People will be required by law to self-isolate from 28 September, supported by payment of £500 for those on lower incomes who cannot work from home and have lost income as a result.
New fines for those breaching self-isolation rules will start at £1,000 – bringing this in line with the penalty for breaking quarantine after international travel – but could increase to up to £10,000 for repeat offences and for the most egregious breaches, including for those preventing others from self-isolating.
This could include business owners who threaten staff who are self-isolating with redundancy if they do not come to work.
A number of steps will be taken to make sure that people are complying with the rules, these include:
- NHS Test and Trace call handlers making regular contact with those self-isolating, with the ability to escalate any suspicion of non-compliance to Local Authorities and local police;
- Using police resources to check compliance in highest incidence areas and in high-risk groups, based on local intelligence;
- Investigating and prosecuting high-profile and egregious cases of non-compliance; and
- Acting on instances where third parties have identified others who have tested positive, but are not self-isolating.
They are working to get their application form for the ‘Test and Trace Support’ payment scheme live as soon as possible. This will be available for those people who are legally required to self-isolate. To be eligible for the £500 one-off payment you need to meet all of the following criteria:
- have been asked to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace
- are employed or self-employed
- cannot work from home and will lose income as a result
- claiming at least one qualifying benefit
- your self-isolation started on or after Monday 28 September.
The qualifying benefits are: universal credit, working tax credit, income-related employment and support allowance, income-based jobseeker’s allowance, income support, pension credit or housing benefit. Please note our Council Tax reduction scheme is not included in the list of qualifying benefits.
The application scheme will be up and running by Monday 12 October. If you start to self-isolate from today (Monday 28 September) and meet the above criteria, you will be able to receive backdated payments.
The Prime Minister said:
“The best way we can fight this virus is by everyone following the rules and self-isolating if they’re at risk of passing on coronavirus. And so nobody underestimates just how important this is, new regulations will mean you are legally obliged to do so if you have the virus or have been asked to do so by NHS Test and Trace.
“People who choose to ignore the rules will face significant fines. We need to do all we can to control the spread of this virus, to prevent the most vulnerable people from becoming infected, and to protect the NHS and save lives.
“And while most people are doing their absolute level best to comply with the rules, I don’t want to see a situation where people don’t feel they are financially able to self-isolate.
“That’s why we’re also introducing a new £500 Test and Trace Support payment for those on low incomes who are required by NHS Test and Trace to remain at home to help stop the spread of the virus.”
Source: Gov.uk