New National Measures & Access to Sport

The Welsh Sports Association (WSA) has detailed the key points, relevant to the sports & lesiure industry in Wales, from the First Minister’s press conference on the 30th November 2020.

From 6pm on Friday 4 December, new national measures will be introduced to provide restrictions for hospitality and indoor entertainment attractions.

The First Minister specifically stated that access to sport facilities was being protected because of the important benefits to mental well-being associated with exercise.

There are no changes to the regulations for sport and exercise, except that ice rinks will be closed.

Travel to and from Tier 3 areas of England, Tier 4 & 5 areas of Scotland and all of Northern Ireland is prohibited. Travel from Wales to Tier 1 & 2 areas of England is discouraged to prevent the spread of infection from higher prevalence areas to places with lower incidence of Coronavirus.

Pubs, cafes, restaurants and bars will have to close by 6pm and will not be allowed to serve alcohol. After 6pm they can provide takeaway services only.

·        Indoor attractions, such as museums, galleries, soft play and heritage sites will also have to close, but outdoor visitor attractions will be able to remain open. 

·        The rest of the national measures will remain in place. The new restrictions will be formally reviewed on 17th December 2020.

·        The English lockdown will end on Wednesday 2nd December 2020. In this context, travel between Wales and areas of the UK with high rates of coronavirus will not be allowed. Please see the First Ministers announcement on travel restrictions

·         The First Minister announced £180 million of new help specifically for affected tourism, leisure and hospitality businesses. This will provide grants of up to £100,000 for SMEs and £150,000 for larger businesses. The grant will be linked to the number of people employed in those businesses and their operating costs. Up to 10,000 businesses will be supported by this new fund, which will be delivered through Business Wales.

·         There will also be a package element of £160 million for the 60,000 businesses on the non-domestic rating list across Wales. Businesses, including those in retail, tourism, leisure and hospitality, and their supply chains, which are materially affected by the restrictions will receive payments of between £3,000 and £5,000. Discretionary grants of up to £2,000 will continue to be available for those not on the non-domestic rating list. This fund will be delivered by local authorities.

The WSA will be working with members over the next few weeks to further define the focus of our advocacy & business support services moving forward, given the most recent updates and the DCMS funding announcements across the border. The WSA have scheduled a number of Phased Return to Sport planning groups for the week commencing 14th December 2020 – members should have received invitations to their relevant groups.

If you have not received an inivitation or would like to participate, please contact the WSA team

For further details from the latest Welsh Government Press Conference, please click on the written statement: Review of the Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 4) (Wales) Regulations 2020

Please also see the Coronavirus regulations from 4 December: FAQs