Business Secretary warns shops over breaching coronavirus guidelines
The Business Secretary has warned that shops which fail to follow social distancing guidelines will be served enforcement notices.
Confirming the reopening of non-essential shops on Monday, June 15, Alok Sharma suggested that outlets which do not comply with ‘Covid-secure’ guidance will be punished in the ‘new normal’. Other shops, including car showrooms and outdoor markets, opened on June 1.
Mr Sharma said any business that is open must complete a risk assessment and display a notice about the steps it has taken to combat coronavirus.
He explained: ‘If a shop reopens without putting in place responsible steps to reduce the transmission of the virus, we can take a range of actions, including issuing enforcement notices. Local authorities and the Health and Safety Executive regularly carry out checks and respond to concerns from the public regarding risks in the workplace.’
There have been concerns that some shops will struggle to be profitable amid 2 metre social distancing guidelines.
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Helen Dickinson, the chief executive of British Retail Consortium (BRC), called for the government to provide an ‘ongoing package of support’ for retailers.
She said: ‘We hope the public will take the opportunity from next week to go out and support millions of stores up and down the country.
‘Nonetheless, the challenge for these stores is not over. Many firms will continue to struggle as the two-metre rule will limit sales while retailers continue to face the same rent and other fixed costs.’
Mr Sharma continued: ‘In the new normal, we have all got used to shopping with social distancing. Now is the right time to apply these principles more widely, to more shops, as we continue our cautious reopening of the economy.
‘To support this, on May 25 my department published updated Covid-secure safer working guidance for people who work in or run shops or branches in the retail sector. This has given retail businesses enough time to make sure their premises are Covid-secure.
‘And this will allow worker to return safely back to stores and welcome back shoppers on Monday.’
He said shops should only reopen once they feel able to follow the guidelines and ‘take the necessary steps’ to manage risks ‘as is their legal obligation’.
On restaurants, pubs, bars, hairdressers, barbers, nail bars and other related services, Mr Sharma said they would ‘publish further safer working guidance’ in future.
He insisted that the government was continuing to meet the five tests in the Prime Minister’s ‘roadmap’ to ease lockdown and that the R rate was still below one.
Mr Sharma added: ‘I know there has been a lot of speculation about when we might be able to reopen these parts of the economy and I completely understand why we’re all so keen to get them back up and running, and I absolutely share that enthusiasm.
‘But we continue to follow the roadmap which sets out our ambition to reopen these sectors from July 4 at the earliest.’
Labour’s Lucy Powell, the Shadow Minister for Business and Consumers, said: ‘Many challenges remain for our high streets. Ministers must decide on clear guidelines for hospitality businesses reopening as soon as possible so bars, pubs, restaurants and cafes can have certainty.’
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