Question reference: S5W-36151
- Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 11 March 2021
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Current status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 23 March 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what criteria must be met for the cross-border transport restrictions that have been put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to be lifted.
Answer
The Scottish Government’s timetable for easing restrictions, published on 16 March ( Coronavirus (COVID-19): timetable for easing restrictions - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) , set out that the current ban on non-essential travel to and from Scotland and the rest of the UK and the wider Common Travel Area (CTA) will be kept under review. We recognise how difficult it is for people not to be able to see friends and family who live beyond Scotland and these measures will not be in place for longer than we judge it necessary.
These measures have been put in place to protect communities in Scotland and limit the importation of new strains of the virus. The Scottish Government regularly reviews the regulations to ensure that they are still required. Future options include returning to targeted restrictions on travel to/from particular areas of high prevalence in the CTA. In reviewing these measures, we will take account of trends in prevalence and the restrictions in place in the other CTA countries, and the confidence we can take from that about the risks of travel resulting in importation of the virus.