Minister in push to axe tourist forms in time for Easter holidays

Grant Shapps is pushing for the forms travellers must complete before entering Britain to be scrapped in time for the Easter school holidays.

It is understood the Transport Secretary wants to see the end of passenger locator forms (PLF) by the start of April, making it easier for families to fly off on a break.

As an interim measure the forms, in which people must provide contact and travel details, are to be significantly simplified in the coming weeks.

The travel industry has been calling for the cumbersome documents to be scrapped, saying they are acting as a drag on British holiday firms.

It is understood the Transport Secretary wants to see the end of passenger locator forms (PLF) by the start of April, making it easier for families to fly off on a break

But moves to get rid of the forms have been slowed down by objections from the Department of Health, which has been in favour of tougher curbs.

Tim Alderslade, chief executive of trade body Airlines UK, said: ‘Ministers are absolutely right to remove the remaining restrictions but this needs to cut across all elements of the economy, including travel.

‘If there is no requirement to self-isolate for those with Covid in the UK, jabbed or otherwise, there can be no justification for continuing with travel restrictions for the unvaccinated, including the continued use of the PLF which, although not as bad as testing, remains a deterrent to travel.’

A spokesman for the Association of British Travel Agents said: ‘ABTA believes that all Covid restrictions introduced on international travel, including the passenger locator form, should be kept under review and removed as soon as this can be delivered in line with the Government’s public health objectives.  

‘If the Government isn’t willing to remove the PLF at this time, a clear rationale must be provided as to why it is being retained and the policy objective it is serving, and there should be further changes to make the system easier to use for all travellers.

As an interim measure the forms, in which people must provide contact and travel details, are to be significantly simplified in the coming weeks

‘Recent simplifications to the PLF are a step in the right direction, but the UK’s system for collecting passenger data remains much more complex than that used by many other countries, especially competitor markets in Europe.’

Last month Mr Shapps announced that fully vaccinated UK arrivals will no longer need a post-arrival test. But he said the forms would remain for the time being, adding: ‘It is our only way of distinguishing between those who are vaccinated and those who are unvaccinated when they use e-gates to come into this country.’

Last month Stewart Wingate, chief executive of Gatwick Airport, called for the forms to be ditched, saying: ‘It will take some time for consumer confidence to fully return.’

The documents have already been simplified once, to shorten the time it takes to fill them in. And by the end of the month, people will be given an extra day to fill them out.

It is a criminal offence to provide false or deliberately misleading information when filling out the form.

People who do not provide accurate details about the countries they have visited in the ten days before they arrived in the UK can be fined, imprisoned or both.