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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the feasibility of allowing licensed venues to undertake their own risk assessments to determine how many people their facilities can hold whilst adhering to social distancing rules to enable events to go ahead.

There is no change from the usual requirements of risk assessment. Employers have a duty to conduct a risk assessment in consultation with workers and unions where applicable.

All employers and self-employed people whose activities may pose a risk to the health and safety of other people should meet the objectives in the guidance to help keep people safe, but the actions they take will depend on the working environment, the size of their workforce and the site.

Businesses that have fewer than five workers do not need to record their risk assessment but still need to take all reasonably practical steps to reduce the risks of COVID-19.

As per guidance outside of new tiering local restrictions, people will still be able to meet in a group of larger than 6 for work purposes while maintaining social distancing.

Any meeting in a hotel venue, or similar, should also follow relevant guidance for the specific venue, including any relevant risk assessment and compliance with social distancing requirements.