, such as pubs and restaurants, to sell alcohol for consumption off the premises. Pubs and restaurants will also be able to convert outside space such as car parks and terraces into seated areas.

Downing Street yesterday confirmed that hospitality businesses have been exempted from laws that ban gatherings of more than 30 people. No10 said police would focus on breaking up ‘large, unruly’ gatherings, such as parties in parks and illegal raves.

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‘You could call it al fresco Britain’