The reasons that allow people to leave home during Scottish Covid lockdown

The Scottish Government has released a list of ‘reasonable’ excuses that allow Scots to leave their home during the national lockdown starting from midnight.

To minimise the risk of spreading the virus, the Government says people must stay at home as much as possible. By law, in a level four area, a person can only leave their home or garden for an essential purpose.

Examples of those reasons to go out are as follows:

* For work or an activity associated with seeking employment, or to provide voluntary or charitable services, but only where that cannot be done from your home;

ScotRail staff at Edinburgh's Haymarket Station have decorated a window in tribute to the NHS as Scotland goes back into lockdown to help curb the spread of the coronavirus. Picture: Jane Barlow/PA Wire

* For education including, school, college, university or other essential purposes connected with a course of study;

* For essential shopping, including essential shopping for a vulnerable person. You should use online shopping or shops and other services in your immediate area wherever you can;

* To obtain or deposit money, where it is not possible to do so from home;

* For healthcare, including Covid-19 testing and vaccination;

* For childcare or support services for parents or expectant parents;

* For essential services, including services of a charitable or voluntary nature such as food banks, alcohol or drug support services;

* To access public services where it is not possible to do so, including from home:

- Services provided to victims (such as victims of crime);

- Social-care services;

- Accessing day care centres;

- Services provided by the Department for Work and Pensions;

- Services provided to victims (including victims of crime);

- Asylum and immigration services and interviews;

- Waste or recycling services.

* To provide care, assistance, support to or respite for a vulnerable person;

* To provide or receive emergency assistance;

* To participate in or facilitate shared parenting;

* To visit a person in an extended household;

* To meet a legal obligation including satisfying bail conditions, to participate in legal proceedings, to comply with a court mandate in terms of sentence imposed or to register a birth;

* For attendance at court including a remote jury centre, an inquiry, a children’s hearing, tribunal proceedings or to resolve a dispute via Alternative Dispute Resolution;

* For essential animal welfare reasons, such as exercising or feeding a horse or going to a vet;

* Local outdoor recreation, sport or exercise, walking, cycling, golf, or running that starts and finishes at the same place (which can be up to five miles from the boundary of your local authority area) as long as you abide by the rules on meeting other households;

* To attend a marriage ceremony or registration of a civil partnership;

* To attend a funeral or for compassionate reasons which relate to the end of a person’s life. This includes gatherings related to the scattering or interring of ashes, a stone setting ceremony and other similar commemorative events;

* If you are a minister of religion or worship leader, for the purposes of leading an act of worship (broadcast or online), conducting a marriage or civil partnership ceremony or a funeral.

to donate blood;

* For activities in connection with moving home (including viewing a property), or for activities in connection with the maintenance, purchase, sale, letting, or rental of residential property that the person owns or is otherwise responsible for. Travelling for the purposes of undertaking essential work on a property other than your main residence should not be used as a pretext for a holiday. You should not stay longer than for the length of time required to undertake the necessary work;

* To avoid injury, illness or to escape a risk of harm;

* For those involved in professional sports, for training, coaching or competing in an event;

* To visit a person receiving treatment in a hospital, staying in a hospice or care home, or to accompany a person to a medical appointment;

* To register or vote in a Scottish or UK Parliament, Local Government or overseas election or by-election, including on behalf of someone else by proxy;

- To visit a person detained in prison, young offenders institute, remand centre, secure accommodation or other place of detention.