BEF COVID update: 05 January 2021

Posted on 6th January 2021

All home nations are now under lockdown restrictions across the United Kingdom, with the exception of some offshore islands. Across the four countries, the message is to ‘stay at home’ and only go out for essential reasons such as work that cannot be done from home, healthcare, education and exercise. This will once again have an impact on the equestrian community, with some businesses unable to operate under the restrictions and activity limited largely to meeting care and exercise needs only. 

Key points

England

These restrictions are currently set to be reviewed on 15 February.

Further information

For further information about how these restrictions impact equestrian activity in England, please visit the Guidance for England page on our Coronavirus Hub.

Helpful websites:

GOV.UK – National lockdown: Stay at home – https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-lockdown-stay-at-home

GOV.UK – National lockdown guidance document – https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/949536/NationalLockdownGuidance.pdf

Sport England advice – https://www.sportengland.org/news/what-new-national-lockdown-means-sport-and-physical-activity-england

Scotland – as per England, but with the following additional points:

These restrictions are currently set to be reviewed on 31 January.

Further information

For further information about how these restrictions impact equestrian activity in Scotland, please visit the Guidance for Scotland page on our Coronavirus Hub.

Helpful websites:

GOV.SCOT – Stay at home guidance – https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance/
sportscotland – https://sportscotland.org.uk/covid-19/
horsescotland – https://www.horsescotland.org/covid-19support

Wales – as per England, but with the following additional points:

These restrictions are currently set to be reviewed on 18 January.

Further information

For further information about how these restrictions impact equestrian activity in Wales, please visit the Guidance for Wales page on our Coronavirus Hub.

Helpful websites:

GOV.WALES – https://gov.wales/alert-level-4
Sport Wales – https://www.sport.wales/media-centre/latest-news/taking-part-in-sport-and-exercise-in-wales-the-guidance/

Northern Ireland – as per England, but with the following additional points:

These restrictions are currently set to be reviewed on or around 23 January.

Further information

For further information about how these restrictions impact equestrian activity in Northern Ireland, please visit the Guidance for Northern Ireland page on our Coronavirus Hub.

Helpful websites:

NIDIRECT.GOV.UK – guidance https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/coronavirus-covid-19-regulations-guidance-what-restrictions-mean-you

Financial support

Businesses that are financially impacted by the lockdown restrictions should visit their respective government’s COVID-19 information pages for details of the assistance available.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak today announcing additional one-off cash grants for businesses in England that operate in the retail, hospitality and leisure industry. The amount received will be linked to business rates, and provided on a per-property basis:

In addition, a £594 million discretionary fund has been made available to local authorities and the devolved administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to support other businesses that are affected by the restrictions but not eligible for the grants. Businesses should apply to their local authority for the support.

The government has also provided:

For those who are self-employed, the Self Employment Income Support Scheme was previously extended to offer a third grant for the period of 1 November 2020 to 29 January 2021. This offers a taxable grant worth 80% of your average monthly trading profits, paid as a three-month lump sum to the maximum value of £7,500. However, this is only available to those who were eligible for the first and second SEISS grants. Further information is available here.

Further information is available on the British Equestrian COVID hub here.

https://www.britishequestrian.org.uk/coronavirus/grants-and-funding

CEO Comment

British Equestrian Chief Executive Iain Graham commented; “While tightened restrictions aren’t the way we wanted to start the New Year, the nationwide lockdown is clearly needed to get the virus under control and protect our medical services. I call on everyone in our equestrian community to once again to play their part, adhere to the guidance and follow the message to ‘stay at home’ where possible, but of course without compromising your own or your horse’s welfare.

“We should all be vigilant, stick closely to social distancing and hand and respiratory hygiene guidance, and minimise contact where we can as we continue to act responsibly. There is light at the end of the tunnel and hopefully it won’t be long before we can get back to some sense of normality with businesses and livelihoods able to get back on track, and all of us enjoying our horses to the full, but we have a few more sacrifices to make on our way there. Thank you to all of you for your continued support, patience and determination, and please stay safe.”

Further information

For further information and support, please visit our Coronavirus Hub.

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