Covid pass breaches 'should not be police priority'

Covid passes could become mandatory in Wales in venues such as nightclubs from 11 October

Cracking down on people with fake Covid passes should not be a priority for police officers over serious crimes, a police and crime commissioner has said.

Dyfed-Powys Police commissioner Dafydd Llywelyn said there were concerns about the "practicality" of policing passes.

Covid passes could become mandatory in Wales from 11 October if the Senedd passes proposals on Tuesday.

The Welsh government said their introduction could help keep businesses open when virus rates were high.

If approved, people in Wales would need an NHS Covid Pass to enter nightclubs and large events.

Anyone aged over 18 would be required show the pass to prove they are either fully vaccinated, or have had a negative lateral flow test result within the last 48 hours.

• What is a Covid pass and how do I get one?

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Mr Llywelyn said police would always prioritise incidents that "cause the most harm and risk to the community", and would only intervene when there were "serious breaches".

As part of its plans to introduce the policy, the Welsh government also wants to make it illegal to fake a lateral flow test for a Covid pass.

Mr Llywelyn said in the first instance, event managers and local authorities should step in to deal with rule-breakers to avoid "additional demand" on police.

He urged the public to follow any new rules, but said he was not expecting a high number of people to break any potential law.

Anyone who is aged over 16 and has been fully vaccinated in Wales or England, or has had a negative lateral flow test result within the last 48 hours, can get a pass.

What is a Covid pass?

Covid passes are available digitally via the NHS website, but not via the NHS app in Wales.

You have to go through several steps to register for one, including a picture of your ID.

Once you have done this, you can produce a Covid pass using a smart phone, computer or laptop.

If the law is passed on Tuesday, passes will be compulsory for anyone over 18 to enter:

• Nightclubs

• Indoor no-seating events with more than 500 people

• Outdoor no-seating events with more than 4,000 people

• Any event with more than 10,000 people, including sporting events

Some places have already rolled out Covid passes, including for gigs and festivals.

Academi Club in Bangor decided to introduce them for Fresher's week to give party-goers peace of mind.

'People feel better'

Nightclub manager Ash James says most people are in favour of Covid passes

Manager Ash James said he was surprised by how positive the response from students was.

"Most people are in favour of it and feel better about coming to a venue that asked for it," he said.

But he added setting it up was not without challenges.

"We had to have quite a few staff on the doors helping people to download the Covid pass," he said, but added students had been generally prepared.

'Bit of a stress'

Students Beca Evans (left) and Brengain Rhys find passes reassuring

Bangor University student Beca Evans, 18, said it was a "bit of a stress to get it in" at first, but once you had successfully applied for one it became easy.

"One of my flatmates couldn't go out one night to that particular club because she hadn't heard about it in time," she said.

"But once you did it, you just turned up to the club, showed you've got it and they let you in."

Fellow student Brengain Rhys, also 18, said she was worried about catching Covid, but the passes made her feel "much safer" and "put her mind at ease".

'Nothing is off the table'

But some voices representing clubs said they felt they were being "targeted" and estimate they could lose up to 30% of their trade.

Michael Kill, chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA), said for clubs that are already in debt due to the pandemic, the "last minute" proposals were "extremely tough" to take on board.

This week, NITA lost a legal challenge against the Scottish government's introduction of vaccine passes, but Mr Kill said they had not ruled out taking legal action.

"Nothing is off the table," he said.

"We are already seeing fraudulent versions of the Covid passes, lateral flow tests... so we're anticipating a very, very challenging environment if this gets through the Senedd on Tuesday," he told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast.

"This additional measure, we feel, is potentially just a step too far given the work that has been done by the sector."

In a statement, the Welsh government said: "The Covid pass is one of a suite of measures that could help to prevent transmission now that we are mixing more freely with each other.

"We need to balance the evidence available against the social and economic needs of the country and the Covid pass is one way to help keep businesses open when rates of the virus are high."

• More on this story on Politics Wales on BBC Two on Sunday at 10:00 BST