This week’s news from around the Council.

• LEPs visit to i54 South Staffordshire

Work continues on the i54 South Staffordshire business park extension and Chairs of two Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) have been checking on progress. Find out why they view it as essential to their regions in this video.

• Superfast Staffordshire

This month, Staffordshire County Council announced that it is adding funding to top up the funding available from the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme, which grants an extra £2,000 per premises with broadband speeds of less than 30mbps, taking the maximum support to £3,500 per resident and £5,500 per business. This scheme will run until March 2021 or until the funding becomes fully allocated.

Gigabit-capable broadband connections offer the fastest and most reliable speeds available, and the Government is committed to a vision of a digitally connected Britain. Homes and businesses in rural areas of the UK may be eligible for funding towards the cost of installing gigabit-capable broadband when part of a group scheme. Rural premises with broadband speeds of less than 100Mbps can use vouchers worth £1,500 per home and up to £3,500 for each small to medium-sized business (SME) to support the cost of installing new fast and reliable connections. Attached are frequently asked questions and for further information, email [email protected] or visit www.gigabitvoucher.culture.gov.uk/Staffordshire. 

• South Staffordshire Review Magazine

This week, the latest issue of the South Staffordshire Review Magazine started to be delivered to all households in district. This issue includes community news, information and advice about coronavirus and where you can get support if you need it, and planning and business news.

• COVID-19 – new measures introduced this week

This week saw the introduction of new measures to suppress the virus and keep the number of infections down. Click here to view FAQs about what you can and can’t do.

• From Monday 14 September in England, the Government introduced the rule of six. This means that people cannot meet socially in groups of more than six people. This applies in any setting, indoors or outdoors, at home or in the pub. It does not apply to schools and workplaces and COVID-Secure weddings and funerals are exempt as are organised team sports. The ban will be set out in law and will be enforced – for those that don’t comply there will be a £100 fine and fines will double on each offence up to a maximum of £3,200.

• Hospitality venues such as pubs and restaurants now need to legally record the contact details of a member of every party and record and retain these details for 21 days and provide them to NHS Test and Trace without delay when required. Fines will be issued against hospitality venues if they don’t do this and if they fail to ensure their premises remain COVID-Secure.

• COVID-19 essential information

• Wash hands, cover face, make space

Please remember the ‘One metre plus’ social distancing rule. This means that where it is not possible for people to stay two metres apart, they should stay one metre apart and take additional measures to protect themselves such as wearing a face covering, increased use of hand sanitiser, sitting side by side rather than face to face, or meeting outdoors to reduce the risk of transmission.

• Face coverings – In England, you must wear a face covering by law in a number of indoor settings – click here for more information. Please remember that some people are exempt from wearing a face covering so in settings where face coverings are required, there may be people who are not able to wear a face covering. Please be mindful and respectful of such circumstances. The reasons for this may not be visible to others. Always #BeKind.

• NHS test and trace – click here to find out more.

If you develop symptoms, get a test as soon as possible. Do not wait. To get a test, you will need to apply online on www.gov.uk or call 119. Depending on how many days have passed since you started to develop symptoms, you will either take a home test or be tested at a test site. The test involves taking a swab of the inside of your nose and the back of your throat, using a long cotton bud.

The NHS test and trace service is a vital tool and helps control the spread of coronavirus. In England, you will be contacted by the service if you test positive for COVID-19 and you will be asked where you’ve been recently and who you have been in close contact with. This will help the NHS contact anyone who may have caught the virus from you. All information you provide is confidential and no one who is contacted will be told your identity. Anyone you’ve been in close contact with will be told to stay at home (self-isolate) for 14 days. This is because it can take up to 14 days for coronavirus symptoms to appear.

Remember – the NHS test and trace service will not ask you for bank details or payments, ask for details of any social media accounts, ask you to set up a password or PIN number over the phone, or ask you to call a premium rate number, such as those starting 09 or 087.

• National fitness day next week

Wednesday 23 September 2020 sees the return of National Fitness Day, which encourages the nation to celebrate the fun of fitness and physical activity across the UK. It’s a day when people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities come together to celebrate the fun of fitness and the Council’s four leisure centres in Codsall, Cheslyn Hay, Penkridge and Wombourne will be joining in and helping celebrate the role that physical activity plays in the UK and encouraging people from all walks of life to celebrate fitness. This year’s theme is ‘Fitness Unites Us’ and the recent reopening of the leisure centres following the easing of lockdown restrictions means that now, more than ever before, we want to encourage people of all ages and fitness levels to be active.

Take part and be part of the conversation using the hashtags #Fitness2Me and #FitnessDay to tell us what fitness means to you.

www.facebook.com/NationalFitnessDay

www.nationalfitnessday.com

• Leisure Centres update
• Codsall Leisure Centre – The sports hall is reopening from Wednesday 23 September 2020. Bookings are being taken from today and you can view the new protocols in place on the Leisure website.
• Wombourne Leisure Centre – Active Youth gym sessions started this week and will run every Wednesday from 4pm to 5pm for 13-16 year olds and cost £2 per session. Booking is essential and places are limited. The leisure centre is also restarting its Youth boxing fitness class on Mondays from 4.45pm to 5.30pm for 10-16 year olds. To book, call 01902 898202.

• Staffordshire History Festival

The annual Staffordshire History Festival continues its two-month celebration of local history and cultural heritage in Staffordshire and beyond. This year’s festival is a virtual programme of informative posts, quizzes, videos, live online events, crafts and activities for children and families and information about how to participate is being posted on Staffordshire Libraries Facebook page during the festival. History days in October include:

• The Staffordshire Hoard – Thursday 1 October 2020.
• The Home Front and the 1940s house in the Second World War – Thursday 15 October 2020.
• Staffordshire History, Heritage and Legends – Thursday 29 October 2020. 

• Together we win!

Now more than ever, good causes in South Staffordshire need your support. One way you can help is by buying a lottery ticket in our weekly Community Lottery and as well as supporting a good cause you might even win a cash prize ranging from £25 up to a jackpot of £25,000. To buy a lottery ticket, simply register on the website www.southstaffslottery.co.uk or telephone 01902 213777. The next super draw also takes place on 31 October 2020 so there’s a chance to win a family forest staycation voucher worth £500 too, redeemable with Forest Holidays.

• Council job vacancies
• Solicitor – application information.

Closing date – Friday 25 September.

• Administrator (12 month fixed term) – Internal only – application information.

Closing date – 25 September 2020.

• Enterprise Manager – application information.

Closing date – 5 October 2020.

• Benefit Assessment Officer – application information.

Closing date – 9 October 2020.

• Next week’s Council Committee/Panel meetings
• Overview and Scrutiny Committee – Tuesday 22 September 2020 – 6.30pm – virtual meeting on Teams.
• Standards and Resources Committee – Thursday 24 September 2020 – 2.30pm – virtual meeting on Teams.

Members of the public can virtually attend these meetings via Microsoft Teams – links can be found in the news section on the Council’s website at www.sstaffs.gov.uk.

Everyone is encouraged to submit news items, please email: [email protected]