First Minister to provide update on hospitality restrictions

The First Minister is to provide an update on the restrictions covering hospitality at her briefing on Wednesday afternoon.

Nicola Sturgeon has previously hinted the measures would be extended until the planned tier system had been signed off by MSPs.

The current restrictions ban the serving of alcohol in pubs, restaurants and cafes across Scotland, while licensed premises in the Central Belt have been closed altogether.

The regulations enforcing this are due to expire on Sunday, but Cabinet will meet this morning to discuss next steps before Sturgeon announced the changes this afternoon.

At yesterday’s briefing, Sturgeon said: “If you look at the numbers across the Central Belt right now and the sequencing over the next week of moving to a new system, then you might expect it would make sense from a public health point of view to see that rolled over. That is one option Cabinet is looking at tomorrow.”

Meanwhile, the Scottish Government is preparing a draft strategic document to outline a new tiered framework similar to that covering England.

The intention is for the new tiered approach to come into force at the start of November, to coincide with the introduction of the UK Government’s Job Support Scheme, which replaces the Job Retention Scheme.

The strategy will be published before the end of the week and will be debated by MSPs next week. Sturgeon met with opposition party leaders yesterday to discuss the matter.