The complexities around Scottish, English and Welsh travel bans, explained
Anyone travelling from Greece to Scotland will have to go into a 14-day quarantine, the Scottish government has announced.
Ministers announced the policy shift on Tuesday September 1, due to a “significant rise” in cases of Covid-19 coming into Scotland from holidaymakers returning from Greece. It will come into effect from Thursday, September 3.
This comes as Wales began asking arrivals from Zante to go into a 14-day quarantine, due to a spike in Covid-19 cases on the popular party island. This is the first example of a UK nation imposing a regional travel quarantine, rather than a national one.
Greece remains on the ‘green list’ of countries that require no quarantine on return to England or Northern Ireland.
Responding to the moves from the Scottish and Welsh devolved governments, the Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: "We respect the devolved administrations in what they do, of course we here in Whitehall look very carefully at all the evidence, based on the scientific advice and we review the travel advice and the quarantine measures very carefully and regularly."
So how does the system work, exactly? What are the differences in quarantine policy between England and the devolved administrations? Are the fines the same? How are they being policed? What happens if you travel home from Greece to England or Northern Ireland, then go to Scotland or Wales? Today we delve into these questions.
How much difference is there, between the different quarantine policies?
Not much. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have almost identical travel corridors lists. You can see the main UK Government official page here, the Welsh one here, the Scottish one here, and the Northern Ireland list here.
The only exception, right now, is that Scotland has imposed a quarantine on all arrivals from Greece, and Wales has imposed a quarantine on all arrivals from the island of Zante.
Earlier in the pandemic, Scotland imposed an ongoing travel quarantine on arrivals from Spain, while the rest of the UK did not. This was due to concerns about the rate of infection in Spain. All home nations now impose a quarantine on arrivals from Spain.
Who is making these decisions?
The devolved Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland administrations have the power to impose travel restrictions independently of decisions made in Whitehall. In recent weeks, the UK Government has updated its travel corridor list following a briefing from the Joint Biosecurity Centre every Thursday.
How are passengers monitored, when arriving back in the UK?
The Government requires everyone to fill in a Passenger Locator Form before arriving back in the UK.
What are the fines?
In Scotland, you can be fined £60 for failing to present a Passenger Locator Form. This can be doubled for each subsequent offence, rising to a maximum of £480. If you fail to observe quarantine, the maximum fixed penalty notice is £480.
In Northern Ireland, you could be fined £60 if you refuse to present a Passenger Locator Form. The maximum penalty for leaving home while self-isolating, without reasonable excuse, is £1,000.
In England, the FCO says “You may be fined up to £100 if you refuse to provide your contact details, or more if you break this rule more than once.”
if you do not self-isolate, you can be fined up to £1,000. And if you do not provide an accurate contact detail declaration – or do not update your contact detail form in the instance where you need to move from the accommodation where you’re self-isolating to another place to continue self-isolating – you can be fined up to £3,200.
In Wales, the fine for failing to fill in a passenger locator form is up to £100. The fine for failing to self-isolate is £1,000. The fine for failing to update contact details is £1,920.
How are these being policed?
Border officials are in charge of checking Passenger Locator Forms, and issuing on-the-spot fines if passengers fail to do so.
Public Health England (PHE) contractors are then randomly contacting approximately 1,000 people a day and asking them a series of questions. Only if they suspect a breach will the police be contacted.
The Telegraph revealed that, since June, only three people have been issued police fines (£100 each) in England and Wales due to breaches of quarantine.
Can I land in England from Greece, then drive to Scotland without quarantine?
In Scotland, the Government website says: “If you have arrived from the Common Travel Area (the CTA includes Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man) and have spent 14 days or less in the CTA, you need to complete the passenger locator form and complete your self-isolation period of 14 days – unless you are from an exempt country or territory above.”
This suggests that anyone arriving into an English airport from Greece, who then plans to visit Scotland within 14 days of arrival, would have to update their passenger locator form and go into self isolation.
It is the same story in Wales. Their official stance is: “If you are arriving in Wales from within the UK (England, Scotland or Northern Ireland) and have not been outside the Common Travel Area (Ireland, Isle of Man or the Channel Islands) in the 14 days before entering Wales, you will not need to provide your journey or contact details or isolate.
“If you arrive from elsewhere in the UK and have been outside the Common Travel Area at any point in the 14 days you will be required to provide passenger information at the point of entry to the UK (and keep that information updated as required) and you may be required to isolate.”
In Northern Ireland, the policy is as follows: They say: “The regulations mean that you must self-isolate for 14 days if you return to Northern Ireland from a country outside the Common Travel Area (CTA) unless you are travelling from, or transiting through, a low to medium risk country that is exempt.”
