Eleventh Report of Session 2021-22 Contents

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Appendix 4

S.I. 2021/766

Health Protection (Coronavirus, International Travel and Operator Liability) (England) (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulations 2021

1.By a letter dated 14 July 2021, the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments requested a memorandum on the following points:

“(1) Explain the reference to regulation 14 in regulation 16(1).

(2) Explain why the operation of regulation 7 is made retrospective (in contrast to most of the regulations) by regulation 16(1), so as to remove liability that has already been incurred.”

2.Regulation 14 is excluded from the transitional effect of regulation 16(1) because the desired effect is instead provided by regulation 16(2), which states that the amendment made by regulation 14 does not apply in relation to any passenger on a conveyance that departed for England before its coming into force.

3.While regulation 16(2) is most obviously intended to deal with conveyances that have departed for England before regulation 14’s coming into force and will not arrive until after that time, the description within it encompasses every person in relation to whom such an amendment could theoretically have any effect (a passenger on a conveyance that has departed for England while the principal Regulations are in force) other than a passenger on a conveyance that will depart for England at or after the amendment’s coming into force.

4.In relation to regulation 7, it was never the Department’s intention that operators should incur liability in relation to prisoners, etc., who could or would not comply with the passenger requirements in the principal Regulations and no enforcement action has been taken against operators for bringing such persons to England. In the circumstances, the Department considered that retaining liability would serve no practical purpose but acknowledges that doing so would have avoided any potential retrospective effect and (due to the lack of enforcement) caused no practical difficulties for operators.

Department for Transport

20 July 2021