Question reference: S5W-35511
- Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 24 February 2021
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Current status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 10 March 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it will allow garden centres to reopen, as part of the route map out of lockdown.
Answer
Garden centres can open in any area designated at protection level 3 or below and are presently open on some Scottish islands, including Shetland and Orkney. For all areas in protection level 4, garden centres are closed but are able to operate a permitted collection service and fulfil on-line orders.
I have recently met with the Horticultural Trade Association (HTA) to discuss the impacts restrictions are having on this area. The HTA has provided us with their safe operating protocol and have briefed us with valuable information which we are taking into consideration when making our decisions.
From 5 April it is our hope and expectation that the stay at home restriction will be lifted. Also in this phase, we will begin the re-opening of retail. This will start with an extension of the definition of essential retail and the removal of restrictions on click-and collect.
We hope to move back to a levels system from the last week in April with a phased but significant re-opening of the economy, including non-essential retail, hospitality and services like gyms and hairdressers.
We will set-out in Mid-March the indicators that will guide our decisions on levels as well as on any revision to the content of each level and the order in which we expect those parts of the economy that have been restricted could start reopening from the last week of April.