The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (All Tiers) (England) Regulations 2020

[F1 Exceptions: leaving home E+W

2.— (1) These are the exceptions referred to in paragraph 1.

Exception 1: leaving home necessary for certain purposes

(2) Exception 1 is that it is reasonably necessary for the person concerned (“P”) to leave or be outside the place where P is living (“P’s home”)—

(a) to buy goods or obtain services from any business or service listed in Part 3 of this Schedule, for—

(i) P or for those in the same household,

(ii) vulnerable persons, or

(iii) persons in the same household as a vulnerable person;

(b) to obtain money from or deposit money with any business listed in paragraph 17(k) or (l) of this Schedule;

(c) to take exercise outside—

(i) alone,

(ii) with—

(aa) one or more members of their household, their linked household, or

(bb) where exercise is being taken as part of providing informal childcare for a child aged 13 or under, one or more members of their linked childcare household, or

(iii) in a public outdoor place, with one other person who is not a member of their household, their linked household or their linked childcare household,

and sub-paragraph (3) applies in determining whether a person is complying with the limits in this sub-paragraph;

(d) to visit a public outdoor place for the purposes of open air recreation—

(i) alone,

(ii) with—

(aa) one or more members of their household, their linked household, or

(bb) where exercise is being taken as part of providing informal childcare for a child aged 13 or under, one or more members of their linked childcare household, or

(iii) with one other person who is not a member of their household or their linked household,

and sub-paragraph (3) applies in determining whether a person is complying with the limits in this sub-paragraph;

(e) to attend a place of worship;

(f) to undertake any of the following activities in connection with the purchase, sale, letting or rental of a residential property—

(i) visiting estate or letting agents, developer sales offices or show homes;

(ii) viewing residential properties to look for a property to buy or to rent;

(iii) preparing a residential property to move in;

(iv) moving house;

(v) visiting a residential property to undertake any activities required for the rental or sale of that property;

(g) to visit a member of a household which is a linked household in relation to P’s household;

(h) to collect food, drink or other goods which have been ordered from a business, or to access goods or services which are provided in any way permitted by paragraph 12 or 13; or

(i) to visit a waste disposal or recycling centre.

(3) For the purposes of determining whether a person is complying with the limits in—

(a) sub-paragraph (2)(c)(ii) and (d)(ii), no account is to be taken of any person who is present as a carer for a person with a disability who needs continuous care (a “carer”),

(b) sub-paragraph (2)(c)(iii) and (d)(iii), no account is to be taken of a carer or a child below the age of five,

provided that, in either case, there are no more than two people present in the capacity of carer.

(4) A place is a public outdoor place for the purposes of this paragraph if it is a public outdoor place other than a fairground or funfair and—

(a) no payment is required by any member of the public to access that place, or

(b) the place falls within one of the following categories—

(i) outdoor sportsgrounds or sports facilities,

(ii) botanical gardens,

(iii) gardens or grounds of a castle, stately home, historic house or other heritage site.

Exception 2: work, voluntary services, education and training etc

(5) Exception 2 is that it is reasonably necessary for P to leave or be outside P’s home—

(a) for the purposes of work or to provide voluntary or charitable services, where it is not reasonably possible for P to work, or to provide those services, from home;

(b) for a purpose of the type specified in paragraph 6(3) of this Schedule;

(c) to provide care or assistance, including relevant personal care within the meaning of paragraph 7(3B) of Schedule 4 to the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, to a vulnerable person;

(d) to provide emergency assistance to any person;

(e) to fulfil a legal obligation or to participate in legal proceedings;

(f) to access critical public services, including—

(i) social services;

(ii) services provided by the Department for Work and Pensions;

(iii) services provided to victims (including victims of crime);

(iv) asylum and immigration services and interviews;

(g) to access services provided by voluntary or charitable services, including food banks.

Exception 3: elite athletes

(6) Exception 3 is that P is an elite sportsperson, a coach of an elite sportsperson, or (in the case of an elite sportsperson who is under the age of 18), a parent of the elite sportsperson, and it is reasonably necessary for P to leave or be outside P’s home for the purposes of training or competition.

Exception 4: medical need etc

(7) Exception 4 is that it is reasonably necessary for P to leave or be outside P’s home—

(a) to seek medical assistance, including to take any medical tests, be vaccinated or access any of the services referred to in paragraph 17(o) of the Schedule;

(b) to donate blood or attend medical trials;

(c) to avoid injury or illness or to escape a risk of harm;

(d) to attend a person giving birth (“M”) at M’s request;

(e) to visit a person (“V”) receiving treatment in a hospital or staying in a hospice or care home, or to accompany V to a medical appointment and P is—

(i) a member of V’s household,

(ii) a close family member of V, or

(iii) a friend of V.

Exception 5: Support and respite

(8) Exception 5 is that it is reasonably necessary for P to leave or be outside P’s home—

(a) to attend a meeting of a support group which is permitted to meet under paragraph 6(7);

(b) for the following purposes—

(i) respite care being provided for a vulnerable person or a person with a disability, or

(ii) a short break being provided in respect of a looked after child (within the meaning of section 22 of the Children Act 1989).

Exception 6: death bed visit

(9) Exception 6 is that it is reasonably necessary for P to leave or be outside P’s home to visit a person (“D”) whom P reasonably believes is dying, and P is—

(a) a member of D’s household,

(b) a close family member of D, or

(c) a friend of D.

Exception 7: funerals etc

(10) Exception 7 is that it is reasonably necessary for P to leave or be outside P’s home—

(a) to attend a funeral,

(b) to attend a commemorative event celebrating the life of a person who has died, or

(c) to visit a burial ground or garden of remembrance, to pay respects to a member of P’s household, a family member or friend.

Exception 8: marriages and civil partnerships

(11) Exception 8 is that it is reasonably necessary for P to leave or be outside P’s home to attend a marriage ceremony, a civil partnership ceremony or an alternative wedding ceremony permitted under paragraph 6(11).

(12) For the purposes of this exception an “alternative wedding ceremony” is a ceremony based on a person’s faith or belief or lack of belief, to mark the union of two people, other than a ceremony conducted for a purpose mentioned in paragraph 6(13)(a)(i) or (ii).

Exception 9: children

(13) Exception 9 is that it is reasonably necessary for P to leave or be outside P’s home—

(a) for the purposes of arrangements for access to, and contact between, parents and a child where the child does not live in the same household as their parents or one of their parents;

(b) for the purposes of arrangements for contact between siblings where they do not live in the same household and one or more of them is—

(i) a child looked after by a local authority, within the meaning of section 22 of the Children Act 1989, or

(ii) a relevant child, within the meaning of section 23A of that Act;

(c) for the purposes of arrangements for prospective adopters (including their household) to meet a child or children who may be placed with the prospective adopters as provided for by an adoption placement plan drawn up in accordance with the Adoption Agencies Regulations 2005 (see regulation 35(2) of those Regulations);

(d) to access facilities for the activities described in paragraph 6(3) of this Schedule, or to accompany a child to those facilities where P is the parent or has parental responsibility for, or care of, the child in question;

(e) subject to sub-paragraph (14), for the purposes of—

(i) childcare provided by a person registered under Part 3 of the Childcare Act 2006;

(ii) supervised activities for children;

(f) for the purposes of informal childcare, for children aged 13 or under, provided by a member of a household to a member of their linked childcare household;

(g) for the purposes of placing children, or facilitating children being placed, in the care of another person by social services, whether on a temporary or permanent basis;

(h) for the purposes of attending a parent and child group permitted by paragraph 6(21).

(14) Sub-paragraph (13)(e) only applies where the childcare is reasonably necessary to enable a parent, or a person who has parental responsibility for, or care of, the child in question, to work, search for work or to undertake training or education.

Exception 10: animal welfare

(15) Exception 10 is that it is reasonably necessary for P to leave or be outside P’s home—

(a) to attend veterinary services to seek advice about the health and welfare of a pet or other animal owned or cared for by P, or for the treatment of such a pet or animal;

(b) to attend to the care of or exercise of a pet or other animal owned or cared for by P.

Exception 11: returning home

(16) Exception 11 is that it is reasonably necessary for P to be outside P’s home to enable P to return home from any place where P was on holiday immediately before this Schedule came into force.

Exception 12: prison and immigration detention visits

(17) Exception 12 is that it is reasonably necessary for P to leave or be outside P’s home to visit a person (“VP”) living in criminal justice accommodation and immigration detention accommodation, where P is—

(a) a close family member of VP, or

(b) a friend of VP.

Exception 13: voting

(18) Exception 13 is that it is reasonably necessary for P to leave or be outside P’s home for the purposes of voting, counting of votes or activities ancillary to voting or the counting of votes in an election or referendum which is held—

(a) in accordance with provision made by or under an Act, or

(b) in accordance with the laws or regulations of a country or territory outside the United Kingdom, but in respect of which arrangements are made by a consular post or diplomatic mission in the United Kingdom for persons eligible to vote in that election or referendum to vote in the United Kingdom.

Exception 14: permitted outdoor sports gathering

(19) Exception 14 is that it is reasonably necessary for P to leave or be outside P’s home for the purposes of taking part in an outdoor sports gathering for persons who have a disability, or are aged under 18 or were under 18 on 31st August 2020, are not elite sportspersons and are taking part in any sport or fitness related activity and—

(a) is organised by a business, charitable, benevolent or philanthropic institution or a public body,

(b) takes place in an outdoor place other than a private dwelling, and

(c) in respect of which the organiser or manager takes the required precautions.

(20) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (19) a person taking part in an outdoor sports gathering does not include a spectator or the parent of a child taking part in the gathering.

Exception 15: parent and child groups

(21) Exception 15 is that it is reasonably necessary for P to leave or be outside P’s home for the purposes of attending a parent and child group of a kind as described in paragraph 6(20) of this Schedule.

Exception 16: students and vacation households

(22) Subject to sub-paragraph (23), exception 16 is that it is reasonably necessary for P to leave or be outside P’s home to—

(a) move on one occasion from their student household before 8th February 2021 to one other household (“vacation household”) for the purposes of a vacation, or

(b) to return to their term time accommodation after the vacation.

(23) Sub-paragraph 22 only applies where P is a student who is undertaking a higher education course at the time this Schedule came into force.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Sch. 3A inserted (20.12.2020 at 7.00 a.m.) by The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (All Tiers and Obligations of Undertakings) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1611), regs. 1(2), 2(13)