Town & Parish Councils Covid Bulletin
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Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update Briefing- May 2021 1. Weekly Coronavirus statistics Latest Coronavirus statistics as of 28 April 2021. You can also find the full infographic here. We publish the latest infographic across our website and social media channels each week, so please share with your followers, aloing with any other COVID-19 updates we publish. For sharing 2. Mobile COVID-19 Tests Mobile testing coming to Flitwick We are rolling out a fleet of mobile COVID-19 test and collect buses to make it even easier for you to get a rapid test if you don't have COVID-19 symptoms. The new service will provide testing kits and show you how to take a test on site first to ensure you feel confident to use them at home. The first buses have been operating in Leighton Buzzard and Houghton Regis. From this week more buses will be on the road, starting with Flitwick on Friday. We also aim to launch in Biggleswade soon. The mobile service replaces the testing sites that have been operating at the leisure centres in Biggleswade, Flitwick and Dunstable which have now closed. Testing at the mobile buses is free and there is no need to book an appointment, you can just turn up. Staff will be on hand to help you self-test, demonstrate how to do the tests at home and give away home testing kits. There will be help on hand if you need it. Update briefing for Town and Parish Council Clerks and Chairs The testing is free, easy and quick. With around one in three people who have coronavirus showing no symptoms, regular testing is vital to help identify more people who have COVID-19 as early as possible and help to reduce the spread of the virus. We recommend getting tested twice a week, 3 to 4 days apart. If you have COVID-19 symptoms The rapid test centres are for people without symptoms. If you have symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19), you should ask for a PCR test to check if you have the virus. You can book a home test or a test at a PCR centre. You can request a test online via the NHS website. Where to get your rapid test You can collect up to 2 packs of 7 tests from our new mobile testing centres in Houghton Regis, Leighton Buzzard and Flitwick. And from 11 May, you will be able to collect a home test kit from any library in Central Bedfordshire. Houghton Regis Day Centre, 12, Parkside Drive. Monday 11am to 7 pm Tuesday 11am till 7pm Thursday 11am till 7pm Friday 11am till 7pm Leighton Buzzard Duncombe Drive car park Monday 9am to 6pm Tuesday 8am to 5pm Thursday 9am to 6pm Friday 8am to 5pm Flitwick Village Hall, Dunstable Road, Flitwick, MK45 1HP Friday 7 May 8am till 5pm Monday 11 May 9am to 6pm Tuesday 12 May 8am to 5pm Thursday 14 May 9am to 6pm Friday 15 May 8am to 5pm More information You can get test kits from participating pharmacies or order a pack of 7 tests for home delivery from the UK government website. Find a pharmacy where you can collect rapid tests Order rapid lateral flow home test kits on GOV.UK: 2 Update briefing for Town and Parish Council Clerks and Chairs If you do tests at home, you'll need to report your results online or on the phone. Your pack will include details of how to do this and what to do next. Find out more here. For sharing 3. Return to physical meetings At the Corporate Resources OSC on 29 April Members were briefed on the outcome of a High Court decision in relation to remote meetings. As a result of this decision the Council must recommence face to face committee meetings from 07 May 2021 onwards. These meetings will be delivered in line with the government’s guidance ‘COVID-19: Guidance for the safe use of council buildings’ updated 29 April 2021. 4. Business Grants Applications for Restarts Grants, which replace the national scheme of Local Restrictions Support Grants, opened on 6 April and payments are being made on an ongoing basis in order of when the team receive applications. So far, 938 businesses have applied for this grant and we have awarded over £3.1m in government funding. Applications for this grant close on 30 June. Please note that businesses which applied for the Local Restrictions Support Grant (LRSG) need to apply separately for the Restart Grant. For more information, including application forms for grants please visit our website. For sharing Other News 5. Council offers businesses free incentive via Experience Bedfordshire Businesses that rely on visitors and tourists are being offered the opportunity to promote their business for free via Experience Bedfordshire, on a first come, first served basis. Central Bedfordshire Council is funding membership for 65 businesses to sign up to Experience Bedfordshire, a tourism organisation that promotes the whole of Bedfordshire, to give businesses a boost as the tourism sector reopens in line with the Government’s roadmap. Experience Bedfordshire is the Destination Management Organisation for Bedfordshire and is open to a range of businesses, including hotels, tourist attractions and restaurants. We are pleased to be supporting businesses that have been hit hard by the pandemic sign up to Experience Bedfordshire to help boost their profile as they reopen. The visitor economy is a key sector for the Council and our ambition is to secure, sustain and grow businesses and jobs in this sector. Experience Bedfordshire welcomes the Council’s incentive offer as a really positive opportunity in supporting the area to open back up and to help those businesses most affected by the pandemic. As the Destination Management Organisation for Bedfordshire, we are here to help support the Visitor Economy businesses in Bedfordshire, and part of that role is to encourage visitors to the area; therefore the more that this offer is taken up, the greater the return for the area. Businesses can sign up to Experience Bedfordshire by emailing [email protected] For sharing 3 Update briefing for Town and Parish Council Clerks and Chairs 6. The Great British Spring Clean (GBSC) The Great British Spring Clean (GBSC) takes place from 28 May to 13 June 2021 The Great British Spring Clean takes place between 28 May and 13 June this year. We are again asking Town and Parish Councils to confirm your participation with us and to register your litter pick on the Keep Britain Tidy website, where you can also order bags for collecting the litter. We will provide guidance on managing volunteers and collecting litter safely and adhering to the guidelines as we move out of lockdown. This is the 6th year of the GBSC and all of our litter picking kit has been distributed to participating Town and Parish Councils in previous years so those items should be reused. Our waste contractor, FCC has agreed to pick up larger quantities of waste and you will need to let us know a location that this should be collected from; somewhere suitable where the contractor can access it easily and where it will not attract fly tipping. Smaller amounts of litter can be added to household waste or recycling bins and will be collected as part of the household collection. 1. If you would like to get involved this year, make sure you also register your litter pick by visiting The Great British Spring Clean. The website has lots of useful information, posters and logos to help with your local promotion. This year the KBT website is also offering the opportunity to order bags and purchase equipment too if required. 2. Please can you also let us know by emailing Community Engagement Team by 12 May and include the following: - Where, when and at what time(s) you plan to do a litter pick - How many volunteers you hope to engage in your event (approx.) - Name / contact details of the group taking part (email/phone) - the location that collected litter should be collected from (ideally we’d suggest keeping the bags at a village hall until the day of collection (as most litter picks take place at the weekend in many cases the contractor won’t be able to collect the bags until Mon/Tues). 3. Remember, government guidelines and social distancing, litter picking should only be undertaken, in pairs or small groups of people, and you must read the guidance provided by Keep Britain Tidy. 4. Please remember that we cannot collect litter from any private land and please make sure that you do not pick near busy roads (over 30mph) and always have safety in mind whilst litter picking. 5. Finally, we would be really grateful if you could take lots of photos of your litter picking that can be used in future publicity – and if possible also let us know how many volunteers were involved and how many bags were collected so that we can celebrate community action and volunteer effort. For further information please contact Community Engagement Team or the Environmental Services team [email protected] 7. S106 Parish Reports The latest S106 Parish reports have now been updated on the website. For sharing 8. SEND Consultation relaunches We have relaunched a consultation on proposed changes to special schools and additional resource provisions within mainstream schools, to support children and young people identified with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). 4 Update briefing for Town and Parish Council Clerks and Chairs This is part of Schools for the Future programme, which is a long-term plan to raise education standards and make sure Central Bedfordshire area has the right schools, in the right places, delivering the best education.