PINTS BEFORE PLAY IS IT?
Soft-play owner is unhappy
A soft-play manager has accused the Scottish Government of ‘ putting pints before play’ after being told centres must remain closed.
Jennifer McNaughton runs Pandamonium in Erskine and says the Scottish Government is leaving children behind on their decisions to lift Covid restrictions.
Indoor children’s play centres have been told they will not be allowed to reopen until Scotland goes into level one which will likely be in June.
Jennifer says the fact that pubs, restaurants, trampoline parks and children’s clubs have all been allowed to reopen proves the Scottish Government ‘ do not understand’ the industry.
She said: “We have been closed now for 14 months straight. We have had meetings with the Scottish Government and they say they take our industry and children’s mental health seriously, but they clearly don’t because they refuse to let us open.
“They have told us it’s because we are a ‘multigenerational’ activity, but so then is an indoor trampoline park or even a restaurant. The excuse is not good enough.
“It’s astonishing to me that parents cannot take their children to the safe environment of a soft -play where we would be following Covid safety guidelines, but adults can go to the pub and get drunk. They are putting pints before play and that is wrong.”
Mum- of- two Jennifer, 38, says more than a year into the pandemic, softplay businesses are being asked to start paying back loans they were encouraged to take out while their doors were closed. But she says being forced to stay closed while other businesses start to flourish once again means they have no way of paying money back.
She said: “All businesses who took out Governmentapproved Bounce Back loans are now being asked to start making repayments, which is fine if your premises is open, but how can we be expected to pay back money when we are being prevented from opening ouy businesses?”
Soft- play centres in England are due to open on May 17 under the UK Government’s road map and in Wales the centres are now open.
Jeniffer says the Scottish Government’s attitude to the sector is ‘appalling’.
She said: “How can part of the UK be opening up and another part has to wait another two months?
“The way they have handled this is appalling.”
A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: “We do not underestimate the severe impact this pandemic has had on play centres across Scotland, and we expect them to reopen when Scotland enters level one.
“This is dependent on continued progress on vaccination against coronavirus and suppression of the virus.
“We have always said we will keep plans under review and accelerate the lifting of restrictions if possible, and we will continue engaging with the soft- play sector on this.”