law to allow oil distribution firms to work together to distribute fuel to petrol stations. the announcement comes as the petrol retailers association warns that two thirds of its 5,500 outlets have run out of fuel, while the rest are about to do so. strictly come dancing contestant tom fletcher and dance partner amy dowden test positive for covid a day after the series' first live show, meaning they will miss the next weekend's edition of the programme. 27 september following a spate of panic buying during the fuel supply crisis over preceding days, the fuel industry forecasts supplies should return to normal levels in the coming days. the uk government confirms members of the armed forces are on standby to help deliver fuel and ease pressure at garage forecourts should they be required. prime minister boris johnson agrees to meet members of the campaign group covid-19 bereaved families for justice at a private reception in 10 downing street the next day. he had previously declined to meet the group in 2020. the northern ireland executive agrees to end social distancing restrictions for shops, theatres and a number of other indoor settings in northern ireland from 6pm on 30 september. headteachers in england have warned of fake vaccine consent letters being sent to parents that aim to spread anti-vaccine messages. the welsh government agrees to partially align its covid travel rules with england from 4 october by merging the green and amber lists and scrapping the pre-departure tests, but remains undecided on whether to change the rules regarding pcr tests after arrival. 28 september a poll of 27,000 schoolchildren and young people in england aged 9 to 18 indicates that most are willing or eager to have the covid vaccine. prime minister boris johnson says the fuel situation in the uk is beginning to improve, and urges people to buy fuel in the "normal way". prime minister boris johnson meets representatives of the campaign group covid-19 bereaved families for justice and promises to appoint a chair of the covid-19 public inquiry before christmas. an oxford university study finds that people can suffer from "long flu" in the same way they can suffer from "long covid". with vaccine passports set to be introduced in scotland on 1 october, first minister nicola sturgeon announces there will be a "grace period" before their enforcement on 18 october. the welsh government confirms 5 october as the start date for its covid pass scheme for large events, and announces that it will be a criminal offence to fake a lateral flow test for a covid pass. 29 september the uk government begins deploying its reserve tanker fleet to help with fuel deliveries. 30 september the coronavirus job retention scheme reaches its final day, with the resolution foundation estimating around one million people have still not fully returned to work and consequently face an uncertain future. chancellor rishi sunak announces a £500m package of grants to help vulnerable households over the winter with essentials such as food, clothing and utilities. at 6pm, social distancing restrictions for shops, theatres and a number of other indoor settings come to an end in northern ireland. instead some indoor venues are asked to voluntarily introduce rules such as proof of double vaccination or a negative lateral flow test. a survey by nhs digital suggests children's and young people's mental health has not improved since the first lockdown, with girls more affected than boys. the petrol retailers association says there has been no improvement in supplies for independent retailers since the previous day. a legal challenge against scotland's vaccine passport scheme is rejected, meaning it will begin the following day. the nhs scotland covid status app is subsequently launched at 5.30pm but runs into technical difficulties within hours of going live. data shows the level of face-to-face gp appointments in england has changed little since the winter lockdown, with 58% of appointments conducted in person during august 2021; this compares with 54% in january and a pre-covid level of 80%. data from nationwide building society indicates house prices rose by 10% during september 2021. the uk government confirms that gcse and a level examination grades in england will be returned to pre-covid levels over the next two years. the james bond film no time to die, the premiere of which was delayed repeatedly due to covid, finally gets its cinema release. 1 october the uk government confirms that around 200 military personnel will begin delivering petrol to garages from monday 4 october. figures from the office for national statistics suggest that one in 20 secondary school age children is infected with covid. india announces the imposing of a mandatory ten day quarantine on all travellers arriving from the uk, even if they are fully vaccinated, beginning from monday 4 october. scotland's health secretary humza yousaf says he "regrets any inconvenience caused" by the vaccine passport app and suggests it could be fixed "in a matter of hours, but it may be a matter of days". jd wetherspoon reports a record annual loss of £154.7m after its pubs were closed for 19 weeks due to lockdowns in late 2020 and early 2021. the temporary vat reduction from 20% to 5% for hospitality sector businesses comes to an end, rising to 12.5% until april 2022, when it will return to its pre-covid level 2 october the petrol retailers association reports a "distinct improvement" in the fuel situation nationally, but warns the situation is still critical in london and the south east. as the 2021 conservative party conference gets under way, prime minister boris johnson pledges to "change and improve" the economy after covid, saying things cannot "go back to the way they were". before the pandemic. health secretary sajid javid warns care home workers that if they are not willing to get the vaccine they should find another job. the scottish government says the "teething problems" with its vaccine passport app should be resolved within a couple of days. 3 october speaking on the bbc's the andrew marr show, prime minister boris johnson says he is a "zealous opponent of unnecessary tax rises", but refuses to rule further tax rises out, warning that covid has hit the uk's economy like a "fiscal meteorite". the petrol retailers association says that the fuel crisis is over in most of the country, but that supplies are still not getting to london and the south east, where a fifth of forecourts have run dry. an estimated 80,000 people take part in the 2021 london marathon, doing so either or in person or virtually using an app. around 5,700 people take part in the 2021 belfast marathon, the first to take place in the city since 2019. welsh health minister eluned morgan confirms that all children aged 12–15 will have been offered a covid vaccine by the end of the october half term. 4 october the changes to the travel list come into force, with the merger of the green and amber lists, as well as changes to rules regarding tests for fully vaccinated people. the petrol retailers association says 20% of garage forecourts in london and the south east are now without fuel. scotland's deputy first minister john swinney says the country's vaccine passport app is up and running and functioning well. shelter cymru has accused police forces in wales of "assisting illegal evictions" during the pandemic. evictions were banned in wales for much of the pandemic, and remained so until june 2021 when the ban was replaced with a six month notice for tenants. 5 october department for education figures indicate the number of pupils absent from school in england rose by two thirds in the two weeks to 30 september, with 204,000 (2.5% of school pupils) absent due to covid-related reasons. in a speech to the conservative party conference, party chairman oliver dowden says that "people need to get off their pelotons and back to their desks". in wales, members of the senedd vote 28–27 in favour of introducing covid passports for nightclubs and large events on 11 october. scottish first minister nicola sturgeon apologises for the problems experienced during the launch of scotland's vaccine passport app. a public health scotland report into the february 2020 outbreak of covid at a nike conference in edinburgh finds it did not lead to community transmission of the virus. analysis from market researchers defaqto indicates insurers are increasingly covering the cost of treatment for distressed pets whose owners are returning to work after the pandemic. 6 october the foreign and commonwealth office confirms that britons will no longer be advised to avoid holidays to 32 destinations. the countries include bangladesh, fiji, gambia and malaysia. the temporary £20 increase in universal credit payments comes to an end, prompting baroness philippa stroud, one of the politicians who designed the system, to call for a vote on the ending of it. addressing the conservative party conference, prime minister boris johnson sets out his plans for uniting and levelling up the country. he also tells delegates that former prime minister margaret thatcher would have warned against more borrowing to help public finances after covid, because it would lead to higher interest rates and taxes. the gender pay gap has remained at 10.4% for the second year in a row, with covid disproportionately affecting women's pay. 7 october transport secretary grant shapps announces that england's travel red list will be cut from 54 countries to just seven from monday 11 october, with south africa, brazil and mexico included in the countries where quarantine upon return to the uk is no longer required. the countries remaining on the red list are panama, colombia, venezuela, peru, ecuador, haiti and the dominican republic. shapps describes the changes as marking "the next step" in opening travel. the uk government launches a campaign urging people who are eligible for the flu vaccine to come forward, amid concerns about high rates of flu over the coming winter. the northern ireland executive agrees to scrap the requirement for social distancing in bars and restaurants from 31 october, meaning nightclubs will be allowed to reopen from that date. bbc news reports that staff working at the rothera research station in antarctica have been vaccinated with the astrazeneca vaccine. 8 october the foreign & commonwealth office lifts its advice to avoid holidays in 51 destinations, including the bahamas, jamaica and cameroon. former tesco chairman sir dave lewis is appointed as the uk government's adviser for supply chain management following the crises with fuel supply and the supply of other essentials. figures released by the office for national statistics for the week ending 2 october show an increase in covid infections in english secondary schools, with one in 14 believed to have the virus, up from one in 20 the week before. nationally the rate has risen from one in 85 to one in 70, the rise having been driven by the secondary school increase. setting out the welsh government's autumn and winter plan, first minister mark drakeford says that people can look forward to a christmas "much more like the ones we are used to" providing nothing unexpected happens. health officials confirm that people who took part in trials of covid vaccines that are yet to be approved, such as the novavax vaccine, will be offered two doses of another vaccine beginning from the following week, and enabling them to travel. hull fair, one of europe's largest travelling funfairs, reopens after being cancelled in 2020 due to covid. 9 october singapore announces it will allow quarantine free travel from a number of countries, including the united kingdom. england's chief nursing officer, ruth may confirms that over two million booster vaccinations have been given out so far, describing it as "fantastic". genesis confirm they have postponed the final four uk dates of their reunion tour "due to positive covid-19 tests within the band". 10 october jenny harries, chief executive of the health security agency, tells the bbc the uk faces an uncertain winter with the spread of covid and flu, with people at "more significant risk of death and of serious illness if they are co-infected" with both viruses. 11 october the number of countries on the uk's travel red list is reduced to seven. nhs england urges pregnant women to