Delivery of Critical Services
We continue to provide critical services and these are currently operating without issue.
Shielding
We received a list of 164 new names yesterday, bringing the total number of residents on the shielding list to 4442.
Covid Testing
Residents who meet the eligibility criteria can access Covid testing at Prestwick Airport. The service currently has capacity and residents can check if they qualify and book a test at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/apply-coronavirus-test
Private Water Supply User Assistance
As a consequence of the very low rainfall we have experienced recently, Environmental Health have been contacted by two private water supply (PWS) users requesting assistance with an emergency supply. We have contacted the Scottish Government and Scottish Water who have supplied emergency supplies of bottled water so we can assist those PWS users who are uffering a scarcity of supply. We have also advised SEPA of these requests for their records. South Ayrshire residents with PWS supply issues should contact Environmental Health for advice and assistance by calling 0300 123 0900.
Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs)
As detailed in previous Briefings, Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) across Scotland are currently closed in line with national guidance in response to the Covd-19 pandemic. As it stands, travelling to a recycling centre to dispose of excess household waste is not classified as an essential journey and would therefore be open to challenge by Police Scotland.
We cannot re-open centres until these guidelines are changed. Councils in Scotland are working together through the Waste Managers’ Network, CoSLA, SOLACE, SEPA, Zero Waste Scotland and the Scottish Government to develop a Scotland wide approach to the re-opening of HWRCs. A recent State of Readiness survey across all councils in Scotland suggests that councils would require on average 2-3 weeks to re-open after any change to national guidelines is made. In anticipation of this, in recent weeks we have been working on our own plans and are close to finalising arrangements for each site in South Ayrshire. Given the work already undertaken by the service, we would expect to be in a position to re-open HWRCs within a week to ten days of the guidelines being altered.
Unlike many other authorities, we are continuing to provide a full household collection service, other than special uplifts, and this should mitigate to some degree the impact when centres re-open. We do, however, anticipate that many residents will want to take their excess waste to a centre in the days immediately following re-opening, resulting in queues. We are therefore considering the use of temporary sites in key locations to alleviate pressure during the first two weeks of opening. We have engaged with an external Traffic Management organisation to draw up plans for each centre and have begun discussions with local Police to analyse and organise likely additional support requirements.
We are also developing a communications plan to try to prevent congestion at sites. We will provide further updates when any change in national guidance is announced.
Supporting Unpaid Carers
South Ayrshire Carers Centre is supporting unpaid carers to cope with the (COVID-19) pandemic. As well as providing practical and emotional support, the Centre has produced a letter which carers can use as identification when they are accessing goods and services for those they care for e.g. collecting prescriptions or shopping. All unpaid carers currently registered with South Ayrshire Carers Centre will be issued with the letter over the next two weeks. Carers can find out more by contacting the Carers Centre on 01292 263000, at https://www.facebook.com/SouthAyrshireCarersCentre or by email.
Support For Local Businesses
The Economy and Regeneration Team launched the sixth issue of their e-magazine Business Beat. This issue focusses on funding your business during the pandemic.
Communication
In addition to the regular information and updates which we provide in a range of ways, we are focusing each week on how the council has made a difference to people during the pandemic. This week we are covering some of the key achievements to date. This will be communicated in a number of ways including through a press release and social media.
A new resource has been published to support community organisations to carry out their vital work safely during the Covid-19 outbreak.
A direct link to the resource is available here:
https://www.scdc.org.uk/supporting-communities-safely
The resource is designed to be interactive and they will seek to respond to questions and observations from users and update where appropriate.