Rule of Six changes

Restrictions on [F1participation in] gatherings

5.—(1) During the emergency period, unless paragraph (3) applies, no person may participate in a gathering whichno person may participate in a gathering which consists of more than six people unless—

(a)consists of more than thirty persons, and

(b)takes place—

(i)in a private dwelling, including a houseboat,

(ii)on a vessel, other than a houseboat or a vessel used for public transport, or

(iii)on land which satisfies the condition in paragraph (2).

(a)all the people in the gathering are from the same household, or are members of two households which are linked households in relation to each other,

(b)the gathering is one to which paragraph (2) or (2A) applies and the person concerned participates in the gathering alone or as a member of a qualifying group, or

(c)paragraph (3) applies.

(2) Land satisfies this condition if it is a public outdoor place, which is notThis paragraph applies to a gathering if it takes place on or at premises, other than a private dwelling, which are—

(a)operated by a business, a charitable, benevolent or philanthropic institution or a public body as a visitor attraction, or

(b)part of premises used for the operation of a business, charitable, benevolent or philanthropic institution or a public body.

(2A) This paragraph applies to a gathering if it takes place in a public outdoor space which does not fall within paragraph (2)(a) or (b) and—

(a) the gathering has been organised by a business, a charitable, benevolent or philanthropic institution, a public body, or a political body, and

(b) the gathering organiser complies with paragraph (5G).

(2B) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(b)—

(a) “qualifying group”, in relation to a gathering, means a group of persons who are participating in that gathering and which—

(i) consists of no more than six persons, or

(ii) consists of only persons who are members of the same household, or who are members of two households which are linked households in relation to each other;

(b) a person participates in a gathering as a member of a qualifying group only if they are part of a qualifying group and, whilst participating in the gathering, they do not—

(i) become a member of any other group of persons participating in the gathering (whether or not that group is a “qualifying group”), or

(ii) otherwise mingle with any person who is participating in the gathering but is not a member of the same qualifying group as them.

(3) This paragraph applies where—

(a)in the case of a gathering described in paragraph (1)(b)(ii) or (iii)—

(i)the gathering has been organised by a business, a charitable, benevolent or philanthropic institution, a public body, or a political body,

(ii)the person responsible for organising the gathering (“the gathering organiser”) has carried out a risk assessment which would satisfy the requirements of regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 F2, whether or not the gathering organiser is subject to those Regulations, and

(iii)the gathering organiser has taken all reasonable measures to limit the risk of transmission of the coronavirus, taking into account the risk assessment carried out under paragraph (ii),

(b)the person concerned is an elite sportsperson, the coach of an elite sportsperson, or (in the case of an elite sportsperson who is a child), the parent of an elite sportsperson, and the gathering is necessary for training or competition,

(c)the gathering is reasonably necessary—

(i)for work purposes, or for the provision of voluntary or charitable services,

(ii)for the purposes of education or training,

(iii)for the purposes of childcare provided by a person registered under Part 3 of the Childcare Act 2006, or as part of supervised activities provided for children,

(iv)to provide emergency assistance,

(v)to enable one or more persons in the gathering to avoid injury or illness or to escape a risk of harm, or

(vi) to provide care or assistance to a vulnerable person, including relevant personal care within the meaning of paragraph 7(3B) of Schedule 4 to the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006,

(vii) for the purposes of arrangements for access to, and contact between, parents and children where the children do not live in the same household as their parents or one of their parents,

(d)the person concerned is fulfilling a legal obligation.

(e) the gathering is of a support group,

(f) the gathering consists of no more than 30 persons and—

(i) it is for the purposes of the solemnisation of a marriage, formation of a civil partnership or conversion of a civil partnership,

(ii) it takes place on religious premises or premises which are approved for the purposes of the Marriage Act 1949 or the Civil Partnership Act 2004, and

(iii) the manager complies with paragraph (5G),

(g) the gathering is a significant event gathering and—

(i) it consists of no more than 30 persons,

(ii) it takes place—

(aa) at premises (other than a private dwelling) which are operated by a business, a charitable, benevolent or philanthropic institution or a public body,

(bb) at premises (other than a private dwelling) which are part of premises used for the operation of a business, a charitable, benevolent or philanthropic institution or a public body, or

(cc) in a public outdoor space which does not fall within paragraph (aa) or (bb), and

(iii) the manager, in the case of gathering taking place at premises mentioned in paragraph (ii)(aa) or (bb), or the gathering organiser, in any other case, complies with paragraph (5G),

(h) the gathering is a wedding reception, reception following the formation of a civil partnership or reception following the conversion of civil partnership to a marriage and—

(i) it consists of no more than 30 persons,

(ii) it takes place in premises other than a private dwelling, and

(iii) the gathering organiser complies with paragraph (5G),

(i) the gathering is for the purposes of protest and—

(i) it has been organised by a business, a charitable, benevolent or philanthropic institution, a public body, or a political body, and

(ii) the gathering organiser complies with paragraph (5G),

(j) the gathering is a sports gathering and the person concerned is taking part in that gathering,

(k) the gathering takes place in criminal justice accommodation,

(l) the gathering takes place outdoors (whether or not in a public outdoor space) and—

(i) it is for the purpose of a relevant outdoor activity, and

(ii) the gathering organiser complies with paragraph (5G), or

(m) the person concerned is attending a person giving birth (“M”), at M’s request.”

(4) During the emergency period, no person may participate in a gathering which—

(a)consists of more than thirtysix persons,

(b)takes place indoors, and

(c)would be a gathering of a kind mentioned in section 63(1) of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 F3 if it took place on land in the open air.

(5) In determining whether all reasonable measures have been taken to limit the risk of transmission of the coronavirus for the purposes of paragraph (3)(a)(iii), any guidance issued by the government relevant to the gathering in question must be taken into account.

(5A) For the purposes of paragraph (3)(e) “support group” means a group which is organised by a business, a charitable, benevolent or philanthropic institution or a public body to provide mutual aid, therapy or any other form of support to its members or those who attend its meetings, such as (but not limited to) those providing support—

(a) to victims of crime (including domestic abuse);

(b) to those with, or recovering from, addictions (including alcohol, narcotics or other substance addictions) or addictive patterns of behaviour;

(c) to new parents;

(d) to those with, or caring for persons with, any long-term illness or terminal condition or who are vulnerable;

(e) to those facing issues related to their sexuality or identity including those living as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender;

(f) to those who have suffered bereavement.

(5B) For the purposes of paragraph (3)(g) “significant event gathering” means a gathering for the purposes of a ceremony, rite or ritual—

(a) to mark or celebrate a significant milestone in a person’s life, according to their religion or belief, such as events to celebrate a rite of passage or entry into a particular faith (other than a birthday) or coming of age, or

(b) to mark a person’s death or celebrate their life following their death, such as a funeral, according to the deceased person’s religion or belief.

(5C) For the purposes of paragraph (5B), a reference to belief includes a reference to a lack of belief.

(5D) For the purposes of paragraph (3)(j)—

(a) a “sports gathering” is a gathering which is organised for the purposes for allowing persons who are not elite sportspersons to take part in any sport or other fitness related activity and—

(i) which is organised by a business, a charitable, benevolent or philanthropic institution, or a public body,

(ii) which takes place on relevant premises or outdoors, and

(iii) the manager, if the gathering takes place on relevant premises, or the gathering organiser, in any other case, complies with paragraph (5G);

(b) a person taking part in a sports gathering does not include a spectator or a parent of any child who is taking part in the gathering.

(5E) For the purposes of paragraph (5D) “relevant premises” means premises (other than a private dwelling)—

(a) which are operated by a business, a charitable, benevolent or philanthropic institution or a public body, or

(b) which are part of premises used for the operation of a business, a charitable, benevolent or philanthropic institution or a public body.

(5F) For the purposes of paragraph (3)(1) “relevant outdoor activity” means a physical activity which is carried on outdoors and for which a licence, permit or certificate issued by a public body (other than a licence permitting a person to drive a motor vehicle in the United Kingdom or a licence to serve food or alcohol) to carry on the activity, or for any of the equipment used for the purposes of the activity, must be held by—

(a) the gathering organiser, or

(b) any person taking part in the activity.

(5G) The gathering organiser or manager (as the case may be) complies with this paragraph if, in relation to the relevant gathering, they—

(a) have carried out a risk assessment which would satisfy the requirements of regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, whether or not the gathering organiser or manager is subject to those Regulations, and

(b) have taken all reasonable measures to limit the risk of transmission of the coronavirus, taking into account—

(i) the risk assessment carried out under sub-paragraph (a), and

(ii) any guidance issued by the government which is relevant to the gathering.

(6) For the purposes of this regulation [F4, regulation 5A and regulation 5B]—

(a)there is a gathering when two or more people are present together in the same place in order to engage in any form of social interaction with each other, or to undertake any other activity with each other;

(b)a place is indoors if it would be considered to be enclosed or substantially enclosed for the purposes of section 2 of the Health Act 2006 F5, under the [F6Smoke-free] (Premises and Enforcement) Regulations 2006 F7;

(c)a “private dwelling” includes a houseboat and any garden, yard, passage, stair, outhouse or other appurtenance of the dwelling, and does notand, except in paragraph (2), does not include—

(i)accommodation in a hotel, hostel, campsite, caravan park, members club, boarding house or bed and breakfast accommodation,

(ii)care homes, within the meaning of section 3 of the Care Standards Act 2000 F8),

(iii)children's homes, within the meaning of section 1 of the Care Standards Act 2000,

(iv)Residential Family Centres, within the meaning of section 4 of the Care Standards Act 2000,

(v)educational accommodation,

(vi)accommodation intended for use by the army, navy or air force, or

(vii)criminal justice accommodation;

(d)a “charitable, benevolent or philanthropic institution” means—

(i)a charity, or

(ii)an institution, other than a charity, established for charitable, benevolent or philanthropic purposes;

[F9(da)“a political body” means—

(i)a political party registered under Part 2 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, or

(ii)a political campaigning organisation within the meaning of regulation 2 of the Health and Social Care (Financial Assistance) Regulations 2009;]

(e)“vessel” means any ship, boat, barge, lighter or raft and any other description of craft, whether used in navigation or not, but does not include government vessels.

(f) “linked household” has the meaning given in regulation 5ZA.

(7) For the purposes of paragraph (3)(k) or (6)(c)—

(a)“educational accommodation” means—

(i)accommodation provided for students whilst they are boarding at school;

(ii)halls of residence provided for students attending higher education courses, and equivalent accommodation provided for students attending further education courses;

(b)“criminal justice accommodation” means—

(i)a prison, within the meaning of the Prison Act 1952 F10;

(ii)a young offender institution, within the meaning of section 43 of the Prison Act 1952;

(iii)a secure training centre, within the meaning of section 43 of the Prison Act 1952;

(iv)approved premises, within the meaning of section 13 of the Offender Management Act 2007 F11;

(v)a bail hostel, within the meaning of section 2 of the Bail Act 1976 F12;

F13(c). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(8) In this regulation—

“the gathering organiser” means the person responsible for organising a gathering;

“the manager” means the person responsible for the management of the premises on which a gathering takes place.

(9) Nothing in this regulation permits a person to participate in a gathering in contravention of—

(a) regulation 5(1)(b) of the Public Health (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Leicester) (No. 2) Regulations 2020;

(b) regulation 4(1)(b) of the Public Health (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Blackburn with Darwen and Bradford) Regulations 2020;

(c) regulation 5(1)(b) of the Public Health (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (North of England) Regulations 2020;

(d) regulation 5(1)(b) of the Public Health (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Bolton) Regulations 2020.