Funerals, parking, pest control and homelessness - the latest coronavirus guidance from Durham County Council

It is just one in a package of measures announced by Durham County Council following the latest government advice on Coronavirus and the lock down announced last night (Monday, March 23).

Other changes include a reduced park-and-ride service for Durham City, limits on the number of people who can attend funerals and weddings and the partial closure of some parks.

Oliver Sherratt, Durham County Council’s head of direct services, said: “We are following Government guidance in relation to limiting the spread of Coronavirus and are encouraging residents to practice social distancing as much as possible.

“We would like to reiterate again how important this is, particularly when outdoors enjoying our open spaces.

“It is vital we all do our bit in this difficult time and protect the most vulnerable in our society.”

Funerals

The number of people attending funeral services will be limited to a maximum of 15 people, in line with social distancing guidance.

But the county council has also said it will cover the cost of webcasting services at its facilities for anyone unable to attend.

Bins and recycling

All tips and household recycling centres are ‘closed until further notice’.

Normal rubbish and recycling collections will continue as normal for now, but households have been asked to park considerately to make sure bin lorries can get into estates and down narrow lanes.

Bins should still be put out for 7am on the usual collection day, although collections may take place at different times.

All garden waste collections have been delayed until Tuesday, April 28, but the county council has assured households they will ‘still receive all 17 collections as part of their subscription’.

Car parks

All parking charges at Durham County Council car parks, both on and off-street, will be scrapped to ‘assist key workers’.

County chiefs expect to see a fall in the number of people using the council’s car parks, but add ‘the situation will be monitored over the coming days’.

Transport

Park and ride services for Durham City will be cut and the Howlands service will stop from tomorrow (Wednesday, March 25), although the car park will remain open.

The Belmont and Sniperly park and rides will continue running services to the city centre and the University Hospital of North Durham (UHND).

Parks and beaches

The county’s parks, such as Hardwick, Wharton, Riverside, remain open ‘for now’, but bosses also say this could change in line with government advice.

However, play facilities at these locations will be closed, as will the county’s beaches.

Customer Access Points

Customer Access Points will be closed to avoid unnecessary contact between staff and the public, but online and telephone enquiries will still be answered.

Pest control

Bookings will only be accepted for treatments of ‘rats, mice, bed bugs, cockroaches and fleas’, although this will be reviewed weekly.

Details of other services that have been impacted are as follows:

Housing, the homeless and rough sleepers

The council has issued advice to anyone sleeping rough or staying in temporary accommodation or hostels today.

Those who feel unwell in temporary accommodation should alert staff, avoid having visitors to their rooms and make sure any shared bathrooms or kitchens are cleaned after use to stop the spread of the virus.

Rough sleepers with symptoms are being urged to let a day centre, outreach team or local support service aware of their situation without going to them in person.

As a result of the Coronavirus, the council’s Housing Solutions will no longer be offering face to face housing advice but they will continue to operate a telephone and email service.

Businesses

The council says it is working tirelessly to implement the range of Business Rates reliefs and grants announced by the Government. Having only received the government guidance in the last few days we have prioritised applying all the rate reliefs to businesses who qualify.

This has now been completed with revised bills showing the new discounts going out today. In total, rates liabilities have been reduced by £44million for next year under this scheme.

The council is now implementing the Government’s Small Business Grant Fund and the Retail, Hospitality & Leisure Grant Fund payments, which will see grants of £10,000 and £25,000 being paid to qualifying businesses. It is contacting qualifying businesses to make them aware of their eligibility for these awards and to collect the information we need to process the payments in line with government guidelines.

Details of how qualifying businesses can provide the authority with the information we need in order to process the payments will be posted to its website and via Business Durham later today.

In total the council expects to pay grants totalling around £77million under the Small Business Grant Fund and around £12million under the Retail, Hospitality & Leisure Grant Fund and says it is doing everything it can to make those payments as quickly as it can.

Advice

One Point Family Centres and Hubs will only be able to offer advice, guidance and signposting over the phone on 03000 261 111. Further advice and guidance, including around mental health and wellbeing for families can be found at www.durham.gov.uk/coronavirus

If you have concerns about the safety of a child or young person please get in touch with our First Contact service on 03000 26 79 79. If you are worried about your child’s health please contact your GP or call 111. If you need to contact your 0-19 Growing Healthy Team County Durham (Health Visiting and School Nursing ) please ring our Single Point of Contact on 03000 263538.

The council continues to urge residents to follow government guidelines around staying at home unless it is absolutely necessary and observing rules regarding social distancing.