Covid 19 – Birmingham City Council has new powers to close businesses

From today, Birmingham City Council will be able to deploy new enforcement powers against premises that do not follow certain legal obligations relating to Covid-19. The Council confirmed that these relate primarily to the following areas:

• “Restrict access to, or close, individual premises on the basis of an inadequate risk assessment or risk management, for example restaurants or bars;
• Prohibit certain types of event taking place on the basis of a maximum event size, including life events such as weddings or funerals (there is no intention to change the numbers of people that can attend different types of events under the current guidance which stands at 30);
• Restrict access to, or close, public outdoor places (or types of outdoor public places) if there is a public health need to.”

Currently, the city is on a government watch-list after a previous rise in COVID cases, although recent figures show rates of infection are going down.

Going forward, the new powers are an extra tool that can be utilised to minimise infections. Non-compliant businesses could be issued with a written warning, followed by a closure order if the rules are still not followed.