Crown servants and Government contractors, which includes civil servants must quarantine in a managed facility or in their own accommodation, depending on the ‘traffic light’ allocation of the country they departed from or transited through in the 10 days before arrival in the United Kingdom. This applies unless a relevant Government department has certified that they are not required to do so and the traveller is:

- a Crown servant or Government contractor travelling to the UK for essential Government work or returning from such work outside the UK; or

- returning from conducting essential state business outside of the UK; or

- returning to the UK where this is necessary to facilitate the functioning of a diplomatic mission or consular post of Her Majesty or of a military/other official posting on behalf of Her Majesty.

Civil servants meeting the first two of these eligibility criteria may also be exempt from the mandatory post-arrival testing requirements. Some civil servants who are conducting essential border work or essential defence activities are also exempt from the requirement to complete a Passenger Locator Form, as well as quarantine and travel testing requirements. While all social distancing restrictions are no longer mandated, the legal duty to self-isolate when notified by NHS Test and Trace remains in place applies to civil servants as to the wider public.

Decisions to designate countries as either ‘red’, ‘amber’ or ‘green’ on the international traffic light system are taken by the Government to protect public health. They are informed by evidence including the Joint Biosecurity Centre’s risks assessment methodology alongside wider public health factors. We are unable to provide the advice and evidence which informs these decisions as it relates to the ongoing development of Government policy.

The Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC) produces risk assessments of countries and territories. This risk is based on factors such as the level of community transmission of variants of concern or variant under investigation, levels of testing, genomic sequencing and reporting. The JBC assessed that France is a high-risk COVID-19 destination due to the circulation of variants of concern, most notably the beta variant, which is the variant that presents the greatest risk for vaccine escape. As of 19 July, GISAID data shows there have been to date 2,959 cases of beta in France (5.2% of all cases uploaded) compared to 1,052 cases of beta in the United Kingdom (0.2% of all cases uploaded), 44 cases in Greece (0.5% of all cases uploaded) and 621 cases in Spain (1.4% of all cases uploaded), from the start of the pandemic. GISAID is a live repository and the number of sequences attributed to a specific lineage, country or region may be revised upwards or downwards as new lineages are identified and countries update and amend their data. The quarantine rules and testing for travellers into the United Kingdom from France will significantly decrease the risk of importing beta cases, which could then grow rapidly into community clusters or outbreaks.

There has been no assessment carried out of the impact on UK citizens who wish to travel overseas, as no new travel, entry, or quarantine limitations have been introduced as a result of the relaxing of COVID-19 restrictions on 19 July.

All polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests are validated centrally and verified locally as a minimum prior to use. The results of the validation and verification are reviewed by independent subject matter experts in the field prior to laboratories testing individuals’ samples with the assays. PCR tests in all laboratories are subject to an enhanced variant of concern assurance program, facilitated by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and NHS Test and Trace.

National Health Service tests cannot be used for travel in order to preserve existing testing capacity to protect public health. Since requirements were introduced for international travel testing, the costs of testing have fallen significantly. We are committed to working with the travel industry and private providers to reduce the cost of travel testing and we have made NHS Test and Trace tests available at the market mid-point.

A list of private providers used for testing purposes is attached, due to the size of the data. Some organisations which have self-declared that they meet the Government’s minimum standards for the type of testing service they offer have opted out from publication of their details of the Government’s centrally held list.

The Managed Quarantine Service securely retains all the exemption correspondence and associated data within internal Departmental system and fully complies with the relevant provisions of the UK General Data Protection Regulation. Personal data is retained for as long as necessary for the purposes it is needed.

Since February, approximately 60 cases have been granted exemptions from COVID-19 managed quarantine facilities on medical grounds. We do not hold data centrally on the number of unsuccessful exemption requests on medical grounds.

To apply for a medical or compassionate exemption, a traveller should contact the Managed Quarantine Service at least 14 days before their travel date, with medical evidence to support their application. Evidence must be supplied from a healthcare professional, applying professional clinical judgement on the basis of past treatment and an assessment of whether it is possible for adequate care to be provided in a managed quarantine facility. This includes considering whether additional medical support could be provided by telephone, or by a family member joining an individual in quarantine. This will need to be assessed against the public health risk of variants of concern and conditions may be placed on any exemption.

Applications are considered by trained Departmental staff, following detailed procedures designed by public health professionals and are supported by medically qualified public health professionals. These individuals are recruited and remunerated according to standard civil service procedures.

All international arrivals who travel from or transit through a ‘red-list’ country, including South Africa, Botswana, and Zambia, in the preceding 10 days must quarantine in a managed quarantine facility, irrespective of their vaccination status.

The Government continues to engage with the European Union on certification to ensure that travel between the United Kingdom and the EU is supported by a common approach.

The Serum Institute of India (SII) manufactures Vaxzevria and Covishield and both branded vaccines are the same as the University of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine. All SII-made doses approved by the UK regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and administered in the UK were branded as the ’COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca’ which is now known commercially as ‘Vaxzeria’. The MHRA has not approved doses branded as ‘Covishield’ and none have been administered in the UK. All AstraZeneca vaccines given in the UK are the same product and appear on the NHS COVID Pass as Vaxzevria. The European Medicines Agency has authorised Vaxzevria vaccine and it is therefore recognised by the EU.

This information is not collected centrally.

This information is not collected centrally.

There are currently over 19,000 guests quarantining in hotels. We are working to ensure enough hotel capacity available to meet any further demand from arrivals from ‘red list’ countries. We have ongoing agreements with a number of hotels moving into the summer and we will closely match future demand with available hotel capacity as required.

We have designated certain airports for managed quarantine arrivals and individuals should ensure they return via one of these locations. The carrier has responsibility to deny persons boarding if they are travelling to a port which cannot receive passengers from ‘red list’ countries. On arrival, individuals are met at passport control and guided through baggage reclaim and customs to the dedicated hotel transport.

At ports, Border Force officers issue fixed penalty notices to individuals who do not comply with booking managed quarantine packages and complete a Passenger Locator Form in advance of travel. Once checked in at the designated hotels, individuals are required not leave their rooms except in exceptional circumstances or with permission from the security staff.

Ventilation requirements within the Managed Quarantine Service (MQS) hotels have been identified and agreed with Public Health England. Mechanical ventilation systems should be maintained in line with manufacturers’ instructions and should use a fresh air supply and not recirculating indoor air. This is to prevent airborne transmissibility and is an essential specification within hotel contracts. We ensure these are being met as part of the initial site visit undertaken by MQS staff and security. Each hotel should ensure that air-conditioning, ventilation, fire alarms and sprinkler systems are working properly. We are encouraging hotels to meet the guidance given by the Federation of European Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning Associations.

Additional food and drinks can be ordered and delivered to the hotel main reception. All deliveries are left outside the guest's room and staff should have no contact with the guest.

We have contracted with Corporate Travel Management (CTM) as the Department’s travel services delivery partner. They are responsible for identifying and contracting with the individual hotels that support the Managed Quarantine Service.

Hotels have standard operating procedures (SOPs), testing processes and infection prevention control processes for staff and guests. These were put in place following consultation and advice from Public Health England and are in line with National Health Service guidance. Local on-site liaison officers ensure compliance with testing procedures and SOPs, raise any issues with the hotel general manager and escalate via the Department’s liaison officers. We work closely with hotel managers and local authorities to ensure that staff and guests are complying with these processes. Where there is a material failure to provide the required service which is not rectified in a reasonable time, CTM would ultimately terminate the contract.

The Department is currently exploring the options for international students arriving in the United Kingdom from ‘red list’ countries. However, we have no current plans to enable universities to use their residential accommodation as managed quarantine facilities for international students.

The information requested is not held centrally.

The Department has contracted to provide 24 hours a day, seven days a week liaison officer cover in all managed quarantine hotels. We receive daily reports from the embedded liaison officers for each hotel providing assurance of the facilities provided and ensure any areas of concern are addressed. We also engage with hotels and service providers on a regular basis to monitor the quality and effectiveness of services provided.

We have allocated resources to ensure that vulnerable people in quarantine hotels are signposted to the appropriate support and follow safeguarding procedures where appropriate. All hotels have a 24 hours a day, seven days a week security presence and access to an onsite medic. All hotels and security providers assigned to the quarantine service follow our standard operating procedures to ensure that guests remain in a COVID-19 secure environment for the entirety of their stay.

All staff working in managed quarantine facilities are actively encouraged to take a voluntary daily lateral flow device test. Staff are also offered a weekly polymerase chain reaction test. Whilst the tests are optional, the process is COVID-19 compliant, in addition to social distancing measures and procedures. Staff are not restricted to working only in these facilities during their term of employment.