An organisation representing some 200 pubs, restaurants and hotels across Scotland has called for "intensive" and "proper" industry consultation - including the potential of Government support - on the potential extension of vaccine passport to all indoor hospitality venues.
Stephen Montgomery of the Scottish Hospitality Group (SHG) said its members have already invested heavily in measures to ensure their venues are safe, including better ventilation, hand sanatising and the enforcement of wearing masks. Following confirmation yesterday from Deputy First Minister John Swinney that the Scottish Government "cannot rule out" the extended use of vaccine passports, Mr Montgomery said the SHG's priority is to ensure its venues remain open, and that they "remain safe environments for our customers".
Created in the wake of last year's introduction of lockdown to control the spread of Covid, the SHG has previously taken legal action against Government restrictions on the licensed trade. Scotland's current Covid measures are due to be reviewed next Tuesday.
"We expect the Scottish Government to work constructively, intensively, and with proper consultation with our industry should there be an extension of vaccine passports to all indoor hospitality venues," Mr Montgomery said.
"We would hope that this would include discussion of appropriate Government support for additional staffing and costs, with many businesses in the hospitality sector currently struggling to cope with the financial burden of the pandemic as well as an acute recruitment crisis."
Speaking yesterday in the Scottish Parliament, Mr Swinney told MSPs no final decision has been taken but stressed that Covid remained at a "concerningly high" level.
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"It is because we want to avoid more difficult restrictions that we cannot rule out strengthening the baseline measures currently in place as the best way to head off any prospect of future lockdowns...we have been considering for example whether we may need to extend the Covid certification scheme to bring more settings into scope, such as indoor hospitality and leisure settings," he said..
"Among other possible interventions, we are exploring how we can help improve ventilation, what we could do to increase home working, and whether changes are needed to extend the use of face coverings."
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