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  5. Coronavirus (Covid-19)

Some online services unavailable on Saturday 23 November and Monday 25 November

Due to essential maintenance some of our online services will be unavailable over the next few days.

  • On Saturday 23 November between 9am–5pm you will be unable to view your council tax, council tax support and housing benefits accounts or documents while we upgrade our systems.
  • On Monday 25 November between 6–11pm our online parking services will be unavailable. During this time, you won’t be able to review or pay for parking tickets or buy parking permits or visitor vouchers.

We are sorry for any inconvenience while we carry out these necessary works.

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Covid safety during home visits from council officers

What to expect and how to stay Covid-safe if we visit your home

While Covid is still present, we are taking extra steps to protect you and our staff whenever we need to visit your home. There are a few things you can do, to help keep everyone safe.

Before a visit

Staff may contact you beforehand or speak to you at the doorstep to ask you some questions to check everyone in the household is well and to check if there is anyone who is ‘clinically extremely vulnerable’ in the household. This will help us prepare and make the visit as safe as we can. 

Please inform the team who are coming to visit you if: 

  • you are unwell with any Covid-19 symptoms (including a high temperature, a new, continuous cough or a loss of or change in your sense of smell or taste) or
  • you or a member of your household have tested positive for Covid-19 in the last ten days.

We may rearrange the visit, or if it is an urgent issue, we will take extra steps.

What you can expect from council staff visiting your home

  • While no longer mandatory, staff are strongly encouraged to wear face coverings for all home visits unless exempt or it is not practical to do so. In some cases (eg. visiting someone whose immune system puts them at risk, or if someone has tested positive for Covid-19), PPE is still advised. 

PPE guidance

  • Face coverings are now strongly encouraged for most work activities involving contact or potential contact with others. 
  • PPE is only advised in higher risk situations including contact with someone whose immune system means they are higher risk from Covid-19, contact with someone who is unwell with Covid-19, providing personal care, and transporting members of the community.

What you can do to help during your visit

  • Please consider wearing a face covering, if possible. 
  • Keep windows and doors open during the visit, where possible. To reduce the surfaces our staff need to touch on their visit, please open any internal doors to rooms the staff member may need to access. If a staff member is coming to do work in your property, please clear a working space, with household items moved away from the area the staff member needs to access.

We have made these guidelines to keep you and any staff entering your home at lower risk of transmitting or catching Covid-19. Thank you for your support during these times, and for showing kindness and consideration to our team as they do their very best to help you.

  • You should undertake a risk assessment before all home visits to check whether it is safe to visit. 
  • If someone in the household is symptomatic or has tested positive for Covid-19, you should only visit if it is urgent.
  • Visits to people who clinically extremely vulnerable (formally 'shielding' group) should go ahead with appropriate mitigations in place.
  • Decisions on how available capacity is used and visits prioritised will vary from area to area and will need to be agreed at a service level.
  • Managers should consider adapting teams and planning the order of visits to minimise risk.
  • You should undertake a risk assessment before all home visits to check whether it is safe to visit. 
  • If someone in the household is symptomatic or has tested positive for Covid-19, you should only visit if it is urgent.
  • Visits to people who clinically extremely vulnerable (formally 'shielding' group) should go ahead with appropriate mitigations in place.
  • Decisions on how available capacity is used and visits prioritised will vary from area to area and will need to be agreed at a service level.
  • Managers should consider adapting teams and planning the order of visits to minimise risk.
  • You should undertake a risk assessment before all home visits to check whether it is safe to visit. 
  • If someone in the household is symptomatic or has tested positive for Covid-19, you should only visit if it is urgent.
  • Visits to people who clinically extremely vulnerable (formally 'shielding' group) should go ahead with appropriate mitigations in place.
  • Decisions on how available capacity is used and visits prioritised will vary from area to area and will need to be agreed at a service level.
  • Managers should consider adapting teams and planning the order of visits to minimise risk.
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