Government Response

The Government responded to this petition on Thursday 29th April 2021

The Government believes that COVID-status certification could have a role to play in the reopening of society. We are considering carefully the equality and ethical concerns in an ongoing review.

The Government has committed to explore whether and how COVID status certification might be used to reopen our economy, reduce restrictions on social contact and improve safety.

As part of this, the Government is conducting a COVID-Status Certification Review. This has so far gathered evidence from clinical and ethical experts, as well as businesses and their representative organisations. In addition, the public call for evidence has generated over 50,000 responses, representing a wide range of opinions.

The Roadmap Reviews Update, published on 5 April 2021, provided an update on the COVID-Status Certification Review. This publication can be sourced here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-response-spring-2021-reviews-terms-of-reference/roadmap-reviews-update

The Government believes that COVID-status certification could have an important role to play both domestically and internationally, as a temporary measure. Equally, the Government wants to be sure that the benefits of any such approach are fully interrogated in public debate and that the deliverability of COVID-status certification is rigorously tested. The Government also wants to analyse the potential economic impacts that COVID-status certification would have across different settings. We will continue to gather evidence on the extent to which COVID-status certification is an effective measure to control the pandemic, reducing hospitalisations and deaths.

The Government believes that there are some settings (such as essential public services, public transport and essential shops) where COVID-status certification should never be required, in order to ensure access for all.

It is possible that COVID-status certification could also play a role in reducing social distancing requirements in other settings which people tend to visit more frequently (for example, in hospitality settings). However, the Government recognises this has significant implications for businesses and their customers, This will be further considered in consultation with industry, as part of the review of social distancing rules, and taking into account the equalities and other impacts. For now, businesses should continue to plan to reopen in a way that follows the latest COVID-secure guidance, and certification will not be required for reopening as part of step 2 or step 3.

In addition to the Roadmap Reviews Update, the Government has presented an interim update to Parliament (29 April). The Government will set out its conclusions ahead of Step 4.

Cabinet Office

Parliamentary Debate

This petition has reached the threshold for a Parliamentary debate, but the debate has not yet been scheduled.