COVID restrictions

8 April 2022

Dear                  ,

ATISN 16190 – TAC advice to Welsh Government related to hospitality settings

Thank you for your request to the Welsh Government for information under the Freedom of Information Act (2000) received on 19 March 2021.  You requested the following:

I would be grateful if you could release all advice that you supplied to the Welsh Government that specifically related to:

• Table service in hospitality settings.
• Rules of no more than six people gathering in hospitality settings.

Our Response

All of the Technical Advisory Cell’s advice to Welsh Government is published at Technical Advisory Cell | GOV.WALES. A summary of the papers TAC has provided that specifically include reference to the areas you have outlined is below:

• Advice from the Technical Advisory Cell and Chief Scientific Advisor for Health 21 Day Review 28th October 2021
• Advice from the Technical Advisory Cell and Chief Scientific Advisory for Health: 21-Day Review 4 February 2022
• Advice from the Technical Advisory Cell and Chief Scientific Advisor for Health 21 Day Review 11th November 2021
• Advice from the Technical Advisory Group and the Chief Scientific Advisor for Health 6 May 2021
• Advice from the Technical Advisory Group and the Chief Scientific Advisor for Health for 3 June Restriction Review
• Advice from the Technical Advisory Group and the Chief Scientific Advisor for Health on the Delta Variant (B.1.617.2) 15 June 2021
• SAGE EMG: Insights on transmission of COVID-19 with a focus on the hospitality, retail and leisure sector
• SAGE/TAG - The UK’s Four Nations’ Autumn Interventions
• SPI-B: Sustaining behaviours to reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission 30 April 2021
• Technical Advisory Cell: Summary of advice 27th November 2020
• Technical Advisory Cell: Summary of Advice 7 January 2022
• Technical Advisory Group Statement regarding NPIs in the pre-Christmas period 02 December 2020
• Technical Advisory Group: Fire Break 19 October 2020
• Technical Advisory Group: Five harms arising from COVID-19: Consideration of potential baseline measures 9 July 2021
• Technical Advisory Group: High level summary of evidence on costs and benefits and potential mitigations for measures to address Covid-19 in Wales 25 November 2020
• Technical Advisory Group: The potential risks and benefits of removing restrictions in a phased approach to mitigate the impact of harms from Covid-19 in Wales 5 March 2021

Please note that this list may not include general advice related to hospitality settings such as environmental science or use of face coverings.

A full list of advice submitted by the Technical Advisory Cell is available at Advice on coronavirus from the Technical Advisory Cell | GOV.WALES and papers published by SAGE, which TAC members also attend and interpret for a Welsh context, are published at Evidence considered by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE).

I hope this information is helpful.

Next steps

If you are dissatisfied with the Welsh Government’s handling of your request, you can ask for an internal review within 40 working days of the date of this response. Requests for an internal review should be addressed to the Welsh Government’s Freedom of Information Officer at:

Information Rights Unit, 
Welsh Government,
Cathays Park, 
Cardiff, 
CF10 3NQ 
or Email: Freedom.ofinformation@gov.wales

Please remember to quote the ATISN reference number above.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner’s Office, 
Wycliffe House, 
Water Lane, 
Wilmslow, 
Cheshire, 
SK9 5AF

However, please note that the Commissioner will not normally investigate a complaint until it has been through our own internal review process.

Yours sincerely