Category: Covid-19

Now that the Chancellor has announced the new Income Support Scheme for the self-employed, it is highly likely that a new wave of scam emails, calls and text messages claiming to be from HMRC will start to circulate. They will no doubt be offering financial help in exchange for your bank details etc. and probably contain a link where an email or text is concerned.

The messages will be scams – do not respond, delete immediately. HMRC do not contact people out of the blue asking for these details.

Be vigilant, stay safe.

Social care and NHS workers can now park free-of-charge in West Sussex County Council on-street spaces during the coronavirus outbreak.

It follows a central Government announcement that local councils in England should provide free parking in on-street parking bays and council-owned car parks for both groups of key workers.

Roger Elkins, Cabinet Member for Highways and Infrastructure, said: “Social care and NHS workers are doing a vital job, supporting the most vulnerable in our community during the coronavirus outbreak. It is only right to take away the worry of time restriction and cost as these two groups of key workers try to park safely, as close to their workplace as possible.”

Social care and NHS workers will be encouraged to display supporting evidence in their windscreens, such as photocopies of their work pass with sensitive information removed, or a letter of evidence from their employer. 

Local councils are also being encouraged to waive any fines incurred by health and social care staff while carrying out their duties in recent days. The staff are encouraged to appeal any fines, with supporting evidence of their work.

The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Robert Jenrick, has announced that local councils in England are to provide free car parking for NHS staff and social care workers during the coronavirus outbreak.

The Compass team are working to keep children and young people with special educational needs, and their families, as well informed as possible, as well as providing them with links and resources to help with home schooling. With that in mind we’ve developed a resource on our website, ‘Leisure, Learning and Lock-down’. You’ll find it here on our Facebook page https://www.compasscard.org.uk/news-and-events/leisure-learning-and-lock-down/ and also on our website here https://www.compasscard.org.uk/news-and-events/leisure-learning-and-lock-down/

The Government has issued advice about disposing of rubbish should you have a confirmed or suspected case of Covid-19 in your household. Used tissues and disposable cleaning cloths should be put into a rubbish bag. The bag should then be put into a second bag and tied securely. You should then wait 72 hours before putting it in your outside bin. You are able to dispose of other household waste as normal.

Please continue to check www.westsussex.gov.uk/coronavirus for details of any impact to County Council services. We would also advise you to check any information or updates given by your local district and borough council, as they operate your waste and recycling collections and will be able to advise of any disruption or changes.

At the present time, household recycling and waste collections continue as normal across West Sussex, and we will be supporting our colleagues at the district and borough councils to enable these to continue, but would ask residents to be sensible about their waste production.

You can also find information about recycling and waste reduction on our website; www.wastepreventionwestsussex.co.uk

All Household Waste Recycling Sites (HWRS) across West Sussex are now closed until further notice due to the current Covid-19 situation.

This is to reinforce the need for social distancing, protecting staff and highway safety. 

With high numbers of visits, the risks of spread are greater and we cannot encourage this risk or guarantee visitor or staff safety at the HWRSs. We will be looking at measures that can be taken to enable us to re-open the sites safely, but for the time being we have no choice but to close them entirely. We will issue guidance on disposal of excess waste, with the focus on vulnerable and elderly residents in the first instance. Thank you for your patience and understanding and please check the West Sussex Recycles website for updates and further information.

Registration offices are currently closed in: Burgess Hill, East Grinstead, Littlehampton and Storrington but appointments are available at the main hub locations.

Registering a death: In light of the current guidance, we are asking that only the main person informing us of a death, attends the appointment. We would also ask that anyone who is in self-isolation arranges for an alternative informant who has not been in contact with anyone who has the virus to collect the Medical Certificate of Death and attend the appointment. We apologise for any upset this may cause, but hope you understand the importance of protecting everyone’s wellbeing. Please note, the above guidance relates to registration of death appointments.

Registering a birth: we would ask that parents consider keeping those attending the appointment to register a birth to a minimum where possible, accepting that both parents need to attend if unmarried.  

For further advice please ring 01243 642122.

Ceremonies

Following the latest public health advice we have reviewed our approach to forthcoming ceremonies at both our WSCC ceremony rooms and Licensed Venues. We will be contacting couples directly to make them aware of the precautions we are taking to ensure we can deliver ceremonies in a safe way and will publish updates and responses to frequently asked questions on our website.

Understandably, we are dealing with an unprecedented volume of calls and are working our way through postponements, cancellations and questions, whilst dealing with the most imminent ceremonies first. We are committed to maintaining this service in these unprecedented times and adhering to the statutory minimum guidelines which require the couple, two witnesses and two registrars.