From 4am today (Monday 4 October 2021), the UK’s new travel system comes into force with countries and territories categorised as either red or the rest of the world.

The new simplified travel system also means that eligible fully vaccinated passengers and eligible under-18s returning from over 50 countries and territories not on the red list, can do so without needing to complete a pre-departure test (PDT), a day 8 test or enter a 10-day self-isolation period, making it easier for those travelling – whether that’s to see friends and family, or on business trips.

As announced last month, the new rules also mean that from later in October eligible fully vaccinated passengers with an approved vaccine and recognised certificate from a country not on the red list will be able to replace their day 2 test with a cheaper lateral flow test, reducing the cost of tests on arrival into England. The government aims to have this in place for when people return from half-term breaks.

Anyone testing positive will need to isolate and take a confirmatory PCR test, at no additional cost, which would be genomically sequenced to help identify new variants.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said:

We are accelerating towards a future where travel continues to reopen safely and remains open for good, and today’s rule changes are good news for families, businesses and the travel sector.

Our priority remains to protect public health but, with more than 8 in 10 people now fully vaccinated, we are able to take these steps to lower the cost of testing and help the sector to continue in its recovery.

Also from today, under-18s from the over 50 countries whose vaccination status the UK recognises will not need to present a negative PDT before travelling to England. This applies regardless of their vaccination status.

All under-11s, regardless of where they are travelling from, are already exempt from pre-departure testing for arrival in the UK. If children aged 11 and over are not travelling from one of the 50-plus countries and territories where vaccines are recognised, they will be required to follow the same rules as for unvaccinated passengers.

From today, we are expanding our vaccinated policy to a further 18 countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Japan and Canada. The recognised vaccines are Pfizer BioNTech, Oxford AstraZeneca (including Covidshield), Moderna and Janssen (J&J).

This builds on the UK government’s successful pilot phase with Europe and the US, and brings the total number of countries in scope of the policy to over 50, with more countries and territories being added in the coming weeks.

Those eligible must have a document from a national or state-level public health authority that includes certain information including name, date of birth and vaccination details, as set out in guidance on GOV.UK.

The government has maintained it would take a phased approach to recognising vaccines administered by other countries and territories, building on the success of the pilot with the US and Europe.

Fully vaccinated residents in other countries not yet part of the inbound policy, as well as those partially vaccinated, will still have to take a pre-departure test, PCR tests for day 2 and day 8 after arrival, and self-isolate for 10 days, with the option to test to release after 5 days.

The UK government is continuing to work with international partners as we seek to more regularly expand the policy to further countries and territories.

All arrivals will still need to fill in a passenger locator form ahead of travel. Travellers should continue to check GOV.UK travel guidance including Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) travel advice before, during and after travel to keep up to date with entry requirements and ensure compliance with the latest COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 regulations for the country being visited. Passengers should also carefully check booking conditions prior to booking.

• Successful bids from the third round of the Safer Streets Fund announced  
• Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) and local authorities across England and Wales to receive a total of £23.5 million on top of the £18.4 million already awarded this year for the second round of the Fund
• Funding will go towards local projects aimed at increasing the safety of public spaces for all with a particular focus on tackling violence against women and girls  

Police forces and local authorities across England and Wales, are to receive a share of £23.5million to make public spaces safer for all through projects to help women and girls feel safer on our streets as part of the Government’s Safer Streets Fund.  

Created with the objective of tackling local acquisitive crimes like car theft and burglary, the latest round of the Safer Streets Fund has a particular emphasis on the safety of women and girls. The investment will go to police forces and local authorities across England and Wales as well as the British Transport Police to spend in the 21/22 financial year.

Crimes which take place in public places such as sexual harassment disproportionately affect women. Recipients of funding have submitted bids for innovative plans to increase the safety of public spaces, including projects which emphasise changing attitudes and behaviours in local communities. 

Since its inception, the Government has committed £70 million to the Safer Streets Fund to support local areas across England and Wales to introduce initiatives aimed at stopping offences happening in the first place. 

Round two saw 50 projects across England and Wales awarded a total of £18.4 million to go towards measures proven to cut crime, including simple changes to the design of streets such as locked gates around alleyways, increased street-lighting and the installation of CCTV. 

Safer Streets is just one of the ways Government is working to tackle violence against women and girls. 

In August we published the Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, which commits to radically changing how we stop violence and abuse using a whole system approach, focused on long term change alongside immediate practical action to improve women’s physical safety in public spaces.

This includes funding new police lead Deputy Chief Constable Maggie Blyth, to set the policing strategy for tackling violence against violence towards women and girls across England and Wales and plans to launch a large scale public campaign with the aim of challenging attitudes and changing behaviours.

Last month the Home Office and National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) launched StreetSafe, an online mapping tool which allows all members of the public to flag areas where they don’t feel safe and say why. 

Primarily, but not exclusively, aimed at women and girls, the data collected from StreetSafe will allow police to understand specific concerns and use the information to make decisions on safety in the area. 

More widely, since its inception last year, the Safer Streets Fund has allowed forces and local authorities to invest in transformative crime prevention initiatives. 

For example, in Humberside, in one of the most deprived estates in the country, funding has gone towards upgrading 20 communal entrances to blocks that drive a high level of burglary and installing 18 secure storage facilities for bikes and motorbikes. 

Alongside this, they have installed secure fencing and gates and there is now a dedicated community outreach programme to support residents and victims of crime on the estate. 

Projects across the country have also focused on setting up Neighbourhood Watch groups, increased Automated Numberplate Recognition Technology and CCTV and introducing wardens to undertake community engagement and train members of the public in crime prevention. 

£25m was allocated to this Safer Streets funding round, of which £23.5m is going to successful bidders. A full list of the successful recipients for Round Three of the Safer Streets is as follows: 

North East

North West

South East

South West

Wales

West Midlands

Yorkshire and Humberside

East of England

East Midlands

London

England and Wales