Outdoor Education: Coronavirus

(asked on 10th July 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions his Department has had with HM Treasury on Government support for the outdoor activity sector following his Department’s advice on overnight stays.


Answered by
Nick Gibb Portrait
Nick Gibb
This question was answered on 15th July 2020

The Department has published guidance for providers who run community activities, holiday clubs, after-school clubs, tuition and other out-of-school provision for children over the age of 5, setting out the safety measures that must be in place to ensure they can operate over the summer holiday: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/protective-measures-for-holiday-or-after-school-clubs-and-other-out-of-school-settings-for-children-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.

This follows confirmation from my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, that from Saturday 4 July these providers can operate, with safety measures in place.

The guidance advises that children and young people can take part in outdoor activities in small, consistent groups of no more than 15 with at least one staff member. Out-of-school provision should not, however, offer overnight or residential provision for the time-being. This is consistent with the latest government guidance on meeting people from outside your household, (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/meeting-people-from-outside-your-household-from-4-july) which advises that you should not stay overnight away from your home with members of more than 2 households.

Outdoor activity providers who have been adversely affected by COVID-19 can find out what financial support is available for their business here: https://www.gov.uk/business-coronavirus-support-finder. They may be eligible for tax relief, loans or cash grants through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme or the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme for example depending on their circumstances.

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