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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether pubs and restaurants could be permitted to reduce social distancing measures by introducing temperature checks for customers.

The Pubs and Restaurants taskforce is considering a range of measures to support the reopening of this sector as soon as it is safe to do so.

The taskforce consulted with a cross-section of the sector to develop guidance, with representation from trade bodies to small and medium sized operators, unions, as well as the supply chain. We consulted these stakeholders due to their expertise and real-life knowledge and experience of the challenges faced by the industry during the COVID-19 outbreak.

The guidance will be published in due course.