The Event Supplier and Services Association (ESSA) has announced that it is making a Freedom of Information (FOI) request of the Government.

The request is part of an effort by ESSA to determine the reasoning behind recent Government decisions, not limited to the postponement of the so-called ‘go date’ for exhibitions and other large events on 1 October 2020 being abandoned.

ESSA says it is requesting information across 16 distinct areas.

All Party Parliamentary Group for Events (APPG) chair Theresa Villiers MP (pictured) asked DCMS in the House of Commons today, 10 December, whether serious consideration was being given to the event industry’s need for a Government-backed insurance scheme.

Delivering a keynote speech at the Major Events Summit today, 2 December, Oliver Dowden, the secretary of state for the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said he expected a return to normality for the events industry by Easter.

Dowden said that the Government’s Winter Plan that enables venues in Tier 1 and Tier 2 areas to host events with audiences was a “glint of light at the end of the tunnel”.