Asked by: Greg Clark (Conservative - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what guidance he plans to issue to dressmakers on conducting consultations and fittings in (a) retail settings and (b) home work based settings as restrictions on the lockdown due to the covid-19 outbreak are eased.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government has published updated guidance on 25 May to include other types of shops that have been closed for some weeks. In addition to the shops that have been open through the lockdown, this guidance covers shops selling clothing, books, shoes and cars, as well as banks, auctions houses, photography studios and indoor and outdoor markets. The second taskforce under non-essential retail will focus on work environments where there is close proximity to the client, e.g. hair and beauty salons, tattoo studios, etc. Guidance for these businesses will be published in June. Some of the guidance published in this document will be useful for tailors and dressmakers. For example, it provides guidelines on safety in fitting rooms and on how to manage clothes that have been tried on.
Employers have a legal duty to carry out a risk assessment, and all businesses must now consider the COVID-19 risks before re-opening. In this case, the Government is clear that businesses should only reopen when they can adhere to the COVID-19 safety guidance.
Asked by: Greg Clark (Conservative - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many meetings (a) he and (b) his predecessor had with his Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser (i) from 1 September to 30 November 2019 and (ii) from 1 December 2019 to 29 February 2020.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser ensures that the department’s policies are supported by the best science and engineering advice available by advising senior officials, as well as ministers, on science and engineering matters, and working with the wider community of Chief Scientific Advisers to share good practice and resolve cross departmental problems.
The Secretary of State’s predecessor, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Member for South Northamptonshire, did not meet with the Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser from 1 September to 30 November 2019 and from 1 December 2019 to 13 February 2020.
My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy did not meet with his department’s Chief Scientific Adviser from 13 February to 29 February 2020.