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UKHospitality has been appointed a core participant in the Covid-19 Public Inquiry in London today (23 October 2024), as the preliminary hearing into the economic response to the pandemic began.
Chief executive Kate Nicholls and deputy chief executive Allen Simpson were in attendance as the sole private sector representatives at the inquiry.
The role of a core participant is to support the inquiry by seeing evidence, making submissions, and suggesting questions that the inquiry can ask. No other industry is directly represented in this way.
UKHospitality will take on this role on behalf of the sector to make sure its voice is heard and that the inquiry fully reflects the impact of the Covid-19 response on the hospitality sector.
No formal evidence was given during the two-hour opening session but UKHospitality will be providing this as the voice of the hospitality sector next year.
The economic response module of the inquiry will examine interventions taken by the government in areas such as support for business, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and business rates relief and grants.
It considers the scale of the interventions and how decisions were taken at the time, including lessons to be learnt.
Nicholls said: “We were pleased to attend the opening session today and be confirmed as the only Core Participants from any industry. The fact hospitality has been recognised in this way is encouraging. We look forward to providing oral evidence to the inquiry in due course. Our job is to be a conduit for the sector, and we welcome anyone to be in touch.”
