Legal basis The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (No. 2) (England) Regulations 2020 (SI 2020/684) was introduced by way of a Statutory Instrument made by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock, using emergency powers available to him under the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984. The regulations themselves state the legal basis for using such powers, namely "the serious and imminent threat to public health which is posed by the incidence and spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in England"; he also certified that the restrictions "are proportionate to what they seek to achieve, which is a public health response to that threat." The regulations were laid before parliament at 3.00pm on 3 July, the day before the regulations came into force. The Secretary of State once again used section 45R of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 to enact the regulations immediately subject to retrospective approval by resolution of each House of Parliament within twenty-eight days. In the regulations themselves he stated that "by reason of urgency, it is necessary to make this instrument" without having first placed a draft before parliament for prior discussion and approval. Scope and review The regulations (which applied in England only), imposed restrictions during the "emergency period" which effectively re-enacted the identically-named period first defined in the Lockdown Regulations SI 2020/350, as amended. The Secretary of State was given the power to define the end of the period. He was required to review the regulations at least every 28 days, and to terminate any restriction that he considered to be no longer necessary. The regulations did not apply in the city of Leicester and the surrounding area. Special rules were in force there from 4 July 2020, as set out in The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Leicester) Regulations 2020 (SI 2020/685), later partly relaxed. Commencement The regulations as a whole came into effect at 0.01 am on 4 July 2020, though relaxation of the business closure rules allowing many venues to re-open was deferred until 6.00 am on the same day. According to a government spokesman this was a "sensible precaution" to avoid midnight parties. Business closures The previous list of businesses required to close was revoked and re-enacted, with fewer restrictions. The only businesses that were still completely barred from re-opening were nightclubs, dance halls, bowling alleys, discotheques; sexual entertainment venues; casinos;