Only one fixed penalty notice issued for quarantine breach

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Police will continue to educate and encourage but they can and do take action when there is blatant flouting of the law. HUMZA YOUSAF, JUSTICE SECRETARY

Just one person has been issued with a fixed penalty notice for a “blatant breach” of coronavirus quarantine regulations after returning to Scotland from overseas, the justice secretary has revealed.

Humza Yousaf said that “mirrors the enforcement picture elsewhere” in the UK, adding figures from the National Police Chief Council showed just three such notices had been issued in England by last Friday.

MSPS on Holyrood’s health committee had demanded answers from the justice secretary over how many reports had been made to Police Scotland in relation to “quarantine issues”.

Mr Yousaf told them that by August 30, the force had received 125 Public Health Scotland referrals – adding that 61 of these had required local officers to “attend at an address” to ensure quarantine requirements were being met.

Chief Constable Iain Livingstone has been clear “that Police Scotland’s approach to quarantine and all other Covid-19 requirements is to encourage people to do the right thing”, the justice secretary said.

He said he “fully” supported this, adding: “Police Scotland will continue to educate and encourage but they can and do take action when there is blatant flouting of the law.

“So far, that has led to only one fixed penalty notice issued for a blatant breach of the requirements in Scotland but that mirrors the enforcement picture elsewhere.”

In a letter to the committee, Mr Yousaf confirmed that between June 22 and August 23, contact tracers had “followed up” with 4,143 people returning to Scotland from countries where quarantine is now required.

Staff at the National Contact Tracing Centre successfully contacted 3,303 members of the public but were unable to get in touch with 764, with 76 cases “still in progress”, he added.