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Tier 4: What the Government guidance (but not the law) says about travel

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The Government has just published its guidance on travel for anyone living in a Tier 4 area in England. Can you travel in the UK or fly abroad if you live in Tier 4?

The official version is here but we have cut and pasted it below. One key point is that people living in Tiers 1-3 are specificially allowed to travel to Heathrow or other airports in Tier 4. Gatwick is NOT in Tier 4.

The majority of flights will continue since only a minority of the population is covered by Tier 4 restrictions.

As usual, what is ‘guidance’ and what is ‘the law’ can be different things. It will only be clear what constitutes an offence when the Statutory Instrument is published, and nothing will become law until that time. It is not clear when this will be – it had not been published by Sunday morning.

(EDIT: the legal text is now available and came into effect at 7am on Sunday – see our article here)

However, this line:

“You cannot leave home for holidays or stays overnight away from your main home unless permitted by law.”

…. implies that the offence will be for ‘leaving home’ and not for travelling abroad, or indeed in the UK, in itself – although you would still be committing an offence.

It is also worth remembering that countries may choose to bring in new restrictions on arrivals from the UK. The Netherlands has already banned flights from the UK until at least 1st January.

The situation is different in Scotland, with travel to or from the rest of the UK now illegal.

easyJet has announced that it will refund Tier 4 residents due to travel before the end of the year.

The following is quoted from gov.uk:

Travelling within a tier 4 area

If you live in a tier 4 area, you must stay at home. You must not leave your home to travel unless for work, education or other legally permitted reasons. If you need to travel you should stay local – meaning avoiding travelling outside of your village, town or the part of a city where you live – and look to reduce the number of journeys you make overall. The list of reasons you can leave your home and area include, but are not limited to:

  • work, where you cannot work from home
  • accessing education and for caring responsibilities
  • visiting those in your support bubble – or your childcare bubble for childcare
  • visiting hospital, GP and other medical appointments or visits where you have had an accident or are concerned about your health
  • buying goods or services from premises that are open in Tier 4 areas, including essential retail, but these should be within your local area wherever possible
  • spending time or exercising outdoors. This should be done locally wherever possible, but you can travel a short distance within your Tier 4 area to do so if necessary (for example, to access an open space)
  • attending the care and exercise of a pet, or veterinary services

If you need to travel, walk or cycle where possible, and plan ahead and avoid busy times and routes on public transport. This will allow you to practise social distancing while you travel.

Avoid car sharing with anyone from outside your household or your support bubble. See the guidance on car sharing.

If you need to use public transport, you should follow the safer travel guidance.

Travelling out of a tier 4 area

You must stay at home and not leave your Tier 4 area, other than for legally permitted reasons such as:

  • travel to work where you cannot work from home
  • travel to education and for caring responsibilities
  • visit those in your support bubble – or your childcare bubble for childcare
  • attend hospital, GP and other medical appointments or visits where you have had an accident or are concerned about your health

The full list of exceptions will be published in the Regulations.

Travelling to a tier 4 area from a tier 1, 2 or 3 area

You should not travel into a Tier 4 area from another part of the UK, other than for reasons such as:

  • travel to work where you cannot work from home
  • travel to education and for caring responsibilities
  • to visit those in your support bubble – or your childcare bubble for childcare
  • to attend hospital, GP and other medical appointments or visits where you have had an accident or are concerned about your health

You should continue to practise safe behaviours on public transport:

  • plan ahead, check for disruption before you leave, and avoid the busiest routes, as well as busy times
  • avoid making unnecessary stops during your journey
  • avoid sharing a car with people not in your household
  • keep your distance from other people when you travel, where possible
  • wash or sanitise your hands regularly

International travel to or from a tier 4 area

If you are in Tier 4, you should not be travelling abroad unless it is permitted. In addition, you should consider the public health advice in the country you are visiting.

If you live outside a tier 4 area you may still transit into or through a tier 4 area to travel abroad if you need to, but you should carefully consider whether you need to do so. In addition, you should follow the public health advice in the country you’re visiting.

If you do need to travel overseas from a tier 4 area (and are legally permitted to do so, for example, because it is for work), even if you are returning to a place you’ve visited before, you should look at the rules in place at your destination and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) travel advice.

UK residents currently abroad do not need to return home immediately. However, you should check with your airline or travel operator on arrangements for returning.

Staying away from home overnight

You cannot leave home for holidays or stays overnight away from your main home unless permitted by law. This means that holidays in the UK and abroad are not allowed. This includes staying in a second home or caravan, or staying with anyone you do not live with or are in a support bubble with.

You are allowed to stay overnight away from your home if you:

  • are unable to return to your main residence
  • need accommodation while moving house
  • need accommodation to attend a funeral or related commemorative event
  • require accommodation for work purposes or to provide voluntary services
  • are a child requiring accommodation for school or care
  • are homeless, seeking asylum or a vulnerable person seeking refuge
  • are an elite athlete or their support staff or parent, if the athlete is under 18 and it is necessary to be outside of the home for training or competition

If you are already on holiday in a Tier 4 area, you should return to your home as soon as practical

Guest accommodation providers such as hotels, B&Bs and caravan parks may remain open for the specific reasons set out in law, including where guests are unable to return to their main residence, use that guest accommodation as their main residence, need accommodation while moving house, are self-isolating as required by law, or would otherwise be made homeless as a result of the accommodation closing. Accommodation providers are also encouraged to work cooperatively with Local Authorities to provide accommodation to vulnerable groups including the homeless in tier 4 areas.

Category

General

Comments (345)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Maria says:
    19 Dec19 December 21:53

    I am attending a medical appointment in Poland, will I be able to travel? My flight is on Tuesday.

    • Phil W says:
      20 Dec20 December 11:56

      That would appear to be a legitimate reason for travel but will you be permitted to attend that appointment while you self-isolate / quarantine in Poland.

      • Bagoly says:
        20 Dec20 December 13:48

        “citizens of Member States of the European Union, EFTA, Switzerland” are currently exempt from quarantine when coming into Poland, unless “have had direct contact with persons infected (or potentially infected) with the coronavirus”, or “have been referred for a COVID-19 test”.

        A UK passport alone probably qualifies one as EEA until the end of the year, but not after that.

        There is also an exemption for air passengers (elitism?!), unless coming from Belarus or Ukraine!

      • Maria says:
        20 Dec20 December 20:29

        Yes, there is no quarantine on arrival in Poland and I am a Polish national.

        Thanks a lot. I will try!

  • Magic Mike says:
    19 Dec19 December 21:55

    How is it going to be controlled, what do I need at the airport, will I be asked things? Im travelling abroad next week

  • Josh says:
    19 Dec19 December 21:59

    That is usual footfall at St Pancras during the evening really.

    • Jack says:
      19 Dec19 December 22:02

      I was there on Tuesday and it certainly didn’t look anything like this! Maybe pre COVID.

    • Andy says:
      19 Dec19 December 22:17

      The clear difference is everyone has luggage this time, unlike the usual evening rush hours when people are commuting home from work

      • memesweeper says:
        20 Dec20 December 00:52

        An awful lot of people were planning to leave this weekend for Xmas anyway. No doubt these numbers are bolstered by folks dashing for the border to escape a severe restriction. What percentage? Who knows , but certainly not all.

    • James says:
      19 Dec19 December 23:54

      No it isn’t, Josh.

  • Richard Eagell says:
    19 Dec19 December 22:08

    Can anyone help with a link to exceptions. At the moment they are saying only business travel is acceptable.
    Unfortunately my father in law passed away yesterday and I have spent the day organising flights leaving at 8am Monday to Poland from Luton for the funeral.
    Desperately need to know if we can travel and nobody at airline or Luton Airport seem to know.

    • Phil W says:
      20 Dec20 December 11:59

      That would appear to be a legitimate reason for travel. However, will you be permitted to attend a funeral in Poland when you are in quarantine? It would seem a bit harsh not to be able to do so but you might get stuck self-isolating when you get there.

  • Aeronaut says:
    19 Dec19 December 22:14

    Statutory Instruments.

    Parliament doesn’t need to be sitting.

    • A says:
      20 Dec20 December 10:24

      Depends on whether it’s affirmstive or negative procedure dictated for that SI in the authorising statute doesn’t it – if affirmative, not possible to make them when Parliament isn’t sitting.

      Here, the authorising statute allows regs to come into force even before they’ve been laid before Parliament it the relevant minister certified it is an emergency. That’s a fairly exceptional power, but understandable in context

  • Aeronaut says:
    19 Dec19 December 22:20

    The responsible thing to do is to look for any loopholes and then exploit them in the most ruthless, heedless and self-serving manner…

    Or maybe it isn’t.

  • TomH says:
    19 Dec19 December 22:37

    Let’s be blunt. If you live in London you shouldn’t be leaving the city right now, let alone the country. Cases are spiking and 60% of London cases are the new, more infectious variant. This feels like March again where we just need to lay low until things improve.

    • Aron says:
      19 Dec19 December 22:56

      People shouldn’t have been leaving the country even if you’re not in London. You don’t ‘need’ a holiday, just because you go to Málaga the same time every year doesn’t give you a right to this year. Such a weird mentality.

      • Mike P says:
        19 Dec19 December 23:14

        Why do you think you have the right to tell others what they should or should not do?

        • BlueThroughCrimp says:
          19 Dec19 December 23:20

          Aron has the same right to ask as you have to reply, but possibly because we’re in the middle of a global pandemic the likes of which we’ve never seen for over 100 years makes it worth repeating as we’ve not learned anything in the last 9 months.

          • Jayne says:
            19 Dec19 December 23:57

            Good try BlueThroughCrimp, but I doubt Mike P has the critical thinking skills to comprehend.

          • Anna says:
            20 Dec20 December 00:06

            Not all people leave the country for holidays. Some has families living abroad and want to be together after mutual self isolation and negative tests.

          • TGLoyalty says:
            20 Dec20 December 01:05

            Nonsense we’ve seen much worse there was just far less panic and virtue signalling.

        • Peter Burnett says:
          19 Dec19 December 23:37

          This is what public health is all about, unfortunately. You may not like it. I don’t like it. But ultimately people need to be stopped from doing things that have the potential to harm others.

          There is nothing in the posts of TomH and Aron that public health professionals are not saying.

    • Andy Green says:
      19 Dec19 December 22:57

      And what about if you live in rural north Essex ?

    • Margaret says:
      19 Dec19 December 23:08

      Well I’m in North London on day 19 of having the new variant of the virus (based of symptoms we all had, and how one person in a class of 9 has infected 6 people including my daughter who infected our entire household). For those using the 5-day test when returning from abroad, please note that she tested negative on day 6. She then developed a headache on day 7 with a runny nose. Those were her symptoms, along with feeling cold. NONE of us had a fever, dry cough and loss of sense of smell or taste, but we all rested positive. My husband had insomnia, no appetite and tiredness. I had a headache, vertigo, tinnitus and gastrointestinal issues. I received a text today asking me to consider donating my plasma to save lives, so the government think I’m a safe bet for not catching it anytime soon again and my blood could help others fight it. I was supposed to be seeing an uncle in Edinburgh on the 23rd December who I’ve seen once (on his 100th birthday in July) since February. I might never see him alive now, as he’s frail, and who knows when it will be OK. He’s my only living close blood relative left, and I’ve always been really close to him. I can’t infect him as I’m now negative for Covid with a high level of antibodies, but I can’t see him in case I infect him???

      • Polly says:
        20 Dec20 December 00:33

        Margaret
        Thanks for posting. Very interesting to hear from one of our hfp reporting. Appears much more insidious than the main strain. Do hope your family recover with no long term effects. Pretty good feeling donating plasma. Often had to donate blood as rare B-ve, to babies for an exchange transfusion.
        Good luck. Hope you are over the worst of it for the holidays…

        • Margaret says:
          20 Dec20 December 01:25

          Thanks, yes, feeling more human now the waves of dizziness and griping tummy pains are passing (and hopefully stay gone) The constant hissing in my ears is really annoying, but I’ve added a fast high pitched ticking sound (like an old fashioned watch) to the tinnitus sometimes now, which I find quite odd! In the throes of it I felt really terrible, and there was the constant day 8 fear which is the day people can really go downhill. I woke up with palpitations and dizziness on day 8, ended in A&E on day 9 and my x-ray showed the classic ‘ground glass effect’ on my lungs, but immune system almost back to normal which was praised by the doctor.
          Yes, my husband has also had the text, hopefully we can help. He’s O- and I’m A+, so good to gave different ones. B- is really unusual!

          • Anna says:
            20 Dec20 December 03:40

            Hope you all continue, improving Margaret. We lost my 95 year old grandpa in April & of course we couldn’t visit for the final month. We lived with my grandparents as a child so the loss was profound and I really hope you see your uncle again.
            On another note, I am O- but can’t donate because I had a transfusion 30 years ago when they weren’t aware of the CJD risk! So frustrating as anyone can receive my “universal donor” blood!

          • Zoe says:
            20 Dec20 December 12:12

            Hi Margaret, thanks for sharing your experience. We had it in the November lockdown but sounds like your symptoms were much worse than ours. Aside from Covid my husband suffers from tinnitus and sometimes struggles to differentiate sounds, I ordered him the Calmer EarPods and although he hasn’t persisted with the regime for tinnitus he has found them worth the approx £30 they cost.
            I wasn’t tall / heavy enough to be wanted for the plasma but my daughter went for the testing. She hadn’t been particularly poorly with Covid and didn’t have enough antibodies to be useful.
            I hope you start to feel more normal soon.

      • TGLoyalty says:
        20 Dec20 December 01:19

        5 day test and realise is about risk. It doesn’t mean you will absolutely not have it. It just means the risk of having it has been deemed so low that it’s acceptable for you to go out in society.

        I don’t think donating your plasma means any government has decided you’re not a risk of passing the virus on at all (lots of research on going) or that you won’t get a mild version of Covid 19 again in the future (rare but happens)

        Unless your 100 year old uncle has had both doses of the vaccine (unlikely) I wouldnt even contemplate visiting until he has.

        • Margaret says:
          20 Dec20 December 02:01

          But unheard of to catch it again 3 weeks from first infection when immunity is nearing its highest level. I’ve friends in the Imperial study into immunity. they caught it in March-April, tested strongly positive in July and were showing still positive for antibodies after ‘5-6 seconds’ a couple of months later…. I think that the nearest reinfection to initial infection timeline found so far is about 3 months, and more likely 6 months.

          • Lady London says:
            20 Dec20 December 02:55

            Had most of your list or very similar Margaret except the gsstro. All a ‘touch of’ as it brushes past with symptoms lastng 3 minutes trying to ‘get’ me. Heaven help you if you this thing fullblown and couldn’t fight it off.

            Same late January (in vicinity of Chinese person I larer realised had it but she was young and fit so I think I was exposed to a version her immune system had attenuated. Then again just over 9 months later it’s weaker but as you say, trying more ways to get you.

            You didn’t mention much more tired than usual.

            I think this thing is like an old case of malaria it hangs around and on and tries to jump you when you,’re weak. It also fixed a bit of previous vertigo!

            Canceled my trip to London now. Will take my chances on the medical things I was going for. Knowing govt has made most decisions 2 eeeks too late I think it’s possibly even worse than he says.

          • Barbs says:
            20 Dec20 December 08:13

            My Father caught Covid again 2 weeks after he was deemed Covid free.

    • YL says:
      19 Dec19 December 23:30

      I thought we are not suppose to travel in and out of Tier 3 anyway…
      However, the pictures at several London stations are shocking but perhaps not surprising either! It sadly reminds me a bit like back in March when Italy first announced the lockdown at Northern Italy …

      • YL says:
        19 Dec19 December 23:33

        My message above was the reply to footage at St Pancras tonight.

        • memesweeper says:
          20 Dec20 December 00:56

          If there’s a significant spread on packed trains this T4 might have the opposite effect to the desired one 🙁

  • James says:
    19 Dec19 December 23:21

    There seems to be specified criteria for each guidance area i.e. when you can leave your tier, except for international travel for tier 4: ‘If you are in Tier 4, you should not be travelling abroad unless it is permitted.’ What on earth is permitted then?

    • WaynedP says:
      20 Dec20 December 13:30

      Permitted entry to UK travellers by the foreign country, and permitted exit from own home under Tier 4 exemptions, e.g. providing Medical assistance

    • WaynedP says:
      20 Dec20 December 13:32

      Permitted entry by foreign country to UK travellers AND permitted exit from own home under Tier 4 exemptions, e.g. providing medical assistance.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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