On Tuesday, 23rd June, Boris Johnson announced a further easing of the Lockdown and social distancing regulations. These will enable many more small businesses to reopen, and for life in England to get closer to what we’re used to.

REOPENING BUSINESSES

The key date for many businesses is the 4th July, assuming progress with reducing infection numbers and transmissions remains as positive as it has been in recent weeks.

All businesses can reopen from this date, other than those specifically outlined below:

• Nightclubs
• Casinos
• Bowling alleys and Indoor skating rinks
• Indoor play areas including soft-play
• Spas
• Nail bars, beauty salons and tanning salons
• Massage, tattoo and piercing parlours
• Indoor fitness and dance studios, and indoor gyms and sports venues/facilities
• Swimming pools including water parks
• Exhibition or conference centres must remain closed for events such as exhibitions or conferences, other than for those who work for the business or organisation who run the venue.

There are some businesses for which there is specific additional guidance:

• Restaurants, pubs, bars and takeaway services.
• Close contact services, e.g. Hair salons and barbers, including mobile businesses.
• Further guidance is to be announced for hotels, hostels, bed and breakfast accommodation, holiday homes, campsites and caravan parks.

Full details of the guidance can be found here. Given the level of detail involved, we are not going to precis the guidance here, but are very happy to discuss any aspect that you may need or would like to.

Separate guidance has been issued by Nicola Sturgeon for Scotland. Similarly, there is separate guidance for Wales, and for Northern Ireland.

SOCIAL DISTANCING

As of 4th July, the rules around social distancing will also change. This will mean:

• you can meet in groups of up to two households (your support bubble counts as one household) in any location – public or private, indoors or outdoors. You do not always have to meet with the same household – you can meet with different households at different times. However, it remains the case – even inside someone’s home – that you should socially distance from anyone not in your household or bubble.
• when you are outside you can continue to meet in groups of up to six people from different households, following social distancing guidelines
• those who have been able to form a support bubble (i.e. those in single adult households) can continue to have close contact as if they live with the other people in the bubble, but you should not change who you have formed a support bubble with
• other public places, such as libraries, community centres, places of worship, outdoor playgrounds and outdoor gyms will be able to open
• you can stay overnight away from your home with your own household or support bubble, or with members of one other household (where you need to keep social distancing)
• it will be against the law to gather in groups larger than 30 people, except for a limited set of circumstances to be set out in law. Police will have the power to break up groups larger than 30, apart from these exceptions

There is additional information around meeting family and friends, going to work and visiting public places, which you can see here.

If you would like to see the detail around the review of the two metre social distancing, which quite interesting, you can see that here.

 

IMPORTANT: Be sure to read our separate blog post around the requirement for recording customers contact details.

This is a requirement of the guidance that hasn’t been featured particularly prominently in the media.