Source · Select Committees · Foreign Affairs Committee
Recommendation 11
11
Accepted
Paragraph: 32
The failure of the FCO to provide clear advice on what would happen on arrival...
Recommendation
The failure of the FCO to provide clear advice on what would happen on arrival to the UK caused many travellers a great deal of unnecessary anxiety. The FCO should give clear advice on the situation on the ground in the UK, this would go a long way to alleviate the worries of travellers returning to the UK.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government acknowledges initial difficulties but states it already provides extensive advice and individualised support through social media, general travel advice pages, and consular staff, which address the concerns of returning travellers.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
32
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government · verbatim extract
Accepted
The FCDO is responsible for communicating necessary information about foreign travel, but we learnt from feedback early in the crisis that we needed to do more to support other government departments give information about what to expect on arrival in the UK. We heard that many had concerns about the information they received about health entry requirements and the situation in the UK, and we acted quickly to address these. We worked closely with other government departments, partners and devolved administrations to ensure that we were clearly signposting to all relevant information on returning to the UK. Gov.uk content was constantly updated in line with relevant changes, and essential information was included in customer emails from CTM. We also worked closely with CTM to ensure that there was a clear process on flight forms explaining the situation and next steps that travellers needed to follow. Since then, new statutory obligations have been introduced which now require the travel industry and airlines to provide appropriate information to passengers regarding current public health rules and the situation on arrival to the UK.
Read the full response on Parliament ↗