English Government announce new winter plan to beat COVID-19

This week seems to be a week of announcements from Boris. So, you may see a few updates from us too this week.

On Monday the English government published its winter plan to beat COVID-19. You can find the full text of the plan here. Having read through the plan it seems to be good news for most businesses.

The English government announced yesterday that:

• Full lockdown will end on the 2^nd Dec 2020
• England will go back into the 3-tiered regional approach.

However, there are changes to those tiers. And on Thursday this week regions will find out what tier they are in.

So what will change?

1. The stay at home requirement will end, with domestic and international travel being permitted again subject to guidance in each tier.
2. Shops, personal care, gyms and the wider leisure sector will reopen.
3. Collective worship, weddings and outdoor sports can resume, subject to social distancing.
4. People will no longer be limited to seeing only one other person in outdoor public spaces – the rule of 6 will now apply as it did in the previous set of tiers.

How has the tier system changed? 

The changes to the tiers are as follows:

1. Regardless of your tier the government would like working from home wherever possible.
2. In tier 2, pubs and bars must close unless they are serving substantial meals along with accompanying drinks.
3. In tier 3 all hospitality will close except for delivery, takeaway and drive-through. Hotels and other accommodation providers must close (except for specific exemptions, including people staying for work purposes or where they cannot return home. All indoor entertainment venues must also close.
4. The 10pm closing time for hospitality has been modified to last orders at 10pm and closing time at 11pm. This allows customers to depart gradually and provides greater flexibility.
5. In tiers 1 and 2, spectator sport and business events can now resume inside and outside with tight capacity limits and social distancing, providing more consistency with indoor performances in theatres and concert halls.

We will have more updates this week when we have more news on the tax updates from Rishi and any further updates planned by the government.