Nicola Sturgeon responds to 'unenforceable' face covering rule concerns raised by Lothian Buses drivers

The First Minister said she did not expect bus drivers or other staff to enforce the rules around face coverings on public transport.

Face coverings on public transport are mandatory in Scotland

Nicola Sturgeon said people should wear face coverings on public transport because “it is the right thing to do”, but did not say how she expected the rule to be enforced across the country.

Responding to concerns raised by bus drivers in Edinburgh that the mandatory face coverings on public transport law was essentially unenforceable after they had been told to not engage with those not wearing a mask, the First Minister said she did not expect bus drivers to be the enforcers of the law.

However she also said that she hoped the police would not have to get involved and issue fixed penalty notices, meaning the rule could go without meaningful enforcement across Scotland.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she wanted people to wear masks because it was "the right thing to do"

Ms Sturgeon said: “On public transport right now it is mandatory and that means it can enforced, there is the ability for the police to impose fixed penalty notices for people who don’t wear a face covering.

“We don’t and I don’t think it would be reasonable to expect those who work on public transporters to be the enforcers of this, which is why we said that is not our expectation.

“But equally I would hope that the police don’t have to impose fixed penalty notices or get involved in an enforcement capacity because I really want people to do it for their own protection and for protection of people that are around them.”

Ms Sturgeon added: “It’s one of these things where actually we are all being asked to do something not for our own protection, but for the protection of others.

“It is one of those collective things that we should all do because it is the right thing to do and it adds to that success that we are having and hopefully will continue to have in driving levels of this infection down.”

Drivers at Lothian Buses had said they feared the rule was unenforceable after being asked to not engage with those who do not wear face coverings.

The council-owned bus operator claimed in an internal email to staff today (Tuesday June 23) that this was incorrect and that instead drivers were being asked to simply not “challenge” those without masks.

Operations manager Sarah Boyd wrote in the email: “You may have seen some media coverage which incorrectly suggests that drivers have been told “not to engage” with customers who aren’t wearing face coverings and I want to clarify the advice we have given you.

“Drivers should absolutely ‘engage’ with customers - on the basis that we are trying to make the best of this situation and keep things simple for our drivers, we are asking you not to challenge customers who aren’t wearing face coverings.

“Much thought has been given to the fact that no matter what the rules/guidance says there will always be those who follow it and those who don’t. As a driver you are the person on the front line trying to deal with it as best as you can.

“You might be asked by customers if they should be wearing a face covering. If this happens to you, please explain to the customer that the Scottish Government made these mandatory for travel on public transport with effect from 22 June 2020.

“There are however, legitimate exemptions, and if you are asked for more information on this, you can direct the customer towards the Scottish Government website where they can find out all the information that they need.

“As I’ve said above, I realise that this is a difficult one for drivers, so as we do in every situation we will keep the guidance under close review.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to scotsman.com and enjoy unlimited access to Scottish news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.scotsman.com/subscriptions now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Joy Yates

Editorial Director