After the Government’s announcement on the road map out of lockdown and the response from the NYA on Tuesday 2nd March 2021, the following advice is being put out by the B-PSA for Groups in England.
The NYA Has produced the following guidance 1020-NYA-COVID19-V5-final.pdf Please take time to read it,be aware it will be updated regularly. The government has proposed to withdraw the previous four tier process in favour of a national Roadmap approach.
The Roadmap has four steps (although Step 1 has two parts): The government has outlined a four step plan for reducing restrictions across England. In summary:
- Step 1A 8th March School’s return.
- Step 1B 29th March Youth outdoor activities permitted.
- Step 2 12th April Indoor and outdoor activities (indoors 6 max)
- Step 3 17th May Indoor and outdoor activities (no limit on numbers)
- Step 4 21st June all restrictions lifted.
The only date set in stone is 8th March when the schools return, we are still at level red for face to face meetings, so can only meet online. The readiness level will change as and when government advice changes. All thedates are all provisional and can change depending on the situation in England, you are advised not to plan any activities where you have to pay upfront until dates are confirmed.
As most of our leaders and none of the Youth of the Association will not have been vaccinated by step 3, all the current B-PSA Covid rules will remain in place, ie bubbles of 15, 2m social distancing, face masks for Scout Section upwards, and Covid risk assessments for every section meeting.
Please take the time from 8th March to revisit your Groups Covid Risk assessments and update them if required. At the same time if your Group met on Zoom please plan how you are going to get all individuals in your sections to the same level, this is so we do not discriminate those who could not join in online meetings.
In Wales the Government has imposed Alert level 4, which only permits online meetings, no face to face, when this changes we will update the Wessex Area.
If you have any questions contact the Covid Team c/o This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., please do not contact other organisations such as the NYA directly, as we may have imposed extra rules to ensure safety in our many activities.
Keep safe,
Covid Team