Face coverings are compulsory in England shops from today: Here’s what you need to know
From 24 July, people will be required to cover their nose and mouth whenever they enter shops and supermarkets - and may be refused entry if they do not comply.
As of today, face coverings are required in all shops and supermarkets in England.
From 24 July, people will be required to cover their nose and mouth in particular public places.
These locations include all stores and supermarkets – as well as takeaways and any other outlet where you will not be sitting down to eat (such as sandwich shops).
The use of masks has been the subject of intense debate since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, although figures show that more Brits are now wearing them than ever before.
So, what has changed? And what does this mean for shoppers? This is what you need to know.
There has been a steady rise in the use of the face coverings since the beginning of the pandemic.
Research conducted in April showed that less than 8% of people always covered their nose and mouth when they left their homes.
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However, over the course of subsequent months, mask usage increased.
Data collected in June revealed that almost 20% of Brits now never left the house without one.
Whilst more people are becoming increasingly convinced by the benefits of wearing masks indoors, the upturn in use is also partly down to new laws.
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Scotland First Minister Nicola Sturgeon made masks compulsory on Scottish public transport in June and in shops earlier this month.
Face coverings became mandatory on trains, buses and trams in England on 15 June.
Now, the rules have been extended to supermarkets, stores and shops selling food to takeaway.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the Government found face coverings instilled “confidence” in shoppers, offering “additional protection” when people are not able to keep 2 metres apart.
Who needs to wear a mask and who doesn’t?
The vast majority of people will be required to keep their nose and mouth covered in supermarkets and shops in England.
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However, the Government did highlight a small number of individuals who would be exempt from the rule.
Children under 11 and those with “certain disabilities”, for example, will not be required to wear masks.
You may not have to use face covering if you have legitimate reason, such as:
Not being able to put on, wear or remove a face covering because of a physical or mental illness or impairment, or disability
If putting on, wearing or removing a face covering will cause you severe distress
If you are travelling with or providing assistance to someone who relies on lip reading to communicate
You are also permitted to remove your face covering if asked by shop staff for identification purposes (e.g. when purchasing alcohol) or to take medication.
Face coverings are widely available in shops, stores, supermarkets – so you may be able to ask a friend or family member who already owns a mask to purchase one for you.
They’re also sold online from a wide number of retailers. However, many people are choosing to make their own.
The Government has published a step-by-step guide to help you create a homemade mask here.
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Royal Mail fined £21m by Ofcom failing to meet its delivery targets
Emily Sergeant
Ofcom has fined Royal Mail a whopping £21 million for failing to meet its delivery targets in the last financial year.
Each year, it’s the watchdog’s job to look at and measure Royal Mail’s delivery performance against nationwide annual delivery targets, and for the 2024/25 season, the company was required to deliver 93% of First Class mail within one working day of collection, and 98.5% of Second Class mail within three working days.
If Royal Mail misses its annual targets, Ofcom will first consider evidence of any ‘exceptional circumstances’ beyond the company’s control, and whether it would have achieved its targets had those events not occurred.
However, even after accounting for extreme weather events, Royal Mail was still found to have fallen short of its targets… and this time, they’ve been fined their highest sum so far.
We have fined Royal Mail £21m for missing its 2024/25 delivery targets, without justification.
The company must now urgently publish, and deliver, a credible improvement plan.
This is the third time in a row that Ofcom has found the company to be in breach of its regulatory obligations, after it was first fined a substantial £5.6m in November 2023, and then a further £10.5m in December 2024.
Royal Mail only delivered 77% of First Class mail and 92.5% of Second Class mail on time between April 2024 and March 2025.
Ofcom says it has therefore decided that the company breached its obligations by failing to provide ‘an acceptable level of service’ without justification, and took ‘insufficient and ineffective’ steps to try and prevent this failure.
“Hiding behind the pandemic as a driving factor in failures at Royal Mail does not cut it.”
Royal Mail has been fined £21m by Ofcom failing to meet its delivery targets / Credit: Royal Mail
The watchdog says this is likely to have impacted millions of customers who did not get the service they paid for.
“Millions of important letters are arriving late, and people aren’t getting what they pay for when they buy a stamp,” explained Ian Strawhorne, who is the Director of Enforcement at Ofcom.
“These persistent failures are unacceptable, and customers expect and deserve better.
“Royal Mail must rebuild consumers’ confidence as a matter of urgency, and that means making actual significant improvements, not more empty promises.
“We’ve told the company to publicly set out how it’s going to deliver this change, and we expect to start seeing meaningful progress soon. If this doesn’t happen, fines are likely to continue.”
Featured Image – Royal Mail
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Thousands of elderly and disabled people to get free 24-hour bus travel across Greater Manchester
Emily Sergeant
Hundreds of thousands of elderly and disabled people in Greater Manchester are set to benefit from round-the-clock bus travel for free.
Currently, as part on an ongoing pilot scheme, people with a Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM)-issued concessionary travel pass have free unlimited travel on Bee Network buses between 9.30am and midnight during the week, and all day on weekends and public holidays.
The rule was lifted in August on a trial basis for a month, meaning older and disabled residents in Greater Manchester had access to unlimited free bus travel any time between the allocated hours.
During the August trial, more than 100,000 journeys were made by older and disabled people – with up to 6,000 people a day making use of the pilot.
But now, after proving to be a huge success, the pilot is being extended even further, so that 400,000 eligible residents will now get free bus travel 24-hours a day, seven days a week, starting from 1 November.
If you travel with a TfGM-issued concessionary travel pass, from 1 November you’ll be able to use it on #BeeNetwork buses before 9.30am as part of a second month-long trial.
As well as free early-morning bus travel, during the trial starting in November, eligible residents will be able to board the Bee Network’s night buses for free too.
TfGM says allowing concessionary pass holders to travel at any time will ‘better connect’ them to healthcare, leisure, and retail opportunities.
“The last trial in August was a brilliant success, which saw more than 100,000 journeys made by our older and disabled people before 9.30am,” commented Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham.
“We are now carrying out this second trial, at a busier time of year, to see whether we can safely remove the restriction permanently and help our older and disabled people to get to work, go shopping, and get to medical appointments.
“We want the Bee Network to be the best public transport system possible and this means it needs to support all of our residents and communities to make the journeys they need to make and use the bus more.”