The Health Protection (Coronavirus) (International Travel) (Scotland) Regulations 2020

[F1 PART 2A S Pre-Departure Testing [F2 and testing following arrival in Scotland]

Textual Amendments

F1 Pt. 2A inserted (15.1.2021 at 4.00 a.m.) by The Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Pre-Departure Testing and Operator Liability) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 (S.S.I. 2021/20), regs. 1(2), 3(3) (with reg. 4)

F2 Words in Pt. 2A heading inserted (26.2.2021 at 4.00 a.m.) by The Health Protection (Coronavirus) (International Travel) (Managed Accommodation and Testing etc.) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2021 (S.S.I. 2021/107), regs. 1(2), 3(a) (with reg. 10)

Requirement to possess notification of negative test result S

5A.— (1) A person who arrives in Scotland having begun their journey outside the common travel area must possess on arrival valid notification of a negative result from a qualifying test taken by that person.

(2) A person [F3 described in paragraph (1)] who is travelling with a child aged 11 or over and for whom they have responsibility must, on their arrival in Scotland, possess valid notification of a negative result from a qualifying test taken by that child.

(3) A person who possesses valid notification of a negative result from a qualifying test must produce that notification, physically or digitally, if requested to do so by a constable or an immigration officer.

(4) The following are not required to comply with this regulation—

(a) a person who is a child (without prejudice to paragraph (2)),

(b) a person described in paragraph 2, 3, 4, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E, 7, 12, or 30 of schedule 2,

(c) a person described in paragraph 4(1) of schedule 2A.

(5) For the purposes of this regulation—

(a) a test is a qualifying test if it complies with paragraph 1 of schedule 2A,

(b) a notification of a negative result is valid if it includes the information specified in paragraph 2 of schedule 2A.

Textual Amendments

F3 Words in reg. 5A(2) inserted (22.1.2021 at 4.00 a.m.) by The Health Protection (Coronavirus) (International Travel, Public Health Information and Pre-Departure Testing) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2021 (S.S.I. 2021/34), regs. 1(2), 2(2) (with reg. 5(1))

Pre-Departure testing: offences and penalties S

5B.— (1) A person who contravenes a requirement in regulation 5A commits an offence.

(2) It is a defence to a charge of committing an offence under paragraph (1) to show that the person, in the circumstances, had a reasonable excuse.

(3) For the purposes of paragraph (2), reasonable excuses include, in particular where—

(a) a person was medically unfit to provide a sample for a qualifying test and possessed a document, in English or accompanied by a certified English translation, signed by a medical practitioner entitled to practise in the country or territory in which that practitioner was based, to that effect,

(b) it was not reasonably practicable for a person to obtain a qualifying test due to a disability,

(c) a person required medical treatment with such urgency that obtaining a qualifying test was not reasonably practicable,

(d) a person contracted coronavirus and required emergency medical treatment,

(e) a person was accompanying, in order to provide support, whether medical or otherwise, a person described in sub-paragraph (c) or (d) where it was not reasonably practicable for the accompanying person to obtain a qualifying test,

(f) a person began their journey to Scotland in a country or territory in which a qualifying test was not available to the public, with or without payment, or in which it was not reasonably practicable for a person to obtain a qualifying test due to a lack of reasonable access to a qualifying test or testing facility and it was not reasonably practicable for them to obtain a qualifying test in their last point of departure if this was different to where they began their journey,

(g) the time it has taken a person to travel from the country or territory where they began their journey to the country or territory of their last point of departure prior to arriving in Scotland meant that it was not reasonably practicable for them to meet the requirement in paragraph 1(c) of Schedule 2A, and it was not reasonably practicable for them to obtain a qualifying test in their last point of departure.

(4) A person does not commit an offence where they contravene a requirement in regulation 5A if they reasonably believed at the time of the contravention that the notification of a negative result was valid and from a qualifying test.

(5) A person who commits an offence under this regulation is liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.

[F4 Testing following arrival in Scotland: general S

5C.— (1) Regulations 5D to 5K apply to a person to whom—

(a) regulation 6(2) (requirement to stay in specified premises) or 6B(2) (requirement to stay in managed accommodation) applies, or

(b) subject to regulation 5K (exclusion of certain diplomatic etc. personnel), the provisions mentioned in paragraph (a) do not apply only by virtue of any of the following provisions of schedule 2—

(i) paragraph 14(1)(c) (persons returning to facilitate diplomatic missions etc.),

(ii) paragraphs 18 to 28 (essential infrastructure etc. personnel),

(iii) paragraphs 31 to 34 (medical etc. personnel),

(iv) 35 to 36 (telecoms etc. personnel).

(2) For the purposes of regulations 5D to 5J—

(a) “day 2 test” means a test provided in a package with a day 8 test which complies with regulation 5F(7) and is undertaken in accordance with regulation 5F(2)(a),

(b) “day 8 test” means a test provided in a package with a day 2 test which complies with regulation 5F(7) and is undertaken in accordance with regulation 5F(2)(b),

(c) “testing package” means a booking for a day 2 test and a day 8 test,

(d) “test provider” means a public provider who provides a test in accordance with regulation 5F(7),

(e) “P” means a person to whom regulations 5D to 5J apply by virtue of paragraph 1,

(f) “relevant self-isolation provisions” means—

(i) in relation to those required to comply with regulation 6(2), regulation 6,

(ii) in relation to those required to comply with regulation 6B(2), regulation 6B.

Textual Amendments

F4 Regs. 5C-5K inserted (15.2.2021 at 4.00 a.m.) by The Health Protection (Coronavirus) (International Travel) (Managed Accommodation and Testing) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 (S.S.I. 2021/74), regs. 1(2), 5 (with reg. 17)

Testing following arrival in Scotland: requirement to book and pay for tests S

5D.— (1) Where P is an adult, P must on their arrival in Scotland possess a testing package—

(a) for themselves, and

(b) for any child aged 11 or older with whom they are travelling and for whom they have responsibility.

(2) Where P is an adult who arrives in Scotland without possessing a testing package required under paragraph (1), P must obtain such a testing package as soon as is practicable.

(3) Where P is a child aged 11 or older and who is unaccompanied by an adult who has responsibility for P, an adult with responsibility for P must obtain a testing package as soon as is practicable after P arrives in Scotland.

(4) A person who possesses a testing package must provide evidence of it if requested by an immigration officer.

Textual Amendments

F4 Regs. 5C-5K inserted (15.2.2021 at 4.00 a.m.) by The Health Protection (Coronavirus) (International Travel) (Managed Accommodation and Testing) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 (S.S.I. 2021/74), regs. 1(2), 5 (with reg. 17)

Testing following arrival in Scotland: obligation to provide information S

5E.— (1) Subject to paragraph (2), at the time the testing package is booked, P must notify the test provider that P is required to undertake [F5 a day 2 test and a day 8 test] under these Regulations, and provide the test provider with—

(a) their full name,

(b) their sex,

(c) their date of birth,

(d) their NHS number (if known and applicable),

(e) their ethnicity,

(f) the date of their arrival in the United Kingdom,

(g) their coach number, flight number or vessel name (as appropriate),

(h) the date on which they last departed from or transited through a non-exempt country or territory,

(i) the country or territory they were travelling from when they arrived in the United Kingdom, and any country or territory they transited through as part of that journey,

(j) their email address,

(k) their telephone number,

(l) their passport number, or travel document reference number (as appropriate),

(m) their home address, and—

(i) where P is a person to whom regulation 6(2) applies, the address or addresses of the specified premises in accordance with regulation 6 (if different from their home address), or

(ii) where P is a person to whom regulation 6B(2) applies, the address of the accommodation designated for the purposes of regulation 6A.

(2) Where P is a child, or a person with a disability who is unable for that reason to provide the notification and information set out or referred to in paragraph (1) to the test provider—

(a) the notification and information set out or referred to in paragraph (1), other than the information set out in paragraph (1)(j) and (k), must be provided to the test provider on P’s behalf by another person (“X”), and

(b) either the information set out in paragraph (1)(j) and (k) must be provided by X to the test provider or, where appropriate, X must provide their own telephone number and email address to the test provider.

(3) At the time the testing package is booked the test provider must give a test reference number to P and, where appropriate, also give that test reference number to X.

Textual Amendments

F4 Regs. 5C-5K inserted (15.2.2021 at 4.00 a.m.) by The Health Protection (Coronavirus) (International Travel) (Managed Accommodation and Testing) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 (S.S.I. 2021/74), regs. 1(2), 5 (with reg. 17)

F5 Words in reg. 5E(1) substituted (26.2.2021 at 4.00 a.m.) by The Health Protection (Coronavirus) (International Travel) (Managed Accommodation and Testing etc.) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2021 (S.S.I. 2021/107), regs. 1(2), 3(b) (with reg. 10)

Testing following arrival in Scotland: requirement to undertake tests S

5F.— (1) P must undertake the tests specified in paragraph (2) in accordance with this regulation.

(2) The tests specified in this paragraph are—

(a) a day 2 test undertaken no later than the end of the 2nd day after the day on which P arrived in Scotland,

(b) a day 8 test undertaken no earlier than the end of the 7th day after the day on which P arrived in Scotland.

(3) Where P is a child, any person who has responsibility for P must, so far as reasonably practicable and subject to paragraph (4), ensure that P undertakes a day 2 test and a day 8 test.

(4) Where P’s day 2 test generates a positive result, P is not required to undertake a day 8 test.

(5) Where P does not undertake a test as required by this regulation by reason of a reasonable excuse (see regulation 5J(3)), P must, as soon as practicable after the matters giving rise to the reasonable excuse no longer pertain, undertake a replacement test complying with the requirements that apply to the test that was missed.

(6) Where a replacement test is undertaken instead of—

(a) a day 2 test, P is to be treated as if they had undertaken a day 2 test in accordance with this regulation,

(b) a day 8 test, P is to be treated as if they had undertaken a day 8 test in accordance with this regulation.

(7) The requirements of this regulation are that—

(a) the test is provided by a public provider,

(b) it is a semi-quantitative test for the detection of coronavirus which targets a minimum of two distinguishable SARS-CoV-2 genes other than the S gene and performance reference controls.

(8) In this regulation, “public provider” means a test provider who provides or administers a test under the National Health Service Act 2006, the National Health Services (Wales) Act 2006, the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978 or the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972.

Textual Amendments

F4 Regs. 5C-5K inserted (15.2.2021 at 4.00 a.m.) by The Health Protection (Coronavirus) (International Travel) (Managed Accommodation and Testing) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 (S.S.I. 2021/74), regs. 1(2), 5 (with reg. 17)

Testing following arrival in Scotland: requirement to self-isolate on failure to undertake a test S

5G.— (1) This regulation applies where—

(a) either—

(i) P fails to undertake a day 2 test, or

(ii) P’s day 2 test generates a negative or inconclusive result, and

(b) P fails to undertake a day 8 test.

(2) Where P is subject to the provisions of regulation 6(2), P must remain in the specified premises under regulation 6 until the end of the 14th day after the day on which they arrived in Scotland.

(3) Where P is subject to the provisions of regulation 6B(2), P must remain in the designated accommodation under regulation 6B until the end of the 14th day after the day on which they arrived in Scotland.

Textual Amendments

F4 Regs. 5C-5K inserted (15.2.2021 at 4.00 a.m.) by The Health Protection (Coronavirus) (International Travel) (Managed Accommodation and Testing) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 (S.S.I. 2021/74), regs. 1(2), 5 (with reg. 17)

Testing following arrival in Scotland: consequences of test results S

5H.— (1) Where a test undertaken by P in accordance with regulation 5F(1) or (3) generates a positive result—

(a) regulation 9(6)(a) or, as the case may be, regulation 9(7)(a) (leaving specified premises or designated accommodation to travel in order to leave Scotland [F6 or the common travel area]) do not apply,

(b) P and, subject to paragraph (2), any person who is sharing specified premises or designated accommodation with P must continue to remain in the specified premises or designated accommodation as the case by be, in accordance with regulation 6 or 6B (as the case may be) until the end of the 10th day after the day P undertook the test.

(2) Where a person (“B”) F7 ... is sharing specified premises or designated accommodation with P, the requirement to remain in such premises or accommodation under paragraph (1)(b) does not apply to B where—

(a) the test referred to in sub-paragraph (1) is P’s day 8 test, and

(b) B undertook a day 2 test that generated a positive result.

(3) Where P’s day 2 test and day 8 test both generate a negative result, P must remain in the specified premises or designated accommodation (as the case may be) in accordance with the relevant self-isolation provisions until the later of—

(a) the date specified in regulation 6(2)(a) or regulation 6B(2)(a) (as the case may be), or

(b) the day on which P receives the result of their day 8 test.

(4) Where a test undertaken by P generates an inconclusive result, P must remain in the specified premises or designated accommodation (as the case may be) in accordance with the relevant self-isolation provisions—

(a) until the end of the 10th day after the day P undertook the test,

(b) where P undertakes a test to which paragraph (6) applies and the test generates a negative result, the later of—

(i) the end of the period of 10 days beginning with the day after P’s arrival in Scotland,

(ii) the day on which P receives the negative result, or

(c) where P undertakes a test to which paragraph (6) applies and the test generates a positive result, until the end of the 10th day after the day P undertook the test.

(5) Where paragraph (4)(c) applies, P is not required to undertake a day 8 test in accordance with regulation 5F(1) or (3).

(6) This paragraph applies to—

(a) a day 8 test,

(b) a replacement test—

(i) complying with the requirements for a day 8 test specified other than the requirement that the test be administered or provided to P no earlier than the beginning of the 7th day after the day on which P arrived in Scotland,

(ii) undertaken in the circumstances specified in regulation 5F, and

(iii) undertaken during the period in paragraph (4)(a).

Textual Amendments

F4 Regs. 5C-5K inserted (15.2.2021 at 4.00 a.m.) by The Health Protection (Coronavirus) (International Travel) (Managed Accommodation and Testing) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 (S.S.I. 2021/74), regs. 1(2), 5 (with reg. 17)

F6 Words in reg. 5H(1)(a) inserted (26.2.2021 at 4.00 a.m.) by The Health Protection (Coronavirus) (International Travel) (Managed Accommodation and Testing etc.) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2021 (S.S.I. 2021/107), regs. 1(2), 3(c) (with reg. 10)

F7 Word in reg. 5H(2) omitted (26.2.2021 at 4.00 a.m.) by virtue of The Health Protection (Coronavirus) (International Travel) (Managed Accommodation and Testing etc.) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2021 (S.S.I. 2021/107), regs. 1(2), 3(d) (with reg. 10)

Testing following arrival in Scotland: charge for day testing packages S

5I.— (1) The Scottish Ministers or a person designated by the Scottish Ministers may impose a charge in respect of a testing package provided by a test provider in accordance with regulation 5F(7).

(2) The Scottish Ministers—

(a) must publish details of the charges in such manner as the Scottish Ministers consider appropriate,

(b) may recover any sum owed by a person pursuant to such a charge as a debt.

Textual Amendments

F4 Regs. 5C-5K inserted (15.2.2021 at 4.00 a.m.) by The Health Protection (Coronavirus) (International Travel) (Managed Accommodation and Testing) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 (S.S.I. 2021/74), regs. 1(2), 5 (with reg. 17)

Testing following arrival in Scotland: offences and penalties S

5J.— (1) It is an offence to contravene a requirement, without a reasonable excuse, in—

(a) regulation 5D,

(b) regulation 5E(1) and (2),

(c) regulation 5F(1) [F8 or (3)].

(2) Reasonable excuses for contravening regulation 5D include, in particular, where—

(a) it was not reasonably practicable for a person to book a test due to a disability,

(b) a person reasonably considered before arriving in Scotland that it would not be reasonably practicable for the person (or, as the case may be, the child for whom the person has responsibility) to provide a sample for a test in accordance with regulation 5F due to a disability,

(c) a person required medical treatment with such urgency that booking a test was not reasonably practicable,

(d) a person was accompanying, in order to provide support, whether medical or otherwise, a person described in paragraph (a) or (c) where it was not reasonably practicable for the accompanying person to book a test,

(e) a person began their journey to Scotland in a country or territory in which the person did not have reasonable access to the facilities or services required to book a test, with or without payment, and such facilities or services were not reasonably accessible in their last point of departure if this was different to where they began their journey.

(3) Reasonable excuses for contravening regulation 5F(1) or (3) include, in particular, where—

(a) it is not reasonably practicable for P to undertake a test due to a disability,

(b) P requires medical treatment with such urgency that undertaking a test is not reasonably practicable,

(c) a test is cancelled for reasons beyond P’s control,

(d) P has left Scotland in accordance with [F9 regulation 9(6)(a)], or left the common travel area in accordance with regulation 9(7)(a).

(4) A person who commits an offence under paragraph (1) is liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.

Textual Amendments

F4 Regs. 5C-5K inserted (15.2.2021 at 4.00 a.m.) by The Health Protection (Coronavirus) (International Travel) (Managed Accommodation and Testing) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 (S.S.I. 2021/74), regs. 1(2), 5 (with reg. 17)

F8 Words in reg. 5J(1)(c) inserted (26.2.2021 at 4.00 a.m.) by The Health Protection (Coronavirus) (International Travel) (Managed Accommodation and Testing etc.) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2021 (S.S.I. 2021/107), regs. 1(2), 3(e) (with reg. 10)

F9 Words in reg. 5J(3)(d) substituted (26.2.2021 at 4.00 a.m.) by The Health Protection (Coronavirus) (International Travel) (Managed Accommodation and Testing etc.) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2021 (S.S.I. 2021/107), regs. 1(2), 3(f) (with reg. 10)

Exclusion of certain diplomatic etc. personnel S

5K.— (1) Regulations 5D to 5J do not apply where P is—

(a) a person described in paragraph 1(1)(a) to (h) or (k) of schedule 2 or a member of the family forming part of their household,

(b) a person described in paragraph 1(1)(i) or (j) of schedule 2 where the conditions in paragraph (2) are met,

(c) a member of the family forming part of the household of a person to whom sub-paragraph (b) applies, where—

(i) the conditions in paragraph (2) are met in relation to the person to whom sub-paragraph (b) applies,

(ii) the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has been notified of P’s arrival, and

(iii) the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has confirmed that P is not required to comply with regulations 5D to 5J.

(2) The conditions specified in this paragraph are that, prior to P’s departure to the United Kingdom—

(a) the relevant head of the mission, consular post, or office representing a foreign territory in the United Kingdom, or a Governor of a British overseas territory (as the case may be), or a person acting on their authority, confirms in writing to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office that P is required to undertake work in the United Kingdom which is essential to the foreign territory represented by the mission or consular post, the foreign territory represented by the office or the British overseas territory, and

(b) the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has then confirmed in writing to the person giving the confirmation referred to in sub-paragraph (a) that—

(i) it has received that confirmation, and

(ii) P is travelling to the United Kingdom to conduct official business with the United Kingdom and is not required to comply with regulations 5D to 5J.

(3) Where a word or expression is defined for the purposes of schedule 2 and is used in this regulation, the same definition applies for the purposes of this regulation.]]

Textual Amendments

F4 Regs. 5C-5K inserted (15.2.2021 at 4.00 a.m.) by The Health Protection (Coronavirus) (International Travel) (Managed Accommodation and Testing) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 (S.S.I. 2021/74), regs. 1(2), 5 (with reg. 17)