This is the latest rolling weekly update covering the legislation and guidance on coronavirus COVID-19 during the week commencing 28 March 2021*.

Sunday 28 March 2021 to Saturday 3 April 2021

Law and Religion UK

• COVID-19: places of worship and the latest Welsh Regulations: update. Following the latest announcements by the Welsh Government over the weekend, the Revd Gethin Rhys, Policy Officer of Cytûn, has issued a further update – reproduced with permission – on the position as it affects places of worship. (29 March 2021).
• Law and religion round-up – 28 March Guidance for Holy Week and Easter.

Church of England‡

Last updated: Wednesday 31 March, 17:25§

New Documents:

• Mental Health Support Charities, Mental and Emotional Wellbeing and the Church: Some Helpful Resources.

Updated Documents:

• COVID-19 Advice on the Conduct of Public Worship, v 3.1. Update on version 3.0: on the 1st April the Government guidance for those shielding and protecting people who are clinically extremely vulnerable changes and it is intended that from the 12th April the guidance on supervised activities for children indoors will change. 12 and 13 have been changed to reflect this. (31 March 2021).
• COVID-19 Advice for clergy conducting weddings, v6.0. Updates from version 5.6: this document has been edited following the publication of the Government’s four-step plan for coming out of lockdown on the 22nd February and further guidance on for weddings published on the 22nd March. (310 March 2021).
• COVID-19 Outdoor Worship and Churchyards, V 6.0. Update from version 5.1: on the 29th March new outdoor guidance came into force from the Government as part of their 4 step plan to come out of lockdown. This has changed what can be done with singing in worship (2) and the number of people who can gather in an outdoor space (3). An additional FAQ (8) has been added to clarify the position on face coverings.
• COVID-19 NHS Test & Trace Data, v4.1. Changes from version 4.0: changes in Government guidance indicate that the contact details of every member of a group should be collected rather than those of one member unless they have recorded their attendance using the NHS Test & Trace app.

Update FAQS:

• Is singing permitted? in the Prayer and Worship section.
• Is there any guidance concerning our APCM meeting? in Finance and governance section

Update: Friday 26 March, 15:11

Updated Documents:

• COVID-19 Advice on the Conduct of Public Worship, v3. Update on version 2.8: on the 26th March the Government updated its guidance for places of worship reflecting the next step in the Government’s four step plan. This document has been updated to reflect that particularly with singing (18). (26 March 2021).
• COVID-19 Advice for clergy conducting weddings, v6.0. Updates from version 5.6: this document has been edited following the publication of the Government’s four step plan for coming out of lockdown on the 22nd February and further guidance on for weddings published on the 22nd March. (26 March 2021).

Update FAQS:

• Is singing permitted? in the Prayer and Worship section
• Can weddings go ahead? in Life Events section

Other churches and faith organizations

Roman Catholic Church, EW

• Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales: Vade Mecum for Holy Week 2021. (28 February 2021). This refers to: Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments: Celebration of Holy Week 2021. Note to Bishops and Episcopal Conferences on the Celebration of Holy Week 2021, (Prot. N. 96/21.), (19 February 2021).§

Legislation

England

• House of Commons Library: The coronavirus timeline: Measures taken by the House of Commons, The coronavirus timeline sets out the Commons’ response to the pandemic, including key ‘lock down’ dates and changes to the way parliamentarians worked. It includes links to the relevant debates in Hansard, Speaker’s Statements, Procedure Committee reports, the ‘Members’ Guide to hybrid proceedings’ and correspondence on proceedings during the pandemic. 29 March, 2021.

Wales

• The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 6) Regulations 2021, SI 2021/413 (W. 133) The amendments provide that the whole of Wales is an Alert Level 3 area from the beginning of the day on 27 March 2021. This means that the previous requirements to stay at home, or more recently, to stay local, no longer apply; though restrictions on travelling to or from Wales continue.

Scotland

• The Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Restrictions and Requirements) (Local Levels) (Scotland) Amendment (No. 19) Regulations 2021, SSI 2021/180 and Policy Note. Changes in Scotland on relaxation of “stay at home” and other guidance.

Guidance

England

• (COVID-19) Coronavirus restrictions: what you can and cannot do. Coronavirus restrictions remain in place. Find out what you can and cannot do. The national guidance on the safe use of places of worship is unchanged from 26 March 2021. HMRC (2 April 2021).

Wales

• Guidance on reopening places of worship: coronavirus Guidance for managing the safe opening of places of worship and prayer during the coronavirus pandemic. (5 March 2021).

Post last updated,  2 April 2021 at 08:38.

* Information on COVID-19 on L&RUK

These updates are published at the start of each week; they are not reissued, but new items are added throughout the week as they become available, providing a “rolling update” of the latest developments during the current week. They are also added to COVID-19 Coronavirus: legislation and guidance which is  the main source of  information; those items in the weekly updates yet to be added are marked “§“.  The updates for the earlier weeks are here.

‡ Church of England documents

For Church of England documents, the information on the document itself – date and version number – provides the best indication of the date on which it was issued

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