Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what guidance he plans to issue to dressmakers on conducting consultations and fittings in (a) retail settings and (b) home work based settings as restrictions on the lockdown due to the covid-19 outbreak are eased.

The Government has published updated guidance on 25 May to include other types of shops that have been closed for some weeks. In addition to the shops that have been open through the lockdown, this guidance covers shops selling clothing, books, shoes and cars, as well as banks, auctions houses, photography studios and indoor and outdoor markets. The second taskforce under non-essential retail will focus on work environments where there is close proximity to the client, e.g. hair and beauty salons, tattoo studios, etc. Guidance for these businesses will be published in June. Some of the guidance published in this document will be useful for tailors and dressmakers. For example, it provides guidelines on safety in fitting rooms and on how to manage clothes that have been tried on.

Employers have a legal duty to carry out a risk assessment, and all businesses must now consider the COVID-19 risks before re-opening. In this case, the Government is clear that businesses should only reopen when they can adhere to the COVID-19 safety guidance.