Thread by @AdamWagner1

🚨Changes to lockdown and face covering regulations coming into force this Monday 8th just published

The Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Wearing of Face Coverings in a Relevant Place and Restrictions: All Tiers) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2021

legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2021/247/…

Brief explanatory note


First important change - to the face covering regulations.

Basically trying to prevent face covering rules being “exercised so as to prevent a voter who is otherwise entitled to vote… from doing so”. What does that mean, exactly?

Sounds pretty circular to me.


Second change:

This is welcome. Allowing political campaigning for “election purposes” as a reason to be outside home

“campaigning” means undertaking activities for election purposes or for referendum purposes, and “campaigner” means a person who undertakes such activities;”

Third big change:

“open air recreation” allowed again, as expected, with your household, linked household, linked childcare household or one other person not from your household.

So picnics, bird watching, relaxing on a bench for no other reason than it is nice all back.

What does this cheeky little line mean?

It means that no account is to be taken of children under 5 or a carer.

So a parent with two kids under 5 can meet another parent with 2 kids under 5 for a picnic

A few minor changes to Schedule 3A (the Tier 4 rules)

You can also gather in sculpture parks and allotments - hooray?

You can now use supervised activities for children for an additional reason (still narrow)

As I suggested would happen students can move for the Easter holidays

*NON COMMERCIAL BREAK*

I explain the Coronavirus regulations here for free but if you want to say thanks please consider giving a few £ to my @LawCentres fundraiser

£290 off the target!

justgiving.com/fundraising/ad…

Fourth big change: travel declarations

Anyone leaving United Kingdom (not just England) must have with them a completed form recording amongst other things “reason P is leaving or outside the place where P is living”

This is to ensure people have a reasonable excuse to travel

You also have to fill in forms for children and a person who lacks mental capacity if you are responsible for them

And here’s the kicker - if you don’t fill in the form a “relevant person” can direct you to do it and if you still don’t, or “intentionally or recklessly provide false or misleading information” that is a criminal offence

£200 fixed penalty notices available too

A relevant person is
- a constable,
- police community support officer,
- a person designated by a local authority for the purposes of this regulation, or
- a person designated by the Secretary of State for the purposes of this regulation.
legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/1374…

These are the people exempt from filling in a travel declaration - same or very similar to the list in the international travel regulations (don’t know why these rules are in the All Tiers regulations but there you go)

I think that's everything.

Prob 2 most important changes are (a) open air recreation permitted and,
(b) travel declarations which makes it easier to enforce the indirect international travel ban which arises from the ban on being outside the home without a reasonable excuse

My COVID-19 regulations table is now updated - up to 69 sets of regulations docs.google.com/document/d/1ne…