The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Public Health Information for Passengers Travelling to England) (Amendment) Regulations 2020

Statutory Instruments

2020 No. 1090

Public Health, England

Transport

The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Public Health Information for Passengers Travelling to England) (Amendment) Regulations 2020

Made

7th October 2020

Laid before Parliament

8th October 2020

Coming into force

30th October 2020

The Secretary of State makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 45B(1)(a) and (2)(e) and (g), 45F(2) and 45P(2) of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984(1).

Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Public Health Information for Passengers Travelling to England) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 and come into force on 30th October 2020.

Amendment of Regulations

2.—(1) The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Public Health Information for Passengers Travelling to England) Regulations 2020(2) are amended as follows.

(2) In regulation 3—

(a) in paragraph (1), for “required information in the required manner” substitute “information required by regulation 4 and in the manner required by that regulation”;

(b) after paragraph (2)(a), insert—

“(aa) where, at least 48 hours prior to the scheduled departure time of the relevant service, a booking was made for the passenger to travel on it, between 24 and 48 hours prior to the scheduled departure time of that service;”;

(c) in paragraph (3), for “Paragraph (2)(a) applies” substitute “Paragraphs (2)(a) and (2)(aa) apply”;

(d) after paragraph (5), insert—

“(5A) If another person (A) made the booking on behalf of the passenger (whether or not A is also a passenger on the relevant service), the information requirement is to be treated as complied with, as regards the time set out in paragraph (2)(aa), if the required information was provided to A in the required manner between 24 and 48 hours prior to the scheduled departure time of the relevant service, along with a written request that A provide that information to the passenger unless A considers that, by virtue of age or mental capacity, the passenger is unlikely to be capable of understanding it.”;

(e) in paragraph (9), after “(2)(a)” insert “, (aa)”;

(f) in paragraph (10), omit the entries for “the required information” and “the required manner”.

(3) For regulation 4, substitute—

“4.— (1) For the purposes of regulation 3(2)(a), the required information—

(a) in the case of online bookings—

(i) must be displayed prominently on an operator’s website or mobile application,

(ii) is the information specified in Part 1 of the Schedule and a hyperlink to each of the relevant websites,

(b) in the case of telephone bookings—

(i) must be provided orally,

(ii) is the information specified in Part 1 of the Schedule,

(c) in the case of in-person bookings—

(i) must be provided orally or in writing,

(ii) where provided orally, is the information specified in Part 1 of the Schedule,

(iii) where provided in writing, is a written notice which informs passengers of the requirements to provide information and to self-isolate in regulations 3 and 4 of the Health Protection (Coronavirus, International Travel) (England) Regulations 2020(3) (“the International Travel Regulations”).

(2) For the purposes of regulation 3(2)(aa), the required information—

(a) must be provided by text message, push notification, email or orally,

(b) where provided by text message or push notification, is text which—

(i) informs passengers of the requirements to provide information in regulation 3 of the International Travel Regulations and that penalties apply for failure to comply with those requirements,

(ii) includes a hyperlink to https://www.gov.uk/provide-journey-contact-details-before-travel-uk, and

(iii) if the relevant service is one on which passengers are allocated seat numbers, advises passengers to provide their seat number on the Passenger Locator Form,

(c) where provided orally, is the information specified in Part 1 of the Schedule,

(d) where provided by email, is the information specified in Part 1 of the Schedule and a hyperlink to each of the relevant websites.

(3) For the purposes of regulation 3(2)(b)—

(a) in relation to digital check-in, the required information—

(i) must be displayed prominently on an operator’s website or mobile application,

(ii) must be provided before a boarding card is issued,

(iii) is the information specified in Part 1 of the Schedule and a hyperlink to each of the relevant websites,

(b) in relation to in-person check-in, the required information—

(i) must be provided orally or in writing,

(ii) where provided orally, is the information specified in Part 1 of the Schedule,

(iii) where provided in writing, is a written notice which informs passengers of the requirements to provide information and to self-isolate in regulations 3 and 4 of the International Travel Regulations.

(4) For the purposes of regulation 3(2)(c), the required information—

(a) must be provided orally before passengers disembark in England,

(b) must be provided in English and an officially recognised language of the country of departure if English is not such a language,

(c) is the information specified in Part 2 of the Schedule.

(5) In this regulation—

“Passenger Locator Form” has the meaning given in regulation 2 of the International Travel Regulations;

“the relevant websites” means—

(a)

for the purposes of paragraph (1)(a)(ii)—

(i)

https://www.gov.uk/provide-journey-contact-details-before-travel-uk,

(ii)

https://www.gov.uk/uk-border-control,

(b)

for the purposes of paragraphs (2)(d) and (3)(a)(iii)—

(i)

https://www.gov.uk/provide-journey-contact-details-before-travel-uk,

(ii)

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-travel-corridors,

(iii)

https://www.gov.uk/uk-border-control.”.

(4) At the end of the Regulations, insert—

Regulation 4

“SCHEDULE

PART 1

The specified information is—

“ESSENTIAL INFORMATION TO ENTER THE UK

The United Kingdom is taking steps to help stop the spread of COVID-19.

1) To protect your health and others’, everyone must complete an online Passenger Locator Form before arrival in the United Kingdom.

2) You may be required to self-isolate for 14 days on arrival. Check the exempt countries list immediately before you travel as this list can change at short notice.

3) It is a legal requirement that you wear a face covering on public transport in the UK.

Failure to comply with the above measures is a criminal offence and you could be fined. Please visit www.gov.uk/uk-border-control for detailed public health advice and requirements for entering the UK.”

PART 2

The specified information is—

“The following is a public health message on behalf of the UK’s public health agencies.

Before entering the UK, you must complete a Passenger Locator Form online, regardless of where you are arriving from. You must also self-isolate for the first 14 days after you arrive, unless you are in an exempt category. This is to protect yourself and others.

Visit gov.uk for more information.

The symptoms of coronavirus are a new continuous cough, a high temperature or a loss of, or change in, normal sense of taste or smell. If you experience any of these symptoms, however mild, you are advised to make yourself known to the crew.

Simple measures you can take to help protect yourself and family are:

Wash your hands

Avoid touching your face with your hands

Catch coughs and sneezes in a tissue and dispose of it immediately.”.”.

Transitional provision

3.  In relation to any booking made before 30th October 2020, the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Public Health Information for Passengers Travelling to England) Regulations 2020 apply as if the amendments made by this instrument had not been made.

Grant Shapps

Secretary of State

Department for Transport

7th October 2020

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Public Health Information for Passengers Travelling to England) Regulations 2020 (“the principal Regulations”) impose requirements on persons operating commercial transport services for passengers travelling to England by sea, air or rail from outside the common travel area (“operators”).

These Regulations amend the principal Regulations to—

(a) require operators of relevant services to provide the information specified in the principal Regulations at an additional stage of the “passenger journey”, namely 24 to 48 hours before the relevant service is scheduled to depart, and

(b) specify, in more detail, the information to be provided and the manner in which it must be provided by an operator in order to comply with regulation 3(1) of the principal Regulations.

A full impact assessment has not been completed due to the urgent nature of this instrument. An Explanatory Memorandum has been published alongside this instrument at www.legislation.gov.uk.

(1)

1984 c. 22. Part 2A was inserted by section 129 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (c. 14).

(2)

S.I. 2020/567.

(3)

S.I. 2020/568; relevant amending instruments are S.I. 2020/691, 2020/813, 2020/913, 2020/1039, 2020/1070.