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Author: Martin Driver

Tenants and landlords urged to get in touch if they need help and advice

4 September 2020
Martin Driver
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Categories: Front Page, Latest News

Although the Government has extended the Eviction Ban it brought in in response to the coronavirus pandemic until Sunday 20 September, Sefton Council’s Homeless Prevention Service are keen to contact tenants and landlords who may be anticipating issues now.

By contacting the team at homeless.prevention@sefton.gov.uk or by calling 07966 698 065 or 07870 379586, private rented and social housing tenants can get support to help them maintain their tenancy. The Team can also provide assistance with moving on to more affordable, and suitable accommodation if required.

Landlords facing issues such as rent arrears and late or inconsistent rent payments or who have concerns about vulnerable tenants can also contact the team for support in resolving the situation.

Cllr Trish Hardy, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Housing said: “We know that COVID-19 has had an impact on many people’s circumstances and has had a negative effect on many households’ incomes, which could make housing costs a problem.

“The sooner tenants facing problems contact us, the better the chance that we can work with them to find practical solutions that avoid conflicts, evictions and the costs of legal proceedings.

“And by working with landlords facing difficulties, we can also help them reach solutions without the legal costs and lost rent that can arise from disputes and evictions.”

Sefton Council wants to hear from tenants who have received an eviction notice or have rent arrears, who are managing outstanding and current debts and who are trying to reduce their expenses or get the most from their income.

People having problems applying for Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) and with concerns about their own or family members’ mental health, drug or alcohol issues affecting your tenancy should also contact the service.

Landlords who contact the team may be concerned about affordability issues due to a change in circumstances, anti-social behaviour, their tenant’s mental health, addiction or other vulnerabilities that are affecting the tenancy.

Cllr Hardy added: “There are a wide range of issues some of which are very difficult for any of us to face up to and talk about but our Homeless Prevention Service is there to make that initial conversation easier and then to find constructive ways to overcome the problems.

“Despite this last-minute and short-term hold on evictions for a month by the Government, I would urge any tenants who are worried to get in touch with the Team at homeless.prevention@sefton.gov.uk or on 07966 698 065 or 07870 379586, today.”

Visit the Housing section of the Sefton Council website.

Care homes, hospitals, schools among locations to benefit from new, dedicated Contact Tracing Hub

3 September 2020
Martin Driver
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Categories: Front Page, Health, Latest News

A new Contact Tracing Hub for COVID-19 infections in complex settings and cases has been established in Cheshire and Merseyside.

Led by Public Health England and the region’s Directors of Public Health, The Hub, works with the national Test and Trace programme to manage complex outbreaks of COVID-19 using data and local intelligence. It is one of many interventions put in place to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in local communities and prevent any future lockdowns or restrictions of movement.

The Hub’s purpose is to receive information from the national Test and Trace service and local authorities relating to positive cases of COVID-19 that are identified as a complex case or in a complex setting.

Complex settings include environments like schools, NHS settings like GP practices and hospitals, care homes and workplaces like office blocks and police and fire stations. A complex case may not necessarily be linked to a physical setting but could be a complex cohort like rough sleepers or members of faith communities, or complex individuals and households like those who are shielding, those with learning disabilities, substance misusers or those in complex socioeconomic circumstances.

Positive cases are triaged locally and the Hub works to identify contacts who will be asked to self-isolate for 14 days. This happens quickly, minimising the chance of wide transmission of the disease in local communities.

The Hub is currently staffed by a team of 25 local contact tracers, who have received training from Public Health England and are supported by Consultants and Senior Health Protection Practitioners. In addition, local authority teams are available to support with on-going operational issues and consequence management.

This work is a collaborative effort between Public Health England and Cheshire and Merseyside’s Directors of Public Health, and represents a scaling up of existing arrangements. It is hosted by Wirral Council and day-to-day operations are facilitated by the Champs Public Health Collaborative Support Team.

Julie Webster, Director of Public Health for Wirral and lead for the Contact Tracing Hub, said: “I am extremely grateful to colleagues across Cheshire and Merseyside, who have worked tirelessly to establish this Hub within an incredibly tight time-frame.

“It is internationally recognised that containing and managing a disease like COVID-19, especially within complex settings and with complex cases, is only achievable with robust contact tracing. I am confident that as we continue to scale up the Hub, we will play an important role in reducing the spread of the disease.

“This is, of course, only one method of preventing the spread of COVID-19 in local communities and I cannot stress enough how important it is for each and every one of us, no matter our age, to continue to maintain social distancing, wear a face mask or covering when appropriate and wash our hands regularly.”

Margaret Jones, Sefton Council Director of Public Health said: “Although children are returning to school and more people are going into work and socialising and travelling on public transport, COVID-19 is still very much with us and Test and Trace programme is an important way of helping prevent its spread, particularly in complex settings.

“This new, Cheshire and Merseyside Hub will be a vital tool in speeding up the identification process and reduce the likelihood of restrictions needing to be re-introduced locally.”

Find out more about Test and Trace.

 

New blue bins for glass recycling approved

3 September 2020
Martin Driver
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Categories: Front Page, Latest News, Waste & Recycling

At their meeting today (Thursday 3 September), Sefton Council’s Cabinet approved the procurement of new wheelie bins for glass recycling.

With the Government requiring some items of recycling waste to be collected separately as part of its new Environment Bill, Sefton Council is planning new, separate glass collections. This is due to the weight of glass collected, which is around 7,000 tonnes annually. Collecting glass separately produces much higher quality material which can be used for closed loop recycling, and used for re-melt rather than aggregate, making it infinitely recyclable into new glass jars and bottles.

The quality of the other materials (paper, cardboard and tin cans) collected in brown bins will also be much higher delivering better quality material for recycling, this is vital in improving recycling in the UK, allowing it to be reprocessed in local facilities.

Purchasing 100,000 new, blue wheelie bins will be required to achieve this plan. The cost of this and the updating of the cleansing vehicle fleet will be offset by ÂŁ400,000 of recycling income generated annually over 10 years from the Merseyside Recycling & Waste Authority, as a result of Sefton Council removing glass from its general recycling collections.

Peter Moore, Sefton Council’s Head of Highways and Public Protection, said: “This change to collecting glass recycling items will make a positive contribution to Sefton’s Climate Change Strategy as well as to the Region’s environmental impact.

“I realise it will mean we are asking residents to separate out their glass items from other recycling but residents across the Borough have been supportive of recycling and our climate change agenda, particularly as it as a way of us keeping down costs too.”

In its Environment Bill, which could become law in late 2020, the Government is asking for one ‘core’ item of recycling to be collected separately. Having reviewed the core items, due to weight of the product, the ease with which it can be separated and the potential for generating income, Sefton proposed removing glass from the current brown bin collection.

The new bins will be procured through a competitive process for delivery in February and March next year. Separate glass recycling collections would start in March and April.

Mr Moore added: “This fits well with other actions we are taking to improve waste storage, collection and recycling. This Autumn we will be providing wheeled bins to approximately 5000 houses that currently rely on black bin bag collections. and, in early 2021 European-style, communal bins to approximately 5000 others where a wheeled bin isn’t practical.”

Peter Moore also thanked Sefton Council’s cleansing teams whom he said had made a ‘sterling effort’ to provide the Borough’s residents with regular refuse collections throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

Children’s return to school is safe says Sefton’s Director of Public Health

2 September 2020
Martin Driver
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Categories: Front Page, Health, Latest News, Young People

“It is safe for children to return to school,” was the key message from Margaret Jones, Sefton’s Director of Public Health when we spoke to her about pupils returning to schools this week.

Not being at school, she said, is harmful for children’s overall well-being.

We asked Margaret about the measures being put in place for the new term to help maintain social distancing and reduce contact. These include reduced class sizes and ‘bubbles’, staggered start finishes and break times.

Margaret also stressed the ongoing need for thorough hand-washing and the importance of people showing COVID-19 symptoms – a raised temperature, new persistent cough or a loss of their sense of taste or smell – isolating and getting a test.

Here’s our interview with Margaret.

Mobile COVID-19 Testing Unit dates and locations for September latest

31 August 2020
Martin Driver
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Categories: Front Page, Health, Latest News

Mobile coronavirus testing units are scheduled to be at locations across Sefton through September .

If you have the COVID-19 symptoms of a high temperature, persistent cough or loss of taste or smell  – however mild – you should get a test.

Tests at mobile centres are available for anyone but they need to have made an appointment first at www.nhs.uk/coronavirus  or by calling 119.

Mobile Testing Unit dates and locations for September are:

  • Tue 1  – Litherland
  • Wed 2  – Litherland
  • Thu 3  – Litherland
  • Fri 4  – Litherland
  • Sat 5  – Reserve (No Scheduled MTU in Sefton)*
  • Sun 6  – Southport
  • Mon 7 – Southport
  • Tue 8 – Southport
  • Wed 9 – Crosby
  • Thur 10 – Crosby
  • Fri 11 – Crosby
  • Sat 12 – Southport
  • Sun 13 – Southport
  • Mon 14 – Litherland
  • Tue 15 – Litherland
  • Wed 16 – Litherland
  • Thur 17 – Reserve (No scheduled MTU in Sefton)*
  • Fri 18 – Reserve (No scheduled MTU in Sefton)*
  • Sat 19 – Reserve (No scheduled MTU in Sefton)*
  • Sun 20 – Southport
  • Mon 21 – Litherland
  • Tue 22 – Crosby
  • Wed 23 – Crosby
  • Thur 24 – Reserve (No scheduled MTU in Sefton)*
  • Fri 25 – Reserve (No scheduled MTU in Sefton)*
  • Sat 26 – Southport
  • Sun 27 – Southport
  • Mon 28 – Crosby
  • Tue 29 – Crosby
  • Wed 30 – Crosby

*One of the Mobile Testing Unit teams is a reserve team,  and may deployed to other Merseyside locations on these days.

Walk-through test centres, opposite Bootle Town Hall and at Southport Town Hall, are open from 8am to 8pm. You need an appointment from www.nhs.uk/coronavirus   or by calling 119 or the Council’s Contact Centre on 0345 140 0845.

The September dates for Mobile Testing Units , which are supported by Sefton Council, NHS Southport and Formby CCG and NHS South Sefton CCG, follows on from a timetable that saw units deployed across Sefton Borough nearly every day in July and August.

 

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