Eat Out to Help Out

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{{Further|COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom|Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom}}

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a significant economic impact, especially in the hospitality sector, due to a decline in tourism and leisure activities. Many sectors were ordered to close and the public to stay at home to reduce the spread of COVID-19 during lockdowns. Changes in consumer behaviour during the pandemic also resulted in the hospitality sector continuing to suffer losses after lockdowns were lifted. The Eat Out to Help Out scheme was designed to increase demand in the hospitality industry and encourage spending consumer behaviours.{{sfn|Fetzer|2021}}

The scheme was announced by Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on 8 July 2020 as part of the British government's Plan for Jobs strategy.{{sfn|Hutton|2020}}{{Cite web|title=Chancellor's Plan for Jobs to help the UK's recovery|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/rishis-plan-for-jobs-will-help-britain-bounce-back|access-date=2022-01-12|website=GOV.UK|language=en}} £2 million was spent on focus groups and polling to promote the scheme.{{cite news |last1=Crerar |first1=Pippa |title=Rishi Sunak spent £2m on focus groups for eat out to help out scheme |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/apr/11/rishi-sunak-spent-millions-focus-groups-eat-out-to-help-out-scheme |work=The Guardian |date=11 April 2024}} Patrick Vallance (the Chief Scientific Adviser) and Chris Whitty (the Chief Medical Adviser) were not informed of the scheme.{{cite news |last1=Walker |first1=Peter |title=Covid inquiry: Johnson surprised 'eat out to help out' not cleared by scientists |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/dec/07/covid-inquiry-johnson-surprised-eat-out-to-help-out-not-cleared-by-scientists |access-date=22 June 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=7 December 2023}} Vallance's diary entries from the time say that Sunak said "it’s all about handling the scientists, not handling the virus", not realising Whitty was still in the room.{{cite news |title=Scientists not consulted on Eat Out to Help Out - Sir Patrick Vallance |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-67479548 |work=BBC News |date=20 November 2023}}

The scheme involved the government subsidising food and non-alcoholic drinks at participating cafes, pubs, and restaurants, where the food and drinks were consumed on the premises. The subsidy was for 50% of the order, up to £10 per person (per order). The offer was available from 3 to 31 August, from Monday to Wednesday each week.{{sfn|Fetzer|2021}}{{sfn|González-Pampillón|Nunez-Chaim|Ziegler|2021}} There were no limits on how many times an individual could use the discount.{{sfn|Hutton|2020}}

The scheme led to a significant increase in restaurant visits during August, which were greater than the visits during the corresponding period a year prior (in August 2019).{{sfn|Fetzer|2021}} Participation in recreational activities was also increased by 5–6% on the days the scheme was active.{{sfn|González-Pampillón|Nunez-Chaim|Ziegler|2021}} Staff recruitment in the food service industry–measured by job postings–had increased by 7% to 14%, an increase not detected in other industries.{{sfn|González-Pampillón|Nunez-Chaim|Ziegler|2021}}

Regions where the scheme was utilised more frequently saw a rise in COVID-19 infections. After the scheme ended, infections in these regions had notably decreased. A 2021 academic paper suggested the scheme may have been responsible for "between 8–17% of all newly detected COVID-19 infections (and likely many more non-detected asymptomatic infections) in late summer".{{sfn|Fetzer|2021}} Two papers suggested that positive economic impacts were not sustained after the scheme had ended.{{sfn|Fetzer|2021}}{{sfn|González-Pampillón|Nunez-Chaim|Ziegler|2021}}

Further lockdowns were introduced later in 2020 after the scheme ended in response to an increase in COVID-19 infections, which forced many hospitality venues to close once again.{{sfn|Fetzer|2021}}

In an interview on The Andrew Marr Show in October 2020, Prime Minister Boris Johnson acknowledged the possibility that "Eat Out to Help Out" could have helped spread COVID-19.{{Cite web |last=Mills |first=Jen |date=2020-10-04 |title=Boris Johnson admits 'Eat Out to Help Out' could have helped spread Covid |url=https://metro.co.uk/2020/10/04/boris-johnson-admits-eat-out-to-help-out-could-have-helped-spread-covid-13370357/ |access-date=2023-03-04 |website=Metro |language=en}} The 2021 academic study said "EOHO scheme may have contributed to indirect economic and public health costs that vastly outstrip its short-term economic benefits".{{sfn|Fetzer|2021}}

John Edmunds of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, a member of the Sage committee of advisers during the pandemic described the scheme as "a spectacularly stupid idea and an obscene way to spend public money".{{Cite news |last1=McKie |first1=Robin |last2=Helm |first2=Toby |date=2023-06-03 |title=Sunak under fire as 'stupid' Eat Out to Help Out scheme to be focus of Covid inquiry |language=en-GB |work=The Observer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jun/03/sunak-under-fire-as-stupid-eat-out-to-help-out-scheme-to-be-focus-of-covid-inquiry |access-date=2023-06-03 |issn=0029-7712}} At the COVID-19 inquiry, Edmunds stated that he was still angry about the scheme and that while it did not cause the second wave of COVID-19, it "encourage[d] people to take an epidemiological risk".{{cite news |last1=Walker |first1=Peter |last2= Walker |title=Science adviser referred to Rishi Sunak as 'Dr Death', Covid inquiry hears |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/oct/19/science-adviser-referred-to-rishi-sunak-as-dr-death-covid-inquiry-hears |access-date=20 October 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=19 October 2023}}

• British government response to the COVID-19 pandemic

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• {{Cite journal|last=Fetzer|first=Thiemo|date=26 October 2021|title=Subsidising the spread of COVID-19: Evidence from the UK'S Eat-Out-to-Help-Out Scheme*|url=https://doi.org/10.1093/ej/ueab074|journal=The Economic Journal|volume=132 |issue=643 |pages=1200–1217 |doi=10.1093/ej/ueab074|issn=0013-0133|pmc=8574521}}
• {{Cite report|url=https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8978/CBP-8978.pdf|title=Eat Out to Help Out Scheme|last=Hutton|first=Georgina|date=22 December 2020|issue=House of Commons Library}}
• {{Cite report|date=February 2021|title=Recovering from the first Covid-19 lockdown: Economic impacts of the UK's Eat Out to Help out scheme|url=https://cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/download/cepcovid-19-018.pdf|issue=Centre for Economic Performance|last1=González-Pampillón|first1=Nicolás|last2=Nunez-Chaim|first2=Gonzalo|last3=Ziegler|first3=Katharina}}

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• [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-plan-for-jobs-documents/a-plan-for-jobs-2020 A Plan for Jobs 2020: Policy paper]

{{COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories}}{{Rishi Sunak}}

Category:2020 in British politics

Category:United Kingdom responses to the COVID-19 pandemic

Category:Hospitality industry in the United Kingdom

Category:Economic history of the United Kingdom

Category:Subsidies

Category:Chancellorship of Rishi Sunak