How will the ‘rule of six’ affect my very busy social life?
Ihave a very busy social life and enjoy meeting up with family and friends. I have heard something about a new ‘rule of six’ and am concerned about how this will affect me?
The new ‘rule of six’ arises out of a recent amendment to Regulation 5 of The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (No. 2) (England) (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulations 2020. Essentially, gatherings of more than six people are now prohibited. This applies both indoors and outdoors. So, for example, this would prevent a gathering of seven or more people from taking place at home, at a restaurant or at the pub.
However, the six members of the gathering are allowed to be from six different households.
The rule does not apply to members of the same household or two linked households (known as a ‘support bubble’). There are also lots of other exemptions to this rule including, for example, weddings, funerals, sports, work, education, religious gatherings. Breaking the rule of six can result in an on-the-spot fine which will increase for repeat offenders. If you are accused of being part of such an illegal gathering, it might be possible to defend the allegation if you have a ‘reasonable excuse’. This is not defined and would depend on the facts and circumstances of your case.
The rule of six applies to England. However, if in the North East, the rules have been tightened under what is being termed a ‘local lockdown’. The stricter rules prohibit anyone living in the affected areas from hosting people who do not live with them in their home or garden (unless they are in their support bubble), or meeting people who they do not live with in their home or garden, whether inside or outside of the affected areas (again, unless they are in their support bubble). There are a number of exceptions to this rule including attending a birth, visiting a dying person, fulfilling a legal obligation, for work, education or training purposes, for childcare purposes, to provide emergency assistance, to enable people to avoid injury or illness or escape a risk of harm, to facilitate a house move, to provide care or assistance to a vulnerable person and for child contact purposes. It is a criminal offence to break the rules of the local lockdown and the police have the power to issue on-thespot fines which vary depending on the circumstances. The local lockdown also introduces restrictions on certain businesses, such as early closure of pubs.