Hospitality groups call for speedy route out of lockdown to boost economy
close to the unlocking plans in England, which would help ensure our businesses are not a competitive disadvantage.
“However, should the Scottish Government remain wedded to a regional levels approach, then our joint plan would see an additional £658m in turnover and support an extra 31,400 jobs in level three compared to the current system.”
The group presented research from economic consultancy firm BIGGAR Economics, commissioned by Diageo, which found that under the previous level three framework 54 per cent of hospitality businesses in Scotland could operate, generating a £269m turnover and supporting almost 22,000 jobs. Under the suggested level three, they said, 73 per cent of businesses could open, with a turnover of £927m and 53,300 jobs.
The study showed the proposed changes “can place the hospitality sector and the wider food and drink supply chain in a much stronger position”, according to Graeme Blackett, director of BIGGAR Economics.
“Adjustments to the restrictions could get thousands of people back to work and allow the sector to generate turnover
and contribute significantly to the public finances in the coming weeks and months.”
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said she hopes to begin easing the current lockdown on April 26, with a return to the system of different levels being applied in different areas.
Under the existing framework, level three allows the reopening of restaurants, cafes, pubs and bars indoors and outdoors. Food and drink can be served, but not alcohol, and venues must close by 6pm.
In level two, venues can open indoors until 8pm, with alcohol served only with a main meal. Outdoor areas can be opened until 10:30pm, with customers able to drink without ordering food.
The hospitality groups propose a scrapping of curfews, allowing pubs and restaurants to open indoors and outdoors until 10:30pm under both levels two and three.
They also call for alcohol to be served in level three, and for a removal of the requirement to order food with alcohol indoors in level two.
“Changes need to be made if this important sector to Scotland’s economy is to survive, continue to provide jobs, contribute to the public purse and restart the important role it plays in local economies and the fabric of the community,” said Colin Wilkinson, managing director of the SLTA.
Mike Grieve, chair of NTIA Scotland, said: "We strongly urge the First Minister to act on the proposed revised levels as outlined in the Hospitality Joint Association letter and to engage in discussions with the group to find solutions appropriate to the needs of all hospitality businesses as a matter of urgency.
“The priority must be to set a clear road map out of lockdown as vaccination levels rise and hospitalisation rates drop, and to aim for full reopening of the sector at level zero with the complete removal of all trading restrictions, including social distancing, restricted capacity, restricted trading hours, curfews and restrictions on entertainment, performance, music and dancing."
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “No one wants lockdown restrictions in place for a moment longer than necessary and we are engaging with businesses and organisations from across the tourism and hospitality industries on a range of issues, including on the gradual easing of measures. “It is necessary to be cautious and careful in our approach at this time and to prioritise education in the first instance. “We will provide a firmer indicative timetable for reopening the economy, including shops, hospitality, hairdressers, gyms and parts of our tourism sector this week.”
Ms Sturgeon will set out further detail on Scotland’s route out of lockdown tomorrow, following an initial announcement on February 23. She has previously said the easing in Scotland would have “broad similarities” with that in England but it would not be exactly the same. The Scottish Government has so far given fewer fixed dates in its lockdown easing than the UK Government, advocating a “data, not dates” approach basedonmetricssuchastransmission,outbreaksandimportation of cases from abroad. The move comes as the boss of British Airways called for the UK to be a global leader in reopening international travel due to its "great progress" in tackling the pandemic.
Chief executive Sean Doyle urged the UK Government to "set an example" and "be ambitious" in developing systems which enable people to travel overseas. This includes the use of digital technology to verify the vaccination and test status of passengers, he explained.
"It'sfairtosaythatbritainhas developed a really strong leadership position in coming out the other end of the pandemic. What we want to make sure is that we also take that leadership position into restoring travel and restoring the economy," he said "We can be ambitious, and we can pursue this opportunity in a way that others could follow."
British Airways is trialling the use of a "mobile travel health passport", produced by VERIFLY, to enable passengers travelling from London to the US to prove they meet US entry requirements before they board a flight.
Mr Doyle added that the UK will find it "very hard" to reopen for business if travel remains heavily restricted.
‘No doubt’ over new wave of Covid-19 infections in autumn, says UK'S national statistician
The UK'S national statistician said he has "no doubt" there will be a further wave of Covid-19 infections in the autumn.
Professor Sir Ian Diamond, head of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), said there was a lot of regional variation in terms of how many people have antibodies.
His comments come after England's chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, said there were still risks to reopening society and the UK would experience another surge of cases at some point, potentially in late summer or through the autumn and winter.
Sir Ian said people needed to understand how the data was moving forward and look at the impact of the "wonderful" vaccine rollout.
"But having said that, we need also to recognise that this is a virus that isn't going
to go away," he told The Andrew Marr Show on BBC One.
"And I have no doubt that in the autumn there will be a further wave of infections."
Asked if it is too early to know how much of the fall in infections across the UK is down to the vaccine rollout, Sir Ian said there were a number of moving parts such as vaccines and restrictions.
He told the programme: "I mean I would say though that this has been an incredibly impressive vaccine rollout and we've been looking at antibodies in the population and we've been scaling up our survey in order to be able to take many more blood tests so that we can look at the impact.
"And what we're seeing is quite remarkable increases in the level of antibodies in the over-80s, and increasingly in the over-70s. So I'm very, very confident that the vaccine rollout is really starting to provide some real protection.
"At the other side, we see very relatively high levels amongst young people, which just shows how much of young people have been affected by the virus.”
During the week, Prof Whitty said he would "strongly advise" against any move to shorten the timetable for easing lockdown restrictions.
Speaking to the Commons Science and Technology Committee, Prof Whitty said the measures pencilled in for May 17 in England, when indoor mixing of up to six people could be allowed, involved "significant risks".
Modelling considered by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) has suggested that even under the most optimistic set of assumptions, at least a further 30,000 Covid-19 deaths could occur.
Prof Whitty said: "What we are going to see is, as things are opening up, what all the modelling suggests is that at some point we will get a surge in the virus.
"We hope it doesn't happen soon. It might, for example, happen later in the summer if we open up gradually or because of the seasonal effect, it might happen over the next autumn and winter.
"All the modelling suggests there is going to be a further surge and that will find the people who either have not been vaccinated or where the vaccine has not worked.
"Some of them will end up in hospital and sadly some of them will go on to die." More than 23.6 million people have received their first dose of a coronarirus vaccine in the UK, according to the latest statistics.