PE1848, by Paul Marinello, calls on the Scottish Government to allow snooker and pool venues to open at all levels of the five-tier system of coronavirus restrictions, except tier 4.
In his initial written submission, the petitioner challenges the assessments that have informed the Government’s decisions on snooker and pool halls. He states that halls have good mechanical ventilation as part of their licensing requirements; that physically distancing is aided by the size of the tables that are being used; and that players wear face masks while in play. The petitioner also highlights that snooker is the only non-contact sport that is not allowed to operate in tier 3, which he considers to be unfair.
Since the publication of our papers, the committee has received a response from the Government. It explains that
“the decisions on what can open during the different tiers are set out in our Strategic Framework, which includes measures across a wide number of settings and provides a comprehensive approach to reducing infection rates and suppressing the spread of the virus.”
It says that, although the Government currently has
“no plans to allow pool and snooker halls to reopen outside of tiers 0 and 1”,
it keeps
“the content of the Strategic Framework under regular review.”
The committee has also received two submissions from Scottish Snooker, which is the national governing body for snooker and billiards in Scotland. In the submissions, the organisation echoes the petitioner’s concerns about the assessments that have been made and suggests that the strategic framework, as it relates to snooker and pool, is based on incorrect information.
The committee has received an additional submission from the petitioner, in response to the Scottish Government’s submission. He reiterates his challenge to the framework and states that
“everything should be done that is necessary to fight covid 19 and save lives”,
but
“no business or sport should be unnecessarily disadvantaged either, should there be a solution.”
This is an interesting petition. The petitioner makes a strong case for a proper understanding of what snooker and pool venues do. I guess that, in the current context—we are at the height of the crisis—there is not a lot of room for movement. However, it is the role of individual businesses and organisations to flag up such matters. Government cannot fully understand how different businesses operate, and the petitioner makes an interesting and important case. There are examples in other areas, too, of the officials drawing up the framework without having a particular awareness or understanding of how individual businesses operate. There are interesting issues to be flagged up that can inform any future decision making.
