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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with representatives of the health and beauty industry on devising safe working practices to allow the resumption of those treatments which cannot currently be carried out safely.

The Close Contact Services taskforce comprised stakeholders from a cross section of the sector, including representative organisations. 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.

This taskforce was responsible for developing guidance to help businesses in this sector prepare to reopen safely, and representations have included:

• All Party Parliamentary Group for Beauty, Aesthetics and Wellbeing
• Associated Beauty Therapists
• Coalition letter from 180 businesses in the beauty, aesthetics, spa and wellness industry
• The National Hair and Beauty Federation.

Any Ministerial meeting information will be shared in due course on: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/beis-ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings.