East Yorkshire Buses owner won't enforce mask-wearing unless required by law
GoAhead says it will follow Government advice, despite Transport for London putting its own rules in place
Last updated 14th Jul 2021
The owner of East Yorkshire Buses says it won't "insist" passengers wear face coverings "outside of Government advice" from next week.
Masks will no longer be mandatory on public transport across England from next week, as part of the Government's lifting of restrictions.
London's public transport will keep that requirement in place, following a request by the Mayor, Sadiq Khan.
A government minister backed the move, while some unions are calling for other operators and authorities to follow suit.
"We're not going to insist upon it for our own customers outside of Government advice."
Katy Taylor, chief customer officer at Go Ahead, which owns East Yorkshire Buses, told Sky News: "We'll absolutely follow whatever the Government guidelines are around wearing face coverings.
"If there's a need in enclosed spaces to wear that, be that public transport or in other spaces, then absolutely we will align with that.
"We absolutely have to follow what the Government's asking us to do. They're the ones who've put the regulations in place, and set the standards of what we have to do.
"If they feel that busy places, so pubs, or other enclosed spaces... where people spend probably a good couple of hours, if they feel that also translates to public transport, where people are only going to spend an average journey of 15-20 minutes - if they deem that appropriate we will absolutely follow that.
"But we're not going to insist upon it for our own customers outside of Government advice."