Council News

• Public consultation for new ward boundaries closes on 02 August 2021.
  The Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) has announced that it is minded to recommend that the council should have 41 councillors in the future. They are now drawing up a new pattern of wards to accommodate 41 councillors and asking local people and organisations for their help to draw up the new ward boundaries across South Staffordshire District Council. 

Please share this information on the Boundary Review and the Commissions dedicated consultation section on its website https://consultation.lgbce.org.uk/node/27826, to local people and organisations. The Commission also has a dedicated section on its website to keep you up to date as the review progresses.

This stage of the consultation closes on 02 August 2021.

The Council is also responsible for producing a Warding Pattern Submission to the LGBCE, which is being led by Members through the Your Council Challenge Panel.

• South Staffordshire Community Safety Partnership (SSCSP)

Th SSCSP has been working proactively through the challenging circumstances of the pandemic to reduce crime, anti-social behaviour, and domestic abuse. Intelligence-led policing and collaborative

working has led to delivering the right kind of proactivity in respect of tackling cross border criminality, which is a particular threat to South Staffordshire and to tackling anti-social behaviour.

Victims of domestic abuse are supported through the Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) which is led by Staffordshire Police’s Vulnerability Coordinator. This very robust review process has made a huge impact for some of the most vulnerable victims.

Working with specially trained Independent Advisors through New Era (the support service for victims of domestic abuse), the partnership is challenging decision making, which has resulted in less incidents and a better quality of service for victims.

SSCSP cares about our communities and by working together is making an impact.

Serious Acquisitive Crime (burglary and vehicle crime) in South Staffordshire is down by -8% comparing this year’s figures to last year’s.  With all localities showing a reduction in crimes recorded.

• Burglary Residentials        41% down (15 recorded crimes)
• Burglary Business              12% down (6 recorded crimes)
• Theft of Motor Vehicle     35% down
• Theft from Motor Vehicle 2% down (47 recorded crimes)
• Anti-social Behaviour        20% down (153 recorded incidents)
• Domestic Abuse                  25% down (104 recorded incidents)

For more information on the work of the SSCSP please email [email protected] or call 01902 696530.

• Council Job Vacancies

Why not join our fantastic team; apply today!

• Digital Apprenticeship, closing 16 July 2021.  Application Information
• Legal Apprenticeship, closing 16 July 2021. Application Information
• Street Scene Operative – Level 4 (Arboriculturalist), closing 5pm on 19 July 2021.  Application Information
• Income and Recovery Officer, closing 5pm on 13 July 2021.  Application Information
• COVID-19 Support Officers, open closing date, Application Information 

• Next week’s Council Committee meetings

Members of the public can virtually attend meetings via Microsoft Teams – a link can be found in the news section at the bottom of the Council’s website. 

Leisure News

• Summer School Holiday Active Camps

This summer, the leisure centres will be providing school holiday activity camps which will be delivered by Aspire Sports. Whilst places at the activity camps can be purchased, there will be free places for children in receipt of free school meals which will also include a free food parcel.

The camps will be running weekdays from 2 – 27 August, 8.30-3.30pm for children aged 5-14 years.

Aspire Sports have all Covid-19 secure measures in place including temperature checks on arrival, contactless signing in and out, regular cleaning of equipment and a deep clean at the end of each day. They will utilise outside spaces where possible, and staff will be lateral flow tested twice per week. Book or find out more information here. 

• Welcome back to the good times in South Staffordshire

We have been working hard to promote businesses and public spaces re-opening in the district and have commissioned a video highlighting the amazing things South Staffordshire has to offer.

Many of our tourism and hospitality businesses are open to leisure visitors and cannot wait to greet you with the warmest of welcomes.

Right now, you can visit outdoor and indoor attractions, shops, museums, cinemas and theatres; stay in hotels, B&B’s, self-catering accommodation and campsites and eat out at pubs, cafes and restaurants, or simply enjoy a picnic in our beautiful parks.

Have a look at our exciting things to do video and plan your next amazing day out right on your doorstep!

Click here to watch a video and plan your next amazing day out right on your doorstep!

 Information and Resources
Please note: A Helpful Resources webpage on the Councils Website is coming soon. The Council News Round Up will then briefly update you on new resources that have been added to the webpage each week. 

• Community Engagement – Mental Health

Midlands Partnership Foundation Trust are undertaking a largescale transformation plan and exploring services in local communities and are inviting residents to become co-producers’ in the development of the new Mental Health Services and you can be involved as much or as little as you would like.

Whether you regularly use Mental Health Services, have used them in the past, or want to share experiences on behalf of a loved one, we would love to hear from you.

This is a great opportunity for residents to have their voice heard and make a positive impact on the development and commissioning of new Mental Health Services in their local area.

if you are interested or would like further information; please contact:

• Deborah Faulks on 07876 897098 or [email protected] 

• Protect yourself from ‘Delivery Text’ scams

If you have a habit of ordering stuff online, you’re probably no stranger to a “your parcel has been delivered” text. That’s why they’re a good way for scammers to hook unsuspecting people in and three in five of people have had fake delivery company texts over the past year.

The messages often contain a link that brings you to a scam website which collects information about you and your bank account.

There are things you can do to make sure you’re not one of the unlucky ones:

• Take precautions – quite simply, don’t click links in texts.
• Report it – you can do this by forwarding the text to 7726, the network operator.
• Contact your bank – if you’ve clicked the link and sent money before you realised it was a scam. The bank may be able to help you recover and money taken. 

• Mental Health and Suicide Prevention.

Many people are struggling with their mental health and thinking of suicide.  Brighter Futures in partnership with Together for Health are running a campaign to raise awareness around suicide and prevention (#talksuicide campaign).

• Click here for resources and organisations that can support suicide prevention.

• Click here to access the Facebook page – Staffordshire Mental Health and Suicide Prevention.
• Spotting the Risks in Vulnerable People

This is a FREE 90-minute online session delivered by Support Staffordshire, funded by Health Education England. Do you work with or support vulnerable people? Do you ever have concerns but are not really sure what they mean? Do you know how to support them? This training is open to all. Anyone who has contact with those most in need in our communities is welcome to attend.

• Please click here for further details on this training – Spotting the risks in vulnerable people.

• Supportive Communities Training

Do you support people in our communities? You may find these training sessions useful as they cover the basic elements of:

• How to effectively search for services to signpost the individuals you are supporting
• What to do if you are worried that someone is at risk of or experiencing abuse or harm
• How to help someone find simple, affordable and useful items of daily living equipment and technology.

• Please click here to for further information on supportive communities training

 COVID-19 Update

Cases are continuing to increase and whilst currently hospital admissions remain stable these are expected to rise over the next few weeks.

Unlocking the next stage on the Roadmap i.e. lifting most of the restrictions is now dependent on the Government being able to assess the following:

• The vaccine deployment programme is continuing successfully
• Evidence continues to show vaccines are effective in reducing hospitalisations and deaths
• Infection rates do not risk a surge in hospitalisations that would overwhelm the NHS
• Assessment of the risks is not fundamentally changed by new variants of concern 

The rise in cases is predominantly with the 17-25 age group; please encourage young people to get regular testing and have their vaccination to prevent passing the virus onto older relatives.

The vaccination programme is now open to anyone aged 18+. Anyone who is eligible is being urged to book their vaccine as soon as possible.

Vaccination uptake has slowed down for those aged 40+, so we need to remind people in the older age group about the importance of the vaccine.

This link contains details of the walk-in vaccinations for this week and the upcoming weekend in Staffordshire and details of how you can book your vaccination if you can’t get to a walk-in clinic.

• Euro 20

Well done England on getting through to the finals to be played on 11 July.  Let’s enjoy the match responsibly so that we can all enjoy summer without lockdown restrictions.

It’s safest to meet friends outside in the fresh air where COVID-19 particles are blown away.

However, if you’re heading out to watch the Match. Don’t forget to check in. Download the NHS app to check in and help to stop the spread.

Remember! Hands, Face, Space and Fresh Air! 

• Covid-19 Asymptomatic testing options

Asymptomatic residents are encouraged to test at least twice a week. If you test positive, please isolate for 10 days. There are three options available, of which are all free:

• Collect test kits from a pharmacy; click here to find the nearest one to you.
• Order test kits online by clicking here. These will be sent to your home address.
• Visit a test site to either collect test kits or to have a test done.
• South Staffordshire’s semi-permanent Covid-19 Community Testing site is Wombourne Library.
• Further updates on daily pop-up testing sites all around South Staffordshire can be found on South Staffordshire Councils Facebook page.

Please note: Anyone with symptoms should not attend and instead book a PCR test online here.

• Lateral flow testing Guidance

The Government has published step-by-step guides on how to do a rapid, lateral flow test at home. The guides include video demonstrations of how to carry out the test for yourself or a child as well as information on how to read and report the result.

Click here for guidance on Lateral Flow Tests and a video demonstrating how to do one.

Click here to follow step by step instructions on using a lateral flow test kit – nose only test.

Click here to follow step by step instructions on how to do a nose and throat lateral flow test.