Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.
Frustrated organisations in the Scotland hospitality industry are striking back against government-imposed COVID-19 restrictions that severely limit bars, restaurants and other social venues.
Five leaders in the Scotland hospitality industry are prepared for legal action after sending the Scottish government a pre-legal action notice, according to the BBC.
Five organisations in the Scotland hospitality industry have initiated a legal challenge as a result of the government’s strict COVID-19 restrictions that have nearly decimated restaurant and pub businesses. This comes just days after the first reports of the Scotland hospitality industry group leaders were considering a legal challenge.
According to the BBC, the Scotland hospitality industry organisations behind the legal challenge are the Night Time Industries Association Scotland, the Scottish Beer & Pub Association, the Scottish Hospitality Group, the Scottish Licensed Trade Association and UK Hospitality (Scotland).
The BBC reported the Scotland hospitality industry bodies will request a judicial review if the government stays firm on the restrictions on social venues.
Scotland’s pubs and restaurants will remain shut down for an additional week following the “short-term” coronavirus constraints were extended.
The extension of the restrictions followed after 28 more COVID-19 deaths occurred in Scotland, according to the BBC.
By 2 November, Scotland is scheduled to begin a five-tier system with COVID-19 alert levels so that residents can understand the risk in each area, the BBC reported.
The COVID-19 restrictions have hit the Scotland hospitality industry hard.
The Scotsman reports restaurants, bars and hotels have come “near collapse” since the early stages of the COVID-19 lockdowns in March. Now, the shut down of Scotland’s Central Belt is adding to the turmoil.
The new tiered risk-level system may also keep the Scotland hospitality industry closed, according to The Scotsman.
UK Hospitality said the Scotland hospitality industry’s pre-legal action letter is seeking a response from the government by 4 p.m. 28 October, or the hospitality group will move forward with the legal action.
“It is with regret that we now commence with this first stage in the legal process,” the five Scotland hospitality industry leaders said in an online statement via spokesperson Paul Waterson. “We understand and entirely support the goal of suppressing the virus, but our sector is at breaking-point.
“Despite having more mitigation measures than other sectors and the vast majority of operators going above-and-beyond in ensuring customer safety, our sector has been repeatedly targeted without consultation and without the evidence.”
Waterson said there is little evidence that supports keeping hospitality venues shut.
“Anecdotal evidence is not the way to go about making government decisions and the sector should not be used as a balance to uncontrollable risks in other far less regulated and un-monitored sectors,” Waterson said. “Evidence just published in Northern Ireland clearly states that the closure of hospitality only has an ‘0.1-0.2 impact on the R number’ and that the lockdown there has been brought about to ensure behavioural and policy compliance in other areas. Effectively confirming that the hospitality industry has been held up as the sacrificial lamb.”
The spokesperson added that the economic support offered to the Scotland hospitality industry is not even close to the kind of revenue businesses make regularly. The hospitality group is concerned that the livelihoods of hospitality venue owners and the workers that rely on income will continue to struggle.
According to Waterson, the hospitality industry cannot sustain the extensions of the COVID-19 restraints.
“The battle is now on to save the hospitality sector.”
Do you think the government will lift COVID-19 restrictions to support the Scotland Hospitality Industry? Tell us what you think.
Check back daily for the most recent U.K. class action lawsuit and consumer protection news.
ATTORNEY ADVERTISING
Top Class Actions is a Proud Member of the American Bar Association
LEGAL INFORMATION IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE
Top Class Actions Legal Statement
©2008 – 2024 Top Class Actions® LLC
Various Trademarks held by their respective owners
This website is not intended for viewing or usage by European Union citizens.
