PEOPLE arriving in Scotland from overseas who break 14-day self-isolation rules will be fined £480 and could face court action, the Justice Secretary has warned.
From Monday, those arriving in Scotland and the rest of the UK face two weeks of quarantine under rules put in place by the Westminster government.
Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf said the “range of measures will be broadly similar across the four nations of the UK”.
He said: “Anyone travelling to Scotland from abroad must self-isolate on arrival for 14 days. This time period reflects the incubation period for the virus.
“Arrivals to Scotland will be required to fill in the passenger locator form before they travel, including details of where they will isolate and how they can be contacted.
“Border Force will have responsibility for enforcing this requirement though spot checks. The information provided by travellers will be used to allow for some of those arriving into Scotland to be contacted during their time of self-isolation, to provide public health advice information and guidance.”
Mr Yousaf also confirmed that the new rules will allow Police Scotland to issue fixed penalty notices of £480 “to anyone failing to comply with self-isolation conditions”. He also warned that “persistent offenders” can be reported to the Procurator Fiscal, where people could be fined up to £5,000.
Border Force is able to issue penalty notices of £30 for a “failure to disclose appropriate information” about where people are self-isolating and contact details. This fine can be doubled for each offence, up to a maximum of £480.
The Justice Secretary stressed that police enforcement action would act “only as a last resort if necessary” but would act as a “very strong” deterrent.
He added: “I do think these will act as appropriate deterrents. My hope is, of course, that deterrent action will not be needed.
“We have, of course, devised the regulations that are fit for Scotland, that are appropriate for Scotland.”
Earlier, UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he hoped people would still be able to enjoy summer holidays abroad, despite the new rules.
He said: "We are bringing in the quarantine policy because as the number of new infections comes down, so the proportion of infections that come from abroad increases, simply because the number of new infections domestically is coming right down.
"I really hope that people are going to be able to fly to go on summer holiday, but we've got to take an approach that starts with caution."
Jim McMahon, Labour's Shadow Transport Secretary at Westminster, has criticised the UK Government, which is responsible for borders, for allowing thousands of people to enter the country during the pandemic.
He said: "Our real concern is that the Government just haven't got a plan.
"They seem to go from one extreme to another . We're going from absolutely no restrictions – up until only a couple of days ago we were the outlier in terms of the world in having either having no full restrictions in place or no partial restrictions in place.
"Now we go to a very blunt tool with a 14-day quarantine when 22 million people have come into this country since the New Year."
He added: "Even since the lockdown began, 10,000 to 15,000 people have been coming into the country.
"We do need to make sure that whatever we do in terms of interventions, it's evidence-based , there's a proper plan in place and of course, that the exit is made clear."
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