Covid 19 - What you need to know - Lockdown 2 - The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) (No. 4) Regulations 2020
2020
Following the Prime Minister’s address to the nation on Halloween, regulations were published late on Tuesday outlining the terms of the proposed lockdown which is due to commence at midnight, Thursday 5th November.
The regulations will be debated in Parliament this afternoon (Wednesday 4th November) with an expectation that they will be adopted with the support of the Labour party.
Although the Regulations were only published yesterday evening, the Government updated their guidance to reflect the proposed lockdown on Saturday evening following the Prime Minister’s address and have been updated serval times since reflecting the rapid changing situation. The guidance can be found here.
The new regulations, the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) (No. 4) Regulations 2020, require once again large swathes of the Hospitality Industry to close.
Hospitality and Alcohol Sales
The full list of businesses required to close are set out in Part 1 and 2 of the Regulations’ schedule.
They include restaurants (including restaurants and dining rooms in hotels or members’ clubs), Cafes, Bars (including bars in hotels or members’ clubs), social clubs and public houses must all cease trading this evening until 2nd December. Following these restrictions, the current expectation voiced by the Government is that areas will return to assigned ‘Tiers’ (medium, high and very high) as appropriate.
Regulation 15
Regulation 15 requires restricted businesses to cease providing all food and drink for consumption on the premises, therefore it would appear that the cessation of alcohol sales is not sufficient to circumvent the requirement to close premises to customers.
“15(1) A person responsible for carrying on a restricted business, or providing a restricted service, must—
a. close any premises, or part of the premises, in which food or drink are provided for consumption on those premises, and
b. cease providing food or drink for consumption on its premises.
….
15(4) For the purposes of paragraph (1), except where paragraph (5) applies, references to food or drink being for consumption on premises, include a reference to consumption on an area adjacent to the premises of the restricted business or restricted service where seating is made available for its customers (whether or not by the business or the provider of the service) or which its customers habitually use for consumption of food or drink served by the business or service is to be treated as part of the premises of that business or service.”
Regulation 15 (as outlined above) is subject to some exemptions and the following activities are permitted:
- selling food or drink (but not alcohol) for consumption off the premises between the hours of 05:00 and 22:00;
- selling alcohol for consumption off the premises in the following manner:
- by making deliveries in response to orders received—
- through a website, or otherwise by on-line communication,
- by telephone, including orders by text message, or
- by post,
- a purchaser who collects food or drink that has been pre-ordered by a means mentioned above may not enter inside the premises to do so.
- a purchaser who collects the food or drink in a vehicle, and to whom the food or drink is passed, may not leave the vehicle.
- Food and non-alcoholic drink sales, for consumption off the premises, between 22:00 – 05:00 are restricted to orders witch are pre-ordered in the manner set out above. (i.e. remotely pre-ordered).
Bingo halls, casinos, betting shops and Adult gaming centres are required to close along with spas, nail and beauty salons, hair salons and barbers, tanning and massage parlours.
Non elite sport, both indoors and outdoors are required to close. Although there was some confusion yesterday regarding Golf and Tennis following statement by Michael Gove, no exemption appears in the Regulations for these activities.
Certain business are permitted to remain open and are listed in Part 3 of the Regulations’ schedule and include:
- Food retailers,
- off licences,
- pharmacies,
- banks,
- taxis,
- garden centres and
- a range of other businesses listed in Part 3.
Restrictions on movement
Regulation 5 contains the simple statement:
“no person may leave or be outside of the place where they are living without reasonable excuse”
Regulation 6 describe numerous (13) exceptions (reasonable excuses). The headings are:
- Leaving home necessary for certain purposes
- Work, voluntary services, education and training etc
- Elite athletes
- Medical need etc
- Support and respite
- Death bed visit
- Funerals etc
- Marriages and civil partnerships
- Children
- Animal welfare
- Returning home (from holiday)
- Prison visits
- Other visits (births and persons receiving treatment)
Restrictions on gatherings
Restrictions on gathering differ between those taking place indoors and outdoors.
Regulation 8 states, in respect of indoor gatherings:
“No person may participate in a gathering which -
a. consists of two or more people, and
b. takes place indoors (including indoors within a private dwelling).”
Regulation 9 covers ‘gatherings’ outdoors:
“9(1) No person may participate in a gathering which—
a. takes place in a public outdoor place and consists of more than two people, or
b. takes place in any other outdoor place (including any outdoor part of a private dwelling) and consists of two or more people.
9(2) In determining whether there is a gathering of two or more people, no account is to be taken of any person who is—
a. present in the gathering as a carer for a person with a disability who needs continuous care, provided that there are no more than two people present in that capacity, or
b. below the age of five.”
Again there are a number of exemptions (14) outlined in the Regulations.
Regulation 11 outline the exemptions, which mirror many of the exemption provided to movement in Regulation 6. The headings are:
- Same or linked households
- Gatherings necessary for certain purposes (including work etc)
- Legal obligations and proceedings
- Criminal justice accommodation
- Support groups
- Respite care
- Births and visiting persons receiving treatment etc
- Marriages and civil partnerships etc
- Visiting a dying person
- Funerals
- Commemorative event following a person’s death
- Elite Sports
- Children
- Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day.
Enforcement
The regulations allow a relevant person may take such action as is necessary to enforce any restrictions imposed by the Regulations.
Formal warnings, in the form of ‘Prohibition notices’ (reg 19), can be issued to those believed to be in breach of the Regulations. A ‘Direction’ can be given where a relevant person considers that a person is outside the place where they are living in contravention of regulation 5(1), the relevant person may direct that person to return to the place where they are living.
A contravention of a restriction, requirement, direction or prohibition notice or obstruction of an officer is a criminal offence punishable with an unlimited fine.
A system of fixed penalty notices are contained within the Regulations offering the person to whom it is issued the opportunity of discharging any liability to conviction for the offence by payment of a fixed penalty to an authority specified in the notice. If the fixed penalty notice is the first one issued to the person under a relevant enactment, the amount is:
- £100, if the amount is paid before the end of the period of 14 days following the date of the notice;
- otherwise, £200;
If the fixed penalty notice is not the first one issued to the person under a relevant enactment, the amount is—
- £400, if it is the second fixed penalty notice so issued;
- £800, if it is the third fixed penalty notice so issued;
- £1,600, if it is the fourth fixed penalty notice so issued;
- £3,200, if it is the fifth fixed penalty notice so issued;
- £6,400, if it is the sixth or any subsequent fixed penalty notice so issued.