BEF update: plans to ease lockdown restrictions announced in England and Scotland

• Updates give equestrian sector a guide for when activity can resume
• Businesses, activity and competitions prepare to recommence
• Specific discipline updates on training and competition to follow

​The following update was received from the British Equestrian (BEF) on 23 February 2021 following the governments announcement on easing lockdown restrictions. Specific discipline updates from British Showjumping, British Dressages and British Eventing to follow.

BEF update: plans to ease lockdown restrictions announced in England and Scotland

The UK Prime Minister and Scotland’s First Minister have outlined their plans for the taking England and Scotland out of the current ‘stay at home’ restriction. Both leaders have given indicative timeframes, which give the equestrian sector a guide for when activity can resume, businesses can open and competitions can recommence.

In Wales, lockdown restrictions continue with the next review due on 12 March, while a lockdown extension until 1 April was recently announced in Northern Ireland, with a review scheduled for 18 March.

While certain details around the easing of restrictions and how they affect the equestrian industry are still awaiting for clarification, below is British Equestrian’s current understanding of the situation.

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England

The key dates and headlines are:

Step One – part A: from 8 March

Two people can meet outdoors to socialise
All schools return

Step One – part B: from 29 March

Six people or two households can meet outdoors
Outdoor sports facilities to open and organised sport allowed
Travel outside local area allowed
Step Two: from 12 April

Non-essential retail can open
Outdoor hospitality is permitted
Self-contained accommodation hire permitted

Step Three: from 17 May

Many social contact restrictions lifted outdoors
Six people or two households can meet indoors
Indoor hospitality and hotels open

Step Four: from 21 June

All legal limits on social contact removed

This would indicate that those equestrian centres and other businesses who are education or training providers could start one-to-one sessions from 8 March, while most other activity – sport or leisure – can resume from 29 March. Our member bodies are working on various ‘return to play’ plans for release in the coming days with specific details for their sectors and stakeholder groups.

England – full ‘roadmap’

Scotland

Indicative dates and key milestones:

Phase One: 22 February

Partial return to school for some age groups

Phase Two: 15 March (anticipated)

Next phase of return of children to school – primary and some secondary pupils
Non-contact outdoor sports to return for 12-17 year olds
Four people from two households allowed to mix outdoors

Phase Three: 5 April (anticipated)

Stay at home restriction removed
All children return to school
Communal worship can restart with restricted numbers of 20
Six people from two households can meet together
Easing restrictions on indoor household gatherings
Further essential retail can begin to re-open

Phase Four: 26 April (anticipated)

All of Scotland return to Level system of restrictions
Phased return of non-essential retail
Some hospitality, leisure venues and gyms can re-open

Scotland – strategic update

These details have only just been released and now require further consideration on how they impact the equine industry, but this could signal a restart to activity no later than 26 April. We’ll work with horsescotland and the member bodies, and provide any further clarification if required in the coming days.

British Equestrian CEO Iain Graham commented;

While there is still detail to be clarified, we now have a strong indication from the governments of England and Scotland of when we can return to activity, training, competing and just enjoying our equestrian lives once again. It’s very welcome news and gives hope to many that an end is in sight, provided of course we all play our part. For our stakeholders in Wales and Northern Ireland, we’ll continue to push for the opening up of activity in a safe timeframe. Thank you to all of you in the equestrian community, it’s been a difficult 11 months with so many impacted, but now we can look to building our industry back and recover stronger than ever.”

We’ll continue to provide updates and further details for the equestrian sector as they are made available to us from governments or supporting bodies in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

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