SOLT Update 15 July 2021

Jul 15, 2021 | SOLT Updates

The below correspondence is posted here by kind permission from the Society of London Theatre

The Society of London Theatre (SOLT) is an organisation that works with and on behalf of their Members to champion theatre and the performing arts.

Find out more about SOLT and visit their website here.

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Step 4 guidance
The new Step 4 guidance is now live, replacing the Performing Arts Guidance. It is very generic in nature and covers not only the theatre industry but also visitor attractions, historic settings, elite sports and other events.

From Step 4 there is no longer a legal requirement for staff and customers to wear face coverings although the guidance strongly recommends the continuation of use in enclosed and crowded spaces. As notified in last Thursday’s newsletter, our recommendation, as an industry, matches this and is to strongly encourage the continued use of face coverings inside venues. There are also no legal capacity caps on events, however your risk assessment may consider further mitigation to keep customers safe. 

The guidance features 6 priority actions for everyone to follow:

  1. Complete a health and safety risk assessment that includes risks from COVID-19. This could identify the requirement for your staff to continue wearing face coverings when working in close contact settings or when they come into close proximity of others.
  2. Turn people with COVID-19 symptoms away. This includes staff, contractors and customers.
  3. Provide adequate ventilation. Natural ventilation through windows, doors and vents, mechanical ventilation using fans and ducts, or a combination of both.
  4. Clean more often. Especially surfaces that are touched regularly.
  5. Enable people to check in at your venue. Although no longer legally required to collect contact details people can check in by using NHS QR code poster. You do not have to ask customers to check in or turn them away if they refuse.
  6. Communicate and train. Keep workers, contractors and visitors up to date on how you’re using and updating safety measures including sharing risk assessment and mitigations when applicable.

There is also a recommendation that event organisers consider using the NHS COVID Pass to reduce the risk of transmission. The NHS COVID Pass allows people to demonstrate that they are at a lower risk of carrying COVID-19 and transmitting it to others, through vaccination, testing or natural immunity. The government will publish more guidance on using the NHS COVID Pass shortly.

See It Safely
We have updated the See It Safely toolkit to reflect the changes from 19 July. We will be emailing all See it Safely contacts with an update on the requirements of the scheme by the end of this week, now that the guidance has been published. We have amended the See it Safely form, so if your venue has not yet applied, please email SeeItSafely@soltukt.co.uk for a link to the new application form. Information will be available to the public on SeeItSafely.com.

If you have any questions about the new Step 4 guidance or the See It Safely toolkit, please email Phill Brown, Head of Risk and Safety.

Action: please complete this survey if your organisation has commissioned a play in the last 5 years
The Writers’ Guild of Great Britain is surveying UK Theatre and ITC companies to find out how many plays were commissioned and how many plays were produced (both commissioned and non-commissioned), before and – in the case of commissions – during lockdown. 

The information will be aggregated and anonymised and the results of the survey will be made public. Please click on this link to activate the form. Deadline for submissions 1 August 2021.

Security and lockdown lifting 
Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) is calling on everyone to ensure you have taken reasonable steps to mitigate against the threat from terrorism. The bulletin – that you can download here – has useful links and security preparations to consider.


USEFUL RESOURCES

Coronavirus Recovery Guidance

Wellbeing and mental health support for you and your staff

Jobs & careers in the sector

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