June 2020

Jun 30

Rural Communities Continue to be Hardest Hit by Lack of Access to Cash

Today (30th June) the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) published more information about their work on mapping access to cash to help identify ‘cold spots’.

The FCA and PSR have worked with other regulators to create a single database of the UK’s cash access points. Analysis of additional ONS information has showed that the majority of cold spots were in rural areas.

Findings from the 2020 Rural Shop Report revealed that 45% of rural shops provide a free to use cash machine for local customers.

Read More
Jun 30

Scottish Committee Approves Principles of ‘Protection of Workers Bill’

The Scottish Parliament Economy, Energy and Fair Work Committee has unanimously approved the general principles of a Bill which aims to increase protection for shopworkers. The Bill must now be agreed by MSPs and pass two further stages at Holyrood before it becomes law.

The ‘Protection of Workers Bill’ aims to increase protection for retail workers by:

Read More
Jun 26

Government Publishes Business and Planning Bill

The Government has today (25th June) published details of the Business and Planning Bill as part of its plans to help businesses trade post-lockdown.

The Bill primarily deals with the consumption of food and drink outdoors and modifications to premises licences. Significant proposals in the Bill include:

Read More
Jun 23

Prime Minister Announces Easing of Lockdown Restrictions

Today (23rd June) Prime Minister Boris Johnson outlined the next stage of changes to the lockdown measures in England.

During the announcement, Johnson confirmed that people should continue to aim to keep two metres apart but where this is not possible they should keep to one metre plus other mitigations such as use of face coverings, sitting side by side rather than face to face to reduce risk of transmission and frequent use of hand sanitiser.

Read More
Jun 19

ACS Hosts Roundtable with Retailers and the Low Pay Commission

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has hosted a roundtable with retailers and representatives from the Low Pay Commission to discuss the impact of the National Living Wage (NLW) on convenience stores.  

During the roundtable, retailers discussed their experiences with Low Pay Commissioners Neil Carberry and Kay Carberry, highlighting their concerns about the impact of Covid-19 related operating costs to their business, including PPE for colleagues, in-store signage and temporary recruitment of colleagues.

Read More
Jun 16

Plastic Straw Ban Delayed Due to Coronavirus

Environment Minister Rebecca Pow MP confirmed that introduction of new legislation banning the sale of plastic drinking straws, plastic-stemmed cotton buds and plastic stirrers was delayed because of the coronavirus. 

Read More