Covid Passport: Government calls for evidence from operators and business owners in England for 'Plan B' as part of its Autumn and Winter Plan 2021

The government has launched a consultation on the use of covid passports in certain settings, calling for evidence from operators and industry representatives to ascertain how these would be used should they be deemed necessary.

As part of its 'Autumn and Winter Plan 2021', the government's 'Plan B' to keep the virus at bay in England would entail the imposition of Covid Passports for guests and regular testing for unvaccinated employees in the following settings:

"All nightclubs, and other venues open after 1am with alcohol, music and dancing; indoor, crowded settings with 500 or more attendees where those attendees are likely to be in close proximity to people from other households, such as music venues or large receptions; outdoor, crowded settings with 4,000 or more attendees where those attendees are likely to be in close proximity to people from other households, such as outdoor festivals; any settings with 10,000 or more attendees, such as large sports and music stadia; with exemptions from places of communal worship, wedding ceremonies, funerals and other commemmorative events"

Particularly interested, it says, "in views from businesses, event organisers and venue operators, including from those that have experience of using certification on a voluntary basis over the summer, and on the proposals for the workforce," it invites anyone within means of submitting evidence to support their experience to do so.

Covid Passports were set to come into force in England as of the end of September, but plans were scrapped as an imperative and instead it was decided that they will only be rolled out should the data suggest that the NHS "is likely to come under unsustainable pressure."

Trade bodies have warned of the impact such a measure would have on businesses, putting the onus on them to police the vaccine roll-out, as well as being discriminatory.

Scotland rolled out its own version of a covid passport in venues deemed "high risk" last week, such as nightclubs and large music or sport events, despite a legal challenge from nightclub body NTIA Scotland.

However, the policy has got off to a rocky start as users have encountered issues when trying to complete the online verification and have been advised to print out versions of their passports while technical issues are ironed out.

Wales is planning to impose its own Covid passport as of October 11th, while Northern Ireland has yet to announce whether it will be imposing their use, but could follow on the Republic of Ireland's example, who uses them for access to international travel and hospitality settings.

In other locations, such as Sweden and some US states, the notion of a government-enforced Covid certification has been rejected, with governments instead choosing to leave it to operators' discretion as to whether or not to enforce them.

In France, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Slovenia some form of Covid passport is in use.

The consultation for England ends on October 11th. If you wish to take part you can fill in the government questionnaire here.