Welsh Government publish changes to Coronavirus Regulations to restrict travel from named areas

The formal Regulations naming parts of England, Scotland and all of Northern Ireland as part of travel restrictions to Wales have now been published, ahead of the move taking force from 6pm.

The Welsh Government has explained the move, “To keep Wales safe, the Welsh Government is therefore amending the Regulations to make it clear that people living in areas with a high-prevalence of coronavirus in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland would not be able to travel to parts of Wales where there is a low prevalence.”

“It is vital that we keep communities which have low levels of infection as safe as possible and this sensible and necessary restriction will help prevent the virus moving from more urban, highly populated areas to more sparsely populated areas.”

The new measures are focused on areas of low prevalence in Wales, with Welsh Government saying current ‘local lockdown’ areas or ‘local health protection areas’ are already covered, “due to the restrictions that are already in place on entering or leaving these areas”.

They explain, “It is already prohibited for people to travel into a local health protection area here whether they come from other parts of Wales, the UK or from other countries. As with the rules for Local Health Protection Areas there are some exceptions such as work or providing charitable or voluntary services when those cannot be carried out where they live.”

“We also recognise that this is a particularly difficult time for children and young people and we will also amend the Regulations to allow children to leave their local health protection areas to play sport or participate in other activities such as drama or dance classes which are so important to their mental and physical health and well-being.”

The Regulations have been published this afternoon, after being laid before the Senedd at 1pm. They come into force at 6pm today.

Section 4B gives a list of reasonable excuses for travel, that include (but not limited to) the following:

• obtain— (i) food and medical supplies for those in the same household (including animals in the household) or for vulnerable persons (ii) supplies for the essential upkeep, maintenance and functioning of the household, or the household of a vulnerable person
• provide, receive or access care or assistance, including childcare
• work or provide voluntary or charitable services where it is not reasonably practicable to carry out the work or provide the service from outside the area
• provide or receive emergency assistance
• attend a funeral— (i) as a person responsible for arranging the funeral, (ii) if invited by a person responsible for arranging the funeral, or (iii) as the carer of a person attending
• participate in or facilitate organised activities for the development or wellbeing of children (including sports, music and other recreational activities such as those provided for children outside of school hours and during school holidays)

The full list can be found on Part 4B on page 6 of this PDF.

The Regulation changes also amends the previous version of the regulations for areas of high prevalence in Wales, for example adding the reasonable excuse of “travel participate in or facilitate organised activities for the development or wellbeing of children (including sports, music and other recreational activities such as those provided for children outside of school hours and during school holidays)”. That specific clause change was announced a week ago however has only become part of the regulations today.

The list of designated areas is as below:

Cheshire
Cheshire East Council
Cheshire West and Chester Council
Warrington Borough Council
Cumbria
Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council
Derbyshire
Chesterfield Borough Council
Erewash Borough Council
North East Derbyshire District Council
Durham
Durham County Council
Essex
Basildon Council
Braintree District Council
Brentwood Borough Council
Castle Point Borough Council
Chelmsford City Council
Colchester Borough Council
Epping Forest District Council
Harlow Council
Maldon District Council
Rochford District Council
Tendring District Council
Uttlesford District Council
Greater London
The Common Council of the City of London
Barking and Dagenham Borough Council
Barnet Borough Council
Bexley Borough Council
Brent Borough Council
Bromley Borough Council
Camden Borough Council
Croydon Borough Council
Ealing Borough Council
Enfield Borough Council
Greenwich Borough Council
Hackney Borough Council
Hammersmith and Fulham Borough Council
Haringey Borough Council
Harrow Borough Council
Havering Borough Council
Hillingdon Borough Council
Hounslow Borough Council
Islington Borough Council
Kensington and Chelsea Borough Council
Kingston upon Thames Borough Council
Lambeth Borough Council
Lewisham Borough Council
Merton Borough Council
Newham Borough Council
Redbridge Borough Council
Richmond upon Thames Borough Council
Southwark Borough Council
Sutton Borough Council
Tower Hamlets Borough Council
Waltham Forest Borough Council
Wandsworth Borough Council
Westminster City Council
Greater Manchester
Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council
Bury Metropolitan Borough Council
Manchester City Council
Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council
Rochdale Borough Council
Salford City Council
Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council
Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council
Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council
Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council
Lancashire
Blackpool Council
Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council
Burnley Borough Council
Chorley Borough Council
Fylde Borough Council
Hyndburn Borough Council
Lancaster City Council
Pendle Borough Council
Preston City Council
Ribble Valley Borough Council
Rossendale Borough Council
South Ribble Borough Council
West Lancashire Borough Council
Wyre Borough Council
Leicestershire
Leicester City Council
Oadby and Wigston Borough Council
Merseyside
Halton Borough Council
Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council
Liverpool City Council
Sefton Borough Council
St Helens Borough Council
Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council
Northumberland
Northumberland County Council
North Yorkshire
City of York Council
Nottinghamshire
Ashfield District Council
Bassetlaw District Council
Broxtowe Borough Council
Gedling Borough Council
Mansfield District Council
Newark & Sherwood District Council
Nottingham City Council
Rushcliffe Borough Council
South Yorkshire
Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council
Doncaster Council
Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council
Sheffield City Council
Surrey
Elmbridge Borough Council
Tees Valley
Darlington Borough Council
Hartlepool Borough Council
Middlesbrough Borough Council
Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council
Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council
Tyne and Wear
Gateshead Council
Newcastle City Council
North Tyneside Council
South Tyneside Council
Sunderland City Council
West Midlands
Birmingham City Council
Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council
Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council
City of Wolverhampton Council
Walsall Council
West Yorkshire
City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council
Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council
Kirklees Metropolitan Council
Leeds City Council
Wakefield Council

City of Glasgow
Clackmannanshire
East Ayrshire
East Dunbartonshire
East Renfrewshire
East Lothian
Edinburgh City
Falkirk
Inverclyde
Midlothian
North Ayrshire
North Lanarkshire
Renfrewshire
South Ayrshire
South Lanarkshire
Stirling
West Dunbartonshire
West Lothian

There is also an area of High Peak Borough Council also designated along with “All of Northern Ireland”.