Covid-19 – Parish Council Office now Closed

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Covid-19 update – As of today, 23rd March 2020, the Parish Council Office at Crafton Green will be closed to the public. We are continuing to work at full strength and will be responding to telephone calls and emails as well as continuing with our usual “behind the scenes” work!

Our Environmental Rangers and Handyman are continuing to work hard to keep the village clean. Please feel free to wave at them and smile to them but respect the 2 mtr social distancing in order to keep them safe and well.

Playgrounds – We have decided that in order to protect public safety we will close our play equipment. We have padlocks on order which will be fitted along with appropriate notices as soon as they arrive, but this is likely to be on Tuesday 24th March. We appreciate that not everyone may agree with this approach but feel this is the right thing to do to keep our community safe.

Thank you for your co-operation.

Meetings

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All Council and Committee meetings have been cancelled up to and including 15th April 2020.

We will review the situation regularly in light of advice from the government and Public Health England, as well as the National Association.

We will keep our Website and Facebook page updated with any further decisions.

 

Central hub set up to support fantastic community effort

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There has been a fantastic reaction in Uttlesford to the coronavirus pandemic with so many people stepping forward to organise and join local support groups.

Uttlesford District Council, the Council for Voluntary Service and Volunteer Uttlesford are keen to encourage and support these local actions. We want to make sure everyone in Uttlesford receives the help they need, and that volunteers and those they are helping remain safe and supported at this time.

A central hub has been set up for local group organisers to let us know what they are doing in their community to support their neighbours.

We have a team on hand who are experienced at coordinating community projects and supporting local groups. If you are unsure about anything or need help or advice with what you are doing, please get in touch:

It’s not clear how long the current situation is going to last, and volunteers will be needed throughout to support older and vulnerable people in our district. We’re therefore also keen to hear from anyone who may not yet have volunteered but thinks they might want to get involved, now or at a later date.

People will particularly be needed to fill the following community-minded roles:

  • Providing reassurance and signposting to services and advice
  • Offering friendship – for example, being a telephone or Facebook buddy
  • Doing simple tasks such as picking up shoppingfor others
  • Collecting prescriptions

Anyone who feels they can help should get in touch through the contact details above.

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Community Agents Essex Covid -19 Delivery arrangements

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Covid-19 Delivery arrangements
Community Agents Essex will continue to support people through these challenging times. The escalation of the coronavirus crisis and the updated advice from the Government about self-isolation and reducing non-essential and social contact will however necessitate a temporary change to the way we work.
Please be assured that all agents must abide by government guidance regarding self-isolation should they or someone close to them suffer any symptoms. They will also social distance if they have an underlying need to do so.
As from today we will stop all non-essential visits within a client’s home or public place. Should an agent feel a visit within the home is essential with a person who is social distancing they must agree this in advance with their Service Coordinator
Any such visits will be subject to some assessment questions prior to the visit to protect their health. No face to face contact will be permitted where a client shows symptoms and/or is self-isolating. All visits will be subject to agent availability.
As from today we will start to make welfare telephone calls to previous clients we feel may be more isolated and anxious. These will generally be those clients living alone or caring for someone within their home.
We will still accept enquiries for support through the existing Community Agents Essex pathways. Alternatively anyone aged over 18 and live in Essex (excludes Southend and Thurrock) you can contact us.
Call: 0300 303 9988 (Monday to Friday from 8am – 7pm)
Email: livewell.linkwell@nhs.net
If you are a Health or Social Care professional who wants to refer someone, please use the contact details above.
All enquiries will be responded to as soon as possible by phone to ensure that the client knows that we have received their enquiry. Where possible we will be providing support remotely by phone. Agents will be updated by email or social media about public health advice. They will continue to have an awareness of what local organisations are offering to support people with the symptoms or self- isolating.
In addition to previous support we will now be accepting requests to pick up essential shopping, medication and/or post letters. Our aim will be to make connections with local volunteers and to work with local organisations to pick up shopping, medication and leave it outside and/or post letters.
Where no volunteers or local community support can be found agents will be permitted to pick up shopping, medication and leave it outside and/or post letters left outside. To enable this we have developed some protocols to minimise any risks. posed by the transfer of the virus or the payment of goods by either cash or cheque. This support will be subject to agent availability.

Coronavirus (Covid-19) latest information and advice for businesses

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The Chancellor has set out a range of further temporary and targeted measures to support businesses in response to the Covid-19 situation.

This includes a package of measures including:

  • every business with a rateable value of under £51,000 will receive 100% relief
  • businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors with a rateable value of between £15,000 and £51,000 will be supported with a cash grant of up to £25,000 per business
  • all businesses in receipt of small business rate relief or rural rate relief will be eligible for a cash payment of £10,000 (this is an increase from the original amount of £3,000)

We appreciate the challenges that businesses are currently facing and we are doing all we can to find out more detail on how these schemes are to be administered. As soon as we have this information we will be able to provide you with the details.

Other reliefs and support packages which are outside of the council’s remit include:

  • a statutory sick pay relief package for SMEs
  • for smaller firms the business interruption loan scheme will offer loans of up to £5m
  • the HMRC Time to Pay Scheme

For further information or advice, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has published coronavirus guidance for employees, employers and businesses.

Visit the BEST Growth Hub for further guidance for businesses.

 

Regards

 

 

Linda Howells

Business Support Officer

Uttlesford District Council, Council Offices,

London Road, Saffron Walden,

Essex CB11 4ER

 

01799 510510

Changes to CAB Advice Provision

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COVID-19

Changes to our advice service from 18th March 2020

 

To protect the health and wellbeing of our clients, volunteers and staff, we will be restricting our advice service to telephone support from 18th March until further notice.  Call us on 01799 618840 or email bureau@uttlesfordcab.cabnet.org.uk and leave a message clearly stating your name, date of birth, postcode, email address & telephone number. If you are only available on certain days or times please tell us.

We plan to check our phones every working day and will come back to you as soon as we can, but please bear with us, as with limited resources, we may not be able to contact you as quickly as we would like to.

  • For online advice – including advice relating to COVID-19 – please go to citizensadvice.org.uk
  • For urgent matters relating to housing, speak to Uttlesford District Council on 01799 510510.
  • If you are worried about debt – speak to your creditors and tell them that you are seeking advice.
  • For urgent court matters call or email the Court.
  • For urgent advice on employment issues, ACAS can help,acas.org.uk or call 0800 123 1100.

Visit www.uttlesfordfrontline.org.uk  for information about local support, to self-refer to local health and wellbeing services or to download factsheets giving details of:

  • Local support for anyone who is housebound or self-isolating
  • Financial, employment and consumer issues relating to COVID-19

If you don’t have internet access or know someone that can print this information for you, call us and we can post you a copy.

 

We will be recording any information you provide in our client management system. For details on how we use your data, please see our privacy policy  on www.uttlesfordcab.org.uk or speak to one of our volunteers when they call back.

Joint Statement on Covid-19 (Coronavirus) situation

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Joint statement

The Deputy Leader of the Council, Cllr Lees, and the group leaders of the Liberal Democrats, Conservatives, Green Party and Independents, Cllrs Dean, Barker, Gerard and Pavitt, have issued the following message:

“Most people will be concerned around the emerging Covid-19 (Coronavirus) situation. We would like to reassure people that Uttlesford District Council is stepping up its plans to protect the most vulnerable in our communities, keep staff safe, and to minimise the impact on council services. We have moved into an emergency planning mode of working and have set up coordinated command arrangements to respond to this fast-moving situation.

We are working with the Council for Voluntary Services and other partners to coordinate and support the fantastic effort already happening across our communities to assist older and vulnerable residents who will need to isolate as the virus spreads. It is inspiring to see so many local people and groups willing to step in to support others. If you are able to, please do consider giving your time to help.

It is clear we are not at the peak of Covid-19 and there will be further challenges to come. We are confident the council is as prepared as it can be to meet this head on. As the situation develops it is inevitable that there will be changes to the way in which we provide some services, and we would ask residents to be patient and understanding.

For example, in line with government guidance we have already taken the decision to close a number of our outreach venues until further notice – the four day centres and Saffron Walden Museum, as well as our customer service facilities at Great Dunmow Library and Town Street, Thaxted. Further details about these changes and the alternative arrangements will be made available via the council website and social media channels (follow UttlesfordDC on Facebook and Twitter).

We would also remind everyone about the need to play their part – please continue to follow the public health messages around what you can do to prevent catching or spreading the virus, as well as what to do if you have symptoms. More information can be found at www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/.

These are extraordinary times and the situation evolves on a daily basis. We will continue to closely monitor developments and guidance from government and Public Health England, and keep residents and businesses updated as news arises. A dedicated Covid-19 page has been set up on our website – www.uttlesford.gov.uk/coronavirus – which contains links to trusted sources of information as well as details of local service changes, meetings and events. Please do check in to the page regularly to ensure you stay informed.

Finally, we have many small and medium businesses which are vital to our communities and who will be affected more than most – please do continue to support them.

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  • For more details on this media release please contact the Communications Team on 01799 510442 or media@uttlesford.gov.uk
  • Follow us on Twitter @Uttlesford DC
  • You can also follow our Business Development Team @UDCBusiness, our Communities Team @UDCCommunities, and our jobs feed @UDCJobs
  • The Chair of the council is on Twitter and can be found @UDCChair

Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook/UttlesfordDC

Uttlesford closes venues as part of Covid-19 precautions

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Following the Prime Minister’s announcement on Covid-19 precautions on Monday (16 March), Uttlesford District Council has taken the decision to close a number of its public venues.

The government is now recommending increased social distancing and has advised people to reduce social contacts in general and avoid confined public spaces. By this weekend, those with the most serious health conditions will be told to stay at home and avoid any contact for the next 12 weeks. The focus will be on the most vulnerable including the over-70s, pregnant women and those with pre-existing health conditions.

The council has moved into an emergency planning mode of working and has set up coordinated command structure arrangements to respond to this fast-moving situation.

In line with the guidance, and as a precautionary measure, the council will close the following from tomorrow (18 March) until further notice:

  • its Customer Information Centre in Thaxted
  • its UDC Customer Service Desk at Great Dunmow Library
  • the day centres at Dunmow, Thaxted, Saffron Walden and Stansted
  • Saffron Walden Museum

Customer service facilities will remain in operation at the council’s main offices in Saffron Walden by phone as well as online at www.uttlesford.gov.uk. Revised arrangements will be put in place for face-to-face visits at the main offices shortly. Further advice will be made available on the dedicated webpage at www.uttlesford.gov.uk/coronavirus and via the council’s social media channels (follow UttlesfordDC on Facebook and Twitter).

All Saffron Walden Museum events and activities are postponed, however people can still follow the museum’s work behind closed doors via social media or the website, at www.saffronwaldenmuseum.org.

Meanwhile, the council has postponed the Planning Committee which was due to take place tomorrow (18 March). The Extraordinary Council Meeting on 31 March will still be going ahead subject to any further changes, but all other council meetings have been cancelled until further notice. The council continues to monitor the situation and will advise on the dates of all future meetings in due course.

Finally, the council is urging all residents to continue to follow the public health messages around what they can do to prevent catching or spreading the virus, as well as what to do if they are concerned about health symptoms. More information can be found at www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/.

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