The GUILD release their latest newsletter to members

The Showmen’s Guild of Great Britain released the newsletter below on the re-opening of Fairs and Circuses plus the government consultation on the use of red diesel.

• The Showmen’s Guild Central Office  is working with all the 10 Sections in supporting Showmen / fairs that are in the balance nationwide –
• This includes  supporting individual lessees  across the country, where appropriate, with significant administration; letters of support; advice and representation at  local authority meetings on some occasions

• We are discussing it all with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in Parliament, with whom we had a Video-Conference meeting
• and submitted an 18-page nationwide dossier on it all section by section; having discussed it with each of them and with individual lessees.
• This follows our agreeing the Guidance for operating Fairs as COVID-19 Secure with the DCMS and HSE, which is now also agreed for Scotland, with the Holyrood parliament from 24^th August.

• The DCMS have confirmed on Tuesday (9^th September) that they  are looking at the dossier on issues of getting fairs open across the country and agreed to follow up with colleagues  additionally in the Ministry for Housing & Local Government (MHLG) and, through them to get answers from the local authorities on the issues we raised of fairs being refused and cancelled, when other businesses were allowed to continue and other events allowed to go ahead.
• The DCMS are also  double-checking on the grants availability  for cultural industries (like the Showmen’s Guild) and will report back to us.
• We had asked DCMS a number of questions and are looking to hold another follow-up meeting with them this week to progress this..
• The Other Associations: AIS; ACES; SIRP  & ACP (for circus) are working with us on this too.
• The Showmen’s Guild, with colleagues, have additionally secured a meeting (by video-conference) with the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Fairs and Showgrounds to take place  on 23^rd  September 2020.
• This will follow up on the issues that we discussed with them too in July and the responses from government departments that the APPG were pursuing on our behalf, including  from MHLG  / the Ministry for Housing, & Local Government.

Red Diesel Consultation with H.M. Treasury:

• Following a meeting recently between the Showmen’s Guild, the AIS, ACES and SIRP – the other Fairground trade associations – each association is contributing to an assessment of Red Diesel usage (updated from the last number of times that this took place for previous consultations).
• This is part of a new consultation that we are all, together with the ACP for Circus, taking part in with HM Treasury, following the budget on 11 March.
• The Guild has a team who are making an assessment of usage by various rides and taking into account the whole estate of different types of rides that exist in Great Britain (allowing for those known to be at fixed locations and not using Red Diesel).
• We spoke to the treasury on behalf of all the industry in March this year and in the latest conference call with them,  we  explained the consequences of losing the concessions on red diesel will have on all of us.