Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reason wedding venues that ensure table service, social distancing and prevent dancing are subject to different restrictions to restaurants.
Answered by Paul Scully
Celebrations such as wedding receptions pose increased risks for transmission of COVID-19 as they involve people from multiple households meeting and spending extended periods of time together. They are by their nature events which bring people closely together. Wedding receptions and celebrations are one of the few exceptions to the gatherings limit of 6 people, which has applied from 14 September 2020.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that soft tissue therapists can return to work.
Answered by Paul Scully
We have now provided close contact services like Soft Tissue Therapists in England, except Leicester, with the certainty they need to reopen from Monday 13 July, subject to them following the COVID-secure guidelines.
We appreciate that this has been difficult for some businesses. Our approach is guided by the scientific and medical advice, and every step is weighed against the evidence, remembering that the more we open up the more vigilant we will need to be.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reason soft tissue therapists were not included in the 4 July 2020 reopening plans for people dealing with medical issues.
Answered by Paul Scully
There is clearly a risk of greater transmission in close contact services. That is why we have had to phase their introduction. We had to make difficult choices to keep the R rate below 1.
We have now provided close contact services like Soft Tissue Therapists in England, except Leicester, with the certainty they need to reopen from Monday 13 July, subject to them following the COVID-secure guidelines.
We appreciate that this has been difficult for some businesses. Our approach is guided by the scientific and medical advice, and every step is weighed against the evidence, remembering that the more we open up the more vigilant we will need to be.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much funding from the public purse has been allocated to his Department for financial year 2018-19 for planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal; and how much of that funding has been spent.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
In the financial year 2018/19 BEIS was allocated £185.1m of EU Exit funding. Of this total allocation, £106.7m has been budgeted for programme and capital spend. £78.4m has been budgeted as administration spend, of which £57.3m has been budgeted for staff within BEIS. BEIS is keeping this under review over the course of the financial year. No Deal funding is aggregated as part of the Department’s overall spend and therefore cannot be reported separately.