The Return of Face Masks

On 30 November 2021, the Health Protection (Coronavirus Wearing of Face Coverings) (England) Regulations came into force. The Regulations require: 

• The wearing of a face covering when in specified indoor settings, such as shops, shopping centres, banks, building societies, post offices and transport hubs (any part of premises used as a place from or to which a public transport service operates which is open to the public). Certain places are stated to be exempt including cafes, pubs and providers of medical or dental services (excluding pharmacies). 

• The wearing of a face-covering indoors when using a public transport service, including on buses, trains, private hire vehicles, taxis, the London Underground, trams, aircraft and water taxis. Exceptions apply for school transport and cruise ships.

• The Regulations only impose the face-covering requirements to areas that are indoors and not to persons who have a reasonable excuse for not complying or to certain categories of person including children under 11 and employees acting in the course of their employment (unless they are likely to come into close contact with a member of the public).

• The Regulations require persons responsible for places or public transport vehicles on which face coverings are required either to display a conspicuous notice or use other measures (such as announcements) to communicate the requirement. Responsible persons must not prevent the wearing of face coverings in the relevant place or vehicle.

• The Regulations make it an offence, punishable by a fine, for an individual not to wear a face-covering where required or for a person responsible for a relevant place or public transport vehicle not to comply with their obligations. Fixed penalties for failure to wear a mask start at £200 for the first offence, doubling for repeat offences, up to a maximum of £6,400. Fixed penalties for persons responsible for a relevant place or public transport vehicle start at £1,000 and increase for repeat offences up to a £10,000 maximum. These can be issued by a local authority.

The contents of this article do not constitute legal advice and are provided for general information purposes only.