First COVID-19 tier regulations in England
On 14 October 2020, the UK Government abandoned its attempts to control the spread of SARS-CoV-2 by means of piecemeal local regulations and introduced a three-tier approach across England, with legal restrictions varying according to government-defined tiers (referred to in government statements as "Local COVID Alert Levels").
The restrictions were enforced by three English statutory instruments, as follows: These are collectively referred to in this article as the "tier regulations".
On 5 November 2020 the tier regulations were revoked and were replaced by The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) (No.
In response to the developing COVID-19 pandemic the UK government issued advice to English schools on 12 March 2020 that they should cancel trips abroad,[1] and on 16 March that the public should avoid non-essential travel, crowded places, and visits to care homes.
Between July and September 2020, more extensive and increasingly rigorous ad hoc local regulations were introduced, which in many areas proved unsuccessful in controlling spread of the virus.
The tier regulations were introduced by way of Statutory Instruments made by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock, using emergency powers under the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984, the stated legal basis being "the serious and imminent threat to public health which is posed by the incidence and spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in England".
In each case, the Secretary of State used section 45R of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 to enact the regulations without prior parliamentary consideration, subject to retrospective approval by resolution of each House of Parliament within twenty-eight days.
[139] In the event, however, they were all revoked early, on 5 November 2020, by The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) (No.
This chronological table lists the main changes made by amendments to the tier regulations.
Tier 1 (Medium)
Tier 2 (High)
Tier 3 (Very High)
