Matthew's Journal

I was hoping to write something about the new rules when they came out, but given that was about 23:38 last night, about 20 minutes before they came into force(!), I went to bed instead. Sorry...

The government is obviously a bit shy about this, as The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (No. 2) (England) (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulations 2020 don't state the time at which they were made.
Anyhow. This SI amends The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (No. 2) (England) Regulations 2020, which I wrote about when they were new. As I write, the legislation.gov.uk version of the Regulations hasn't been updated to reflect these latest changes, but they'll probably get there in the next day or two.

So, what has changed?

The main changes relate to regulation 5 on gatherings. Briefly, no gatherings of more than 6 people are allowed unless:

• all members of the same household (or two linked households) OR:
  
  • the gathering is at premises operated by business, charity (etc), or public body; or has been organised by a business, charity (etc), political or public body in a public outdoor space and the organiser has risk-assessed
    
  • everyone attends alone or in a "qualifying group" of less than 6 people or 1 household or two linked households
    
  • no-one joins a different group nor mingles with members of other qualifying groups
• OR it's one of the following exceptions...
  

The exceptions (paragraph 3 of regulation 5) are numerous:

• elite sports
  
• reasonably necessary for work, education, childcare, emergency assistance, avoiding injury illness or risk of harm, caring for a vulnerable person, access arrangements for children who don't live with one of their parents
  
• fulfilling a legal obligation
  
• support groups (organised by business, charity (etc.), or public body) for e.g. victims of crime, addicts, new parents, LGBTQ, carers, the bereaved
  
• risk-assessed weddings and receptions for up to 30 people (not in a private dwelling)
  
• significant event gatherings (significant milestones, coming-of-age, joining a religion, funerals and similar; NOT birthdays) for up to 30 people on business/charity/public body premises (or public outdoor space) where the manager has risk-assessed
  
• protests organised by business, charity (etc), public or political bodies where the organiser has risk-assessed
  
• participating in (not spectating) a sport or fitness-related gathering organised by business, charity (etc) or public body where the organiser (or facility manager) has risk-assessed
  
• criminal justice accommodation (prisons etc.)
  
• outdoor activities that require a licence (other than driving or selling booze) for organising or participating in or for the equipment, taking place outdoors where the organiser has risk-assessed (I think this is for e.g. shooting)
  
• giving birth, or attending at the request of the person giving birth
  

Where I use risk-assessed above, it's defined in paragraph 5G, but it's basically a health&safety risk assessment and taking all reasonable measures to prevent COVID-19.

The various local lockdowns (Leicester, Blackburn, Bolton, Manchester/Lancashire/W Yorks) are not relaxed.

Legal twitter thinks this is the first time mingling has appeared in the criminal law. These regulations bring the law and guidelines closer together; they don't have anything to say about social distancing within groups.

Of course, what hasn't changed is the government's continued abuse of emergency powers to pass legislation at the last minute without any form of scrutiny from parliament...

There is a school of thought that one should ignore the contradictory noises coming from the government, and concentrate simply on the rules. I don't think I'd go that far, but it's certainly useful to see what is allowed (or otherwise), and what has in fact changed.

As of tomorrow, The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2020 [PDF] come into force. They amend The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020 (that link currently shows the the rules before the changes I'm talking about here, but I think will reflect the changes from tomorrow when they come into force).

Eliding some stuff that I think isn't of general interest (about hotels, allowing collection from premises, recycling centres, and increased fines), the key changes are:

• you can now take exercise with one person who is not a member of your household
  
• you can be in a public open space (rec ground, public gardens, access land, open country) with members of your household or one person who isn't, for recreational purposes to promote physical, mental, or emotional well-being
  
• a bunch of stuff around moving/buying/renting houses (visiting show homes, agencies, preparing rental properties, ...)
  
• you can use outdoor sports courts
  
• you can visit garden centres
  

Note that while the guidelines talk about 2m social distancing with non-household people (and it's epidemiologically safest), the law doesn't require it for the outdoor activities listed above.