England has been in the midst of a national lockdown since the 4th of January. On the 22nd of February, the Prime Minister announced his four-step roadmap for gradually easing lockdown restrictions.
Below you will find information on coronavirus restrictions and the government’s roadmap. This page also contains national guidance on COVID-secure workplaces, obligations on engaging with NHS Test & Trace, workplace testing and the government support available for businesses.
The UK government announced a new national lockdown on the 4th of January, which includes the following measures:
The government has subsequently set out their plan for the re-opening of the economy and you can find more details below.
The lockdown restrictions in place across England will be lifted in four key steps.
The government have said that the restrictions will only be eased at each stage providing the following four conditions are met:
There will be a minimum of five weeks between each step and the government will provide seven days notice as to whether they will proceed with easing the restrictions.
Please see below for more information on what the Government’s four step approach means for businesses.
From the 29th March:
The following will be able to re-open no earlier than the 12th April:
The following will be able to re-open no earlier than the 17th of May:
Most social contact rules will be lifted in outdoor settings and outdoor gatherings will be allowed for up to 30 people.
The fourth step will potentially see all legal limits on social contact removed and remaining venues such as nightclubs permitted to re-open.
The government is also aiming to lift any remaining restrictions on social contact and large events and relax COVID-Secure requirements on businesses
Click below for full details on the re-opening of businesses and venues:
Businesses with more than 50 employees are now able to participate in the government’s workplace testing scheme.
Employers can register to order rapid lateral flow tests for their employees that cannot work from home here
Local authorities are also running a number of community testing sites:
The GBCC are committed to keeping businesses and charities up to date with the latest support being made available by the government to help businesses recover from the disruption caused by Covid-19.
So far, the government has announced a number of support measures including various finance and grant schemes and the extension to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Please click the link below for a list of the government support measures announced to date.
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The UK Government have issued detailed guidance for employers with certain types of premises on how to be COVID-19 Secure and safely return to, or scale up the number of employees in, the workplace.
It includes a number of detailed measures on social distancing and hygiene in the workplace. Employers must use this advice to:
For formal Government advice on being COVID-19 Secure Click Here.
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Hospitality, visitor attraction and close contact services businesses (such as hairdressers) and religious venues are now legally required to collect customer information for the NHS Test & Trace Service which aims to trace the spread of the virus and isolate new infections.
Businesses in these sectors need to:
Click here for the government guidance and here for a business toolkit.
The government has also released guidance for employers that wish to introduce their own internal testing programme.
In this webinar, chair of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Martin Temple, around coronavirus (COVID-19) discusses how his organisation is supporting business.
In this webinar, BHSF provide advice and guidance to businesses on how to provide a Covid-secure workplace to get employees back to work.