Hunts District Council COVID-19 Update – Offord Cluny & Offord Darcy Parish Council

For all of us, the last few days have seen us having to completely re-think the way we work in the short term to aid our communities to tackle the new challenges COVID-19 is throwing our way. Chief amongst your responsibilities is to cascade information about key district council services and other important national information to your wider village and town communities. With this in mind, please find below all of the relevant and up to date links and contacts for best supporting the residents and businesses in your area:

HDC Services

HDC COVID-19 dedicated webpage:

Please direct people to this webpage for the latest updates on how the district council services are running, this page is being updated regularly throughout the day. The webpage can be accessed here: https://huntingdonshire.gov.uk/serviceupdate

Information for local businesses:
· There is a dedicated webpage for local businesses to access information about business rate relief, access to support and other measures that have been introduced by the government. It can all be found in one place here: https://huntingdonshire.gov.uk/investhuntssupport

· The Council are also issuing letters imminently to every business ratepayer in the district which will contain information on how to access new guidance and support that the government has announced.

Impact on waste services:

· Due to the coronavirus outbreak and potential increases in staff sickness levels, some recycling and waste services may be impacted. This may result in general rubbish being prioritised, other services being suspended at short notice, such as organic waste, recycling or bulky waste collections.

· Services offered and operating hours may also change at Recycling Centres. We are working hard to minimise the impact on your recycling and waste collections and we appreciate your understanding if services do change. We are monitoring the situation closely but should the situation change we will be altering the service accordingly. Currently, all collection crews are deployed so services are running as normal.

· Any individuals asked to self-isolate, either as a precaution or because they are confirmed to have coronavirus, should follow this advice to get rid of their household waste to ensure the virus is not spread via personal waste. Individuals should place all personal waste such as used tissues and disposable cleaning cloths, securely in a plastic bag or bin liner. This plastic bag should then be placed in another plastic bag and securely tied. These bags must be stored separately to other waste for at least 72 hours before being placed in the general rubbish collection. After 72 hours outside the body, the virus is no longer viable and the double-bagged waste can be put in the general rubbish collection as normal. Only heavily contaminated waste, such as tissues that have been coughed in and disposable cleaning cloths need to be treated in this way. Regular household recycling and waste should be treated as normal. Please note, individuals who are self-isolating should not visit any recycling centre.

National Advice

Key worker definition:

Following the Government’s announcement that schools are to close from Monday until further notice, except for children of key workers and vulnerable children, please see a link for the government guidance on who qualifies as a ‘key worker’: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-educational-provision/guidance-for-schools-colleges-and-local-authorities-on-maintaining-educational-provision

Guidance for charitable organisations:

Please cascade this link to any contacts you know who have links into the third sector: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-the-charity-sector