Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government (1) what assessment they have made of the impact on incoming school group visits to the UK from the EU of the requirement from 1 October that such groups will need to ensure that each individual child holds a full international passport, and (2) what plans they have to allow children on school trips to the UK from the EU to enter with an ID card only.

We have always expected people who visit the UK, including children visiting as part of a school group, from outside the EU (including close allies such as the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) to hold a passport and we now expect those visiting from EU countries to do the same.

We have therefore phased out the use of EU, other EEA and Swiss national identity cards as a valid travel document for entry to the UK as a visitor, and as of 1 October 2021 all visitors are expected to hold a passport (and visa where necessary).

We provided almost a year’s notice for this change to allow people to plan ahead and obtain a passport, if they need to, before they travel. There are no plans to allow child visitors on school trips to enter the UK from the EU without holding either an individual or being part of a collective passport.