Guidance Archives - Page 32 of 35

Joint approach to Christmas

Posted on December 17, 2020December 17, 2020 by Melanie Allen

Clear messaging on celebrating safely.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has joined with the leaders of the UK Government and the Welsh Government in issuing guidance on how the public should approach Christmas celebrations this year.

The First Minister has stressed that the strong recommendation of the Scottish Government to people across Scotland is to celebrate Christmas this year within your own household and in your own home – and as far as possible to keep any interaction with other households to a minimum. This is by far the safest way to spend this Christmas and keep your loved ones safe.

However, certain flexibilities were agreed in recognition of the impact of loneliness over Christmas on wellbeing and the fact that some people will not be willing to leave loved ones alone. These provide a window of opportunity and should be seen as legal maximum to work well within. The guidance being issued seeks to reduce risks as far as possible for anyone choosing to use these flexibilities.

The First Minister stressed that the following key points should be taken into consideration by anyone choosing to spend time with other households indoors: keep the duration of any interaction as short as possible: keep any bubble as small as possible; avoid travel and overnight stays unless unavoidable; and comply with all distancing and hygiene advice.

She said:

“Our strong advice this Christmas is to stay at home with your own household. Any interaction with other households should, as far as possible, be outdoors. That is the best way of keeping yourself and your loved ones safe this Christmas.

However, we recognize that in some cases, the isolation caused by being alone over Christmas will in itself cause harm to people’s welfare and that is why we have created a window of flexibility with accompanying guidance, to ensure that any household mixing is done as safely as possible,

“If you choose to form a bubble over the Christmas period, then you should take into consideration these key points:

“First, minimise the number of people in the bubble – while three households is the legal maximum, our recommendation is that two households would be better, and you should keep as far within the maximum of eight people over the age of 12 as you can. In short, the smaller the bubble is, the better and safer it will be.

“Second, you should minimise the time spent with your bubble, especially indoors. The five days is a window of opportunity, not a recommended time that it is safe for you to spend together – indeed, the Scottish Government recommends that you do not meet up with people in your bubble on any more than one day over the period and do not stay overnight unless it is unavoidable. And you should minimise the distance you intend to travel.

“You should also avoid all travel between high prevalence areas and low prevalence areas – in particular, that means avoiding travel to or from Scotland and Tier 3 areas in England, and to or from any Level 4 areas in Scotland (of which there are currently none).

The First Minister concluded:

“Being asked not to see loved ones at Christmas unless absolutely essential is one of the toughest things imaginable. But, this year, it is essential to help keep people safe. With a vaccination programme now underway, a return to more normal life is on the horizon – and I hope that the prospect of brighter days ahead will help all of us get through this difficult Christmas as safely as possible.”

Note: The Scottish Government guidance on Christmas and the festive period has been updated.

Guide from the BBC.

Press Release: Scottish Tourism Condemns Scottish Government “Bubbles” Fiasco

Posted on December 4, 2020December 4, 2020 by Fiona Campbell

The Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers (ASSC), Scotland’s trade body representing the self-catering sector, has joined with other industry leaders to condemn the Scottish Government for failing to work with Scottish tourism on new COVID-19 restrictions.

Representatives from the Scottish Tourism Alliance, the Professional Association of Self-Caterers UK, Scottish AgriTourism, Visit Inverness Loch Ness, Visit Moray Speyside, Visit Arran, South of Scotland Destination Alliance and the Wales Tourism Alliance amongst others have come together behind the strong criticisms of the recently published rules.

The last-minute changes will have a severe and negative impact on the sector which has already been unfairly burdened by government measures, despite cooperating fully with government throughout the pandemic.

Ministers have decided that Scots can get together in so-called “festive bubbles” when restrictions are relaxed temporarily between 23 December and 27 December.

However, the decision was made without proper consultation with, or consideration for, Scotland’s already hamstrung £723million traditional self-catering sector, a decision the ASSC strongly condemns.

Of particular concern to self-caterers is the extremely limiting measure that will mean that someone from any given “bubble” intending to stay in self-catering accommodation will need to live in the local authority that the self-catering property is located in.

The ASSC has also slammed the government for failing to communicate adequately with the industry.

Worse still, the new limitations place an unfair burden on Scotland’s hard-working self-caterers who will have to enforce the rules themselves as it has been left to them to establish that visitors to their properties are members of the same bubble and that at least one household participating is from within the local council area.

The ASSC also condemned the fact that the poorly considered proposals deviate from the four nations approach and as such has caused confusion and worry for operators both in Scotland and across the United Kingdom.

Members of the ASSC were among the first to respond to calls to limit the spread of the virus by shutting down their properties, at great personal and professional cost, and have also led the way to economic recovery by reopening early with government-backed cleaning protocols in place.

The contribution the sector has made to the effort against COVID-19 has made it even more disappointing that the Scottish Government has made such a short-sighted, ill-considered, and ambiguous decision that will impact many Scottish small business owners in a negative way.

ASSC Chief Executive, Fiona Campbell, said:

“It is frankly devastating that the Scottish Government has acted in such a thoughtless manner towards our sector – they’ve created nothing short of a fiasco in our industry.

“Our sector has worked tirelessly, and endured so much strife, as part of the effort against COVID-19 so to be forgotten in this way feels like a stab in the back from a government that we thought we had a good relationship with.

“We can only hope that ministers listen to our concerns, and those of our valued colleagues across Scottish tourism, before all we have are a collection of empty properties, broken businesses, and shattered dreams.”

Marc Crothall, CEO of the Scottish Tourism Alliance, said:

“I have raised the issue of communication with government officials on the weekly STERG call today and again stressed the importance of industry having clearer and more timely communications re guidance both to avoid confusion for business and our visitors looking to book.

When every penny counts and people are stretched the need to make all coms clear to all from the outset is essential so business and visitors know what they can and cannot do and effective planning and forecasting can be done.

“It is difficult enough right now for all business’ to manage through this pandemic, whilst the industry appreciates that there continues to be lots of moving parts and everyone is stretched it’s all the more reason for the need for utmost clarity in all communications.

“This will avoid what has in the past caused much uncertainty, lots of upset, avoidable administration, and significant loss of business for some.”

ENDS

Travel between Scotland and the rest of the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man

Posted on December 1, 2020February 9, 2023 by Fiona Campbell

This guidance applies to people who live in Scotland and to people who live in any of these countries who are thinking of coming to Scotland.

Restrictions and advice on what you can do and where you can travel are also in place within England, Wales and Northern Ireland and in the other territories in the Common Travel area, the Republic of Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man.

Under current Scottish regulations, given the state of the epidemic in these countries, unless you have a reasonable excuse (see exceptions) you must not travel between Scotland and:

England
Northern Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Wales

These rules will be kept under review and if the prevalence of the virus in all, or part of, any of these countries reduces it may be possible to relax these restrictions for some areas.

Read the full guidance