Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the viability of allowing shops selling domestic garden supplies that have closed due to the covid-19 outbreak to re-open.

Shops selling domestic garden supplies such as garden centres, are being asked to close along with many other retail premises to minimise the risk of the spread of the coronavirus.

At all times we have been consistently guided by scientific advice to protect lives. The current advice from SAGE is that relaxing any of the measures could risk damage to public health, our economy, and the sacrifices we have all made. The Government has set up five tests that must be met before the lockdown measures (including the closure of certain retail businesses) can be lifted. These consider NHS capacity, death rates, transmission rates, availability of PPE, and avoidance of a second peak of the virus.

It is positive to see the emerging thoughts on how businesses such as garden centres can reopen safely, and in line with wider social distancing measures – we will need to continue to work together on how easing measures could work when it is the right time to do so.