Hampshire County Council has said that preparations are underway to safely reopen household waste recycling centres in the week commencing 11 May. This date is subject to further guidance expected from the government this week on travel to a household waste recycling centre during the COVID-19 outbreak.
At its online meeting on Monday night the Parish Council gave £500 to Citizens Advice. Here’s why it’s needed:
“Citizens Advice Basingstoke and Tadley are continuing to provide essential services during the COVID-19 outbreak, using emails and web chat instead of face-to-face meetings to support residents while protecting its volunteers and the public. Their staff are available to support residents with issues, COVID-19 and non COVID-19 related, such as benefits, housing, debt, employment and consumer rights.
“The majority of enquiries Citizens Advice has received during the ongoing pandemic have focused on initial claims for Universal Credit and questions about furlough, such as how pay and benefits may be affected. If you receive any queries on these topics, please signpost your residents to Citizens Advice Basingstoke through:
– the general advice line – call 0300 3309 064
– the Universal Credit claims advice line – call 0800 328 5644 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm)
– online web chat – visit www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/contact-us/contact-us/web-chat-service/
For more information, visit www.basingstokeandtadleycab.org.uk/citizens-advice-basingstoke“
Approved minutes of the March council meeting are now available
In line with the government’s revised legislation, the council will be holding its April meeting online at 1930 on Monday 27 April. We’ll be using Microsoft Teams: just click on this link to join. See the detailed instructions for full information.
Download the agenda and supporting papers here.
As this is the first online meeting and we’re not sure how easy it will be to manage, it would help to know how many members of the public might be joining. If you intend to join, please could you email me beforehand?
This is extracted from the daily-ish update to parish councils. We’ve been told by BDBC it’s for councillors only and we can’t post the whole thing here, but here’s an extract:
[A] careline that has been set up [that] will be monitored during office hours. As a result, we are encouraging all residents who need support, or relatives worried about a family member, to get in touch via our email address – .
See https://www.basingstoke.gov.uk/car-parking-charges.
Residents are being urged to stay at home to save lives following reports of fly-tipping at bring bank recycling sites. For more information on how to recycle more while at home visit www.basingstoke.gov.uk/recycling.
SWR will reduce the number of services it will be running from Monday 23 March, following the Government’s announcement urging people to avoid all but essential travel in order to help limit the spread of the highly contagious COVID-19 virus.
The spread of the COVID-19 means like at most other organisations, more of our staff are having to follow advice to stay at home unwell and self-isolate for up to 14 days.
By reducing the number of trains running, we can focus on ensuring a reliable timetable for passengers who still have to travel, especially healthcare professionals, police and fire service workers.
We are asking all passengers to follow the Government’s advice to avoid all but essential travel. But those passengers who do have to use our services should check before they travel.
Our colleagues on the front line are working very hard to ensure that those who need to travel get to where they need to be, when they need to be there, and the rest of the business is focusing on supporting them.
For more information about what else we’re doing to help stop the spread of coronavirus, please visit: www.southwesternrailway.com/coronavirus
Thank you in advance for your support during these very difficult times.
Yours sincerely,
Mark Hopwood
Managing Director
South Western Railway
Basingstoke council issued the following advice on 20 March:
Supporting the vulnerable and elderly in our communities
You may have had people in your areas asking you how to volunteer to help vulnerable and elderly people while they are following advice to self-isolate or reduce social contact. The borough council is partnering with Basingstoke Voluntary Action (BVA) to co-ordinate support for vulnerable residents during the COVID-19 outbreak.
BVA is bringing together a community network to support community organisations and understand where additional support is required across the borough. The partnership seeks to enhance the significant community work already taking place across the borough and provide a source of further information and guidance.
Working closely with BVA, the borough council will also support residents with the latest advice and help match suitable volunteers to community groups across the borough. This includes answering queries around offering your services as a volunteer, setting up your own group, operating effectively and how to support volunteers.
If you know of any groups that are setting up in your area please let them know to visit www.bvaction.org.uk/coronavirus-volunteering or call 01256 423852 to register and find contact details for accessing guidance and support.
Here are the agenda and supporting papers for the meeting on 23 March 2020. All are welcome but, due to coronavirus, we will be operating a policy of social distancing and attendees will be required to sit at least 1.5m apart.