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 farewell, before returning to his office for his next meeting which was scheduled for 18.45. The special adviser left the building by 18.58.

 10 December 2020: a gathering in the Department for Education ahead of the Christmas break 

Extracts from regulations and guidance

On 5 November 2020, a second national lockdown was introduced which required people to stay at home and prohibited indoor gatherings of two or more people from other households except for permitted exceptions, including where the "gathering is reasonably necessary … for work purposes".

''On 2 December 2020, England was divided into three tiers, with London in Tier 2 in which gatherings of two or more people indoors continued to be prohibited unless an exception applied, such as where the gathering was reasonably necessary for work purposes. Government guidance, issued on 30 November 2020 for the Christmas period, on visiting pubs and restaurants advised: "although there are exemptions for work purposes, you must not have a work Christmas lunch or party where that is a primarily social activity and is not otherwise permitted by the rules in our tier." ''

''Social distancing remained the rule at work, with guidance on working safely in offices saying "you must maintain social distancing in the workplace wherever possible". Offices were advised to "maintain social distancing guidelines (2m, or 1m with risk mitigation where 2m is not viable), wherever possible, including while arriving at and departing from work, while in work, and when travelling between sites".''

Summary

On 10 December 2020 a gathering took place in the Department for Education. The Secretary of State for Education wanted to thank staff for their hard work ahead of the Christmas break. Senior officials and special advisers attended the event. There was food and alcohol available and it lasted for around an hour.

Preparations

In early December 2020 planning began in the Department for Education for an event to thank members of staff who had been working in the office during the pandemic. This was discussed between senior officials in the Department and the Secretary of State, who asked members of his Private Office to make the arrangements. Initially, the intention was to hold the event in the Private Office working area, but officials subsequently decided to move the event to the 20