This page has been compiled by Sally Wearing, our H&S Advisor. Please bear in mind that it can take a few days between new guidance emerging and Sally reading it all and writing a summary. If you have further questions that the info below doesn’t answer … please email sallywearing@outlook.com .

See all our Covid-19 pages:

Update on 21st December

This only applies to areas in Tier 4 in England. If you would like advice for other parts of the UK, please contact Sally Wearing at sallywearing@outlook.com.

The new Tier 4 brought in on 20^th December impose restrictions similar to November’s lockdown. If you are in one of the Tier 4 areas, none of the current MF guidance applies as no practices or performances are possible. Under the Tier 4 rules, no-one can meet anyone from outside their household indoors. Outdoors, individuals can only meet one person from another household.

There are a few exceptions to these rules, but none allow morris or related activities to practise or perform. The performing arts guidance has been updated to say that it only applies in Tiers 1, 2 & 3. Classifying morris as a sport would make no difference, as only elite sports people can train in Tier 4. However, organised outdoor sports for under 18s are still allowed.

Let’s hope there is better news in 2021.

Update on 14th December

This guidance applies to England and covers all tiers: Medium (1), High (2) and Very High (3). If you would like advice for other parts of the UK, please contact Sally Wearing at sallywearing@outlook.com.

Here is a summary of what practices are possible under the new tiers. More detailed information on indoor and outdoor practices in each tier is provided below. You can check which tier you are in.

Indoor practices

Tier 1: allowed in groups of up to six, but groups must not socialise or mix with other groups at any time.
Tier 2: no-one can mix with anyone outside their household, so practices are not possible. Physical activity and exercises classes are only permitted if people do not mix with anyone they do not live with.
Tier 3: not allowed, as physical activity and exercise classes cannot take place.

Outdoor practices

Tiers 1 & 2: allowed in groups of up to six, but people must not socialise or mix with other groups at any time.
Tier 3: only allowed in some outdoor spaces, e.g. parks, public gardens, countryside accessible to the public, sports facilities. People cannot socialise or mix in groups of more than six. In all other locations, people cannot mix with anyone not in their household.

Risk Assessment for Indoor and Outdoor Practices

If you are considering practising, you need to carry out a risk assessment first, to help you decide whether it is safe to hold practices and what you need to do to protect people.

The performing arts guidance explains what non-professionals should do, both when rehearsing and performing. The first step is to decide whether non-work activities can go ahead. You need to assess the risks, considering the wider health context in your area and the vulnerability of the people in your team.

This will help you decide whether it is safe to restart practices or not. If it is not, you should not proceed.

Template Risk Assessment: Sally has updated the Template Risk Assessment for Practices (editable RTF) to bring it into line with the revised tier system. It covers practices in all three tiers. You need to customise this to your team and venue; please start by reading these notes on How to use the Template Risk Assessments (PDF). If you already have your own risk assessment, you can use the template to help make sure your assessment covers all the relevant issues.

If you use the template, please send any comments, criticisms or suggestions for improvements to Sally at sallywearing@outlook.com. She is always keen to get feedback. She will revise the Template Risk Assessment whenever the relevant government guidance is updated, so please check this page regularly.

Under 18s

Supervised sporting activities (indoors or outdoors) for under-18s are exempt from the gathering rules in all tiers, providing a risk assessment has been carried out. These activities should follow the guidance for ‘out of school settings’.

Outdoor practices

The weather may not be inviting, but this is the safest way to practise. This is reflected in the government guidance, which allows some form of organised outdoor sport and exercise classes to take place outdoors in all three tiers.

Tiers 1 & 2: people can practice with more than six people, but they must not socialise or mix in groups of more than six at any time.

The performing arts guidance now provides some information about how this should work in practice. It says that not mingling means that social distancing must always be maintained between groups. It allows “direction” to continue between groups during the activity and gives the examples of between a conductor and a group, and between actors and directors. Any other physical or social interaction is not allowed. This means that it is acceptable for someone to lead a practice with more than one group of six people, if the interaction is limited to necessary teaching and direction, and there is no socialising.

The same guidance also says that non-professionals should not take part in any activities that may result in social distancing being compromised. It recommends that, where practical, participants should be seated rather than standing to help maintain social distancing. Chairs should therefore be provided and positioned so that participants can use them when not dancing or taking part in any other physical activity.

Tier 3: you are not allowed to meet anybody you do not live with in most outdoor places. However, up to six people can meet outdoors in some public spaces, including parks, beaches, countryside accessible to the public, a public garden, grounds of a heritage site or castle, or as sports facility. If you have access to a suitable location that is included in this list, then up to six people can practice.

All tiers: wherever you are in England, practices must comply with the same basic requirements. The activity should be organised by a club, who should have assessed the risks before deciding whether to practise (see note information above about risk assessments). Everyone must comply with COVID-19 guidance, including social distancing. This includes during the activity – social distancing must be maintained during dancing and any other activity.

We strongly recommend that you read the Government Guidance on the Main Covid-19 page before deciding whether to practise. The guidance explains the controls that you need to put in place. You should also read the information below about singing and shouting.

Indoor practices

The risk of transmission is greater indoors, so practising indoors means more restrictions than outdoors, as explained below. Before deciding whether to practise, teams must carry out a risk assessment and, if it is safe to practice, comply with the government guidance.

Tiers 2 & 3: no-one can socialise or mix indoors with anyone not in their household. This makes practices impractical. Physical activity and exercise classes are permitted, but only if people do not mix with anyone they do not live with.

The guidance for community facilities (e.g. village halls, community centres) allows more than one household to be present, but there must be no interaction between households. Activities should not take place if there is a “significant likelihood” of households mixing or socialising, as it would be difficult to prevent mingling and therefore breaking the law.

Tier 1: the rest of this guidance on indoor practices therefore only covers areas in tier 1, where the rule of six applies.

Everyone should stay 2 metres apart from anyone not in their household; if this is not possible, they should stay more than 1 metre apart and take extra steps to stay safe, for instance wearing a face covering (see note below), maintaining good hand hygiene and making sure rooms are very well ventilated.

Practices with more than six people: organised indoor physical activity and exercise classes can take place in tier 1, but participants must be in separate groups of up to six people who do not mix with other groups.

The more people there are involved in a practice, the higher the risk of transmission. You need to be sure you can practise safely before holding practices with more than six people.

The performing arts guidance now provides some information about how this should work in practice. It says that groups not mingling means that social distancing must always be maintained between the groups. It allows “direction” to continue between groups during the activity, giving the examples of between a conductor and a group, and between actors and directors. Any other physical or social interaction is not allowed. This means that it is acceptable for someone to lead a practice with more than one group of six people, if the interaction is limited to necessary teaching and direction, and there is no socialising.

Venues: any business or organisation hosting a practice needs to comply with the applicable section of the government’s guidance. If you practise in a community facility (e.g. community centre, village hall, etc.), the managers have to comply with the relevant guidance, including carrying out a COVID-19 risk assessment and putting COVID-19 Secure guidelines in place.

Community facilities can have more than one group of six present in tier 1, but there must be no interaction between groups. Activities where it will be difficult to prevent mingling should not take palace in a community facility.

If your practice venue has reopened, then whoever manages it must tell you what they have done to minimise the risk of transmission and what you need to do while using their premises. The controls should cover all relevant issues, including social distancing, maximum capacities of the venue, safe access, vulnerable people, cleaning, hygiene and face coverings, use of toilets, ventilation, keeping records for NHS Test and Trace, etc. They should also give you a copy of their risk assessment.

You are responsible for managing the risks arising from your activities, e.g. dancing and playing music. You should base your risk assessment on the information from the venue, adding further controls as necessary to make your practices safe.

If your practice venue has not provided you with the necessary COVID-19 Secure guidelines and risk assessment, then it may not be possible for you to restart practices. We suggest you review the guidance for the type of venue and for the performing arts before deciding what to do.

Singing and shouting: if your practices include singing and/or shouting, you need to understand and follow the principles of safer singing. Singing and speaking loudly can produce 20 times the mass of aerosol as normal speaking.

You can reduce the risk of transmission by only singing or shouting in large ventilated spaces (or outdoors), limiting the number of people who sing and spacing singers at least 2m apart in all directions. Wearing a face covering when singing reduces the mass of aerosol expelled and it is therefore sensible for people to wear one when singing or shouting.

Face coverings: these are required for most indoor places and should be worn at indoor practices, unless individuals are exempt for health reasons, etc. The government guidance does allow people to remove them if they have a “reasonable excuse”. This includes if wearing one would negatively impact on the wearer’s ability to exercise or take part in a strenuous activity.

However, face coverings are mainly intended to protect others, not the wearer; a mask should be worn at all times when at an indoor practice, unless it does interfere with someone’s ability to dance. If that is the case, it should only be removed while dancing and should be worn at all other times.

Please remember that face coverings are not a replacement for social distancing and good hand hygiene.

If you still have queries that the above doesn’t answer … please email sallywearing@outlook.com