COVID Act

26 April 2022

Dear

ATISN 16198

Thank you for your request which I received on 24 March 2022. You asked for the following information: 

It has come to my knowledge that the Coronavirus Act 2020 laws have been continued until September 2022. Please provide the scientific evidence as used to continue this act.

Our response

Following a search of our paper and electronic records, I have established that the information you require is not held by the Welsh Government.

The scientific evidence to support Welsh Ministers’ decision-making for the pandemic is routinely published on our website and you can access this information here. Wider data and scientific evidence is also published by Welsh Government, Public Health Wales, the Office for National Statistics, and the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, amongst others.

To avoid confusion, the majority of the regulations the Welsh Government has put in place to manage the pandemic have used powers under the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984. The principal regulations under this act containing restrictions and requirements are currently The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) Regulations 2020. These are due to expire at the end of the day on 9 May 2022.

Use of the Coronavirus Act 2020 (the Act), which is the subject of your request, has been more limited in Wales. This Act is a UK Government Act which granted the Welsh Ministers additional emergency powers to respond to the pandemic. The Act received Royal Assent on 25 March 2020. The majority of the temporary provisions within this Act expired at the end of the day on 24 March 2022.

The First Minister made a Written Statement on 21 March to announce the Welsh Government’s intention to extend, by regulations, certain temporary provisions applying to Wales for a maximum period of six months as a contingency measure. You can access the statement here.

The provisions are:

• Section 82. Business tenancies in England and Wales: protection from forfeiture etc.
• Section 38 and Schedule 17. Temporary continuity: education, training and childcare.

Further information can be found in the explanatory memorandum for the regulations which you can access here. The regulations were debated in the Senedd on 29 March. You can access the record of the debate here.

If you are dissatisfied with the Welsh Government’s handling of your request, you can ask for an internal review within 40 working days of the date of this response. Requests for an internal review should be addressed to the Welsh Government’s Freedom of Information Officer at:

Information Rights Unit 
Welsh Government
Cathays Park 
Cardiff 
CF10 3NQ 

or e-mail: Freedom.ofinformation@gov.wales

Please remember to quote the ATISN reference number above.   

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: 

Information Commissioner’s Office 
Wycliffe House 
Water Lane 
Wilmslow 
Cheshire 
SK9 5AF

Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Website: www.ico.org.uk

However, please note that the Commissioner will not normally investigate a complaint until it has been through our own internal review process.

Yours sincerely