Source · Select Committees · Home Affairs Committee
Recommendation 47
47
Paragraph: 223
The Government’s estimate of compliance with its enforcement regime for border quarantine is unconvincing.
Conclusion
The Government’s estimate of compliance with its enforcement regime for border quarantine is unconvincing. That the estimate is so high should be grounds for healthy cynicism and interrogation. A better method for estimating the true compliance rate is required, based on routine publication of the following figures: • the number of people required to quarantine under the regulations; • the number of spot checks carried out on arrivals at the border; • the number of spot checks carried out by Public Health England on those quarantining; • the number of referrals from Public Health England to the Police; • the number of visits undertaken by police to quarantining individuals; and • the number of enforcement actions ultimately taken. This will allow oversight of the entire process. These data should be published fortnightly, to mirror the work undertaken by the National Police Chiefs’ Council to publish fortnightly totals of the number of Fixed-Penalty Notices issued under lockdown Regulations.
Paragraph Reference:
223
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
Compliance with the Regulations has generally been very high. The Government is continually working to improve compliance rates through sustained industry engagement to emphasise the importance of industry’s role at helping ensure compliance with the Regulations and through this, the sustainability of international travel to the UK. Home Office preparedness for COVID-19 (coronavirus): management of the borders: 9 We (the Home Office including Border Force) have also worked closely with industry, the Civil Aviation Authority and the Department for Transport, who are supporting the enforcement of the measures by advising passengers when they book, at departure and during the flight of the requirements of the Regulations. On arrival Border Force conduct spot checks on passenger locator forms which include contact details, passport number and address while in the UK. Further compliance checks are then carried out by Public Health England’s Isolation Assurance Service who attempt to contact randomly sampled arriving passengers to ensure that they are self-isolating. sent a text. Therefore, each traveller sampled will receive between 1–4 contact attempts. If a traveller is not complying or cannot be contacted, then they are referred to the police via the Border Force Criminal Justice Unit. Enforcement activity by police forces should be seen in the context of wider police activity to engage with the public to explain and encourage compliance with the new regulations which will help us in seeking to mitigate against a further peak of this deadly virus. Data in relation to Border Health measures was published on 10th September 2020 and is available on www.gov.uk.