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Citizens Advice Waverley Update

Maintaining access In line with the latest Government advice, from Monday 23 March we began to transition from an office based service to a primarily home-based one.  As part of this process everybody with a booked appointment at any of our offices was contacted and offered a telephone, rather than face-to-face, appointment. From Thursday 26 March our offices were fully closed to the public and we started to operate a home-based system, with just one member of our paid staff team attending each office each day to carry out vital office-based functions such as collecting and distributing post, voicemails etc. Implementing this major transition in such a short time for over 120 staff and volunteers has been very challenging for our small paid staff team.  However, I am pleased to report that we now have a full email and telephone advice service in place.  The process of providing our advisers with the ability to work from home is complicated and requires new ways of working but we expect to be up to full strength by the end of this week. Increasing demand Despite these significant changes, and the more limited ways that people can now access our services, last week we helped over 200 clients, including supporting our most vulnerable existing clients with their ongoing and often complex issues. The focus on providing telephone advice has also meant that the call answer rate on the joint Citizens Advice East Surrey Adviceline, which we form part of, has now increased to 50%.  We hope that this will improve still further when we have been able to provide more of our advisers with the technology to take Adviceline calls directly at home. New clients We also saw nearly 60 clients new to our service over the last week.  This is nearly twice the number of new clients we would expect to see in a normal week when our offices are fully open to the public. This reflects the new issues arising from the changes to people’s normal lives over the last few weeks.  These include individual financial situations that have unexpectedly become perilous, unanticipated issues with employment or a requirement to make a Universal Credit claim. Changing enquiry areas More than half of our current enquiries are directly related to the consequences of the current outbreak, including on employment, benefit entitlements and personal finances. Help to Claim Service One particular area which has seen an exponential increase in demand is around telephone advice on claiming Universal Credit, which has increased nearly tenfold nationally in the last couple of weeks. I am therefore pleased to report that the Department of Work and Pensions has recently confirmed that the contract for the national Citizens Advice’s Help to Claim service has recently been extended for a further 12 months.  This service supports people applying for the first time for Universal Credit. Citizens Advice Waverley is one of two Citizens Advice offices delivering Help to Claim telephone advice in Surrey.  Despite the recent uncertainties over the future…

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1st April 2020
Roadworks / Travel

South Western Railway Update

I wanted to update you on the work South Western Railway has been carrying out in dealing with the Coronavirus and keeping key workers moving during this critical time. Following on from the changes to the train service timetable we made last week, we have made further adjustments to our revised timetable, with extra early morning and later evening trains to better meet key workers’ travel patterns.  We have also this week made further contact with key stakeholders, including NHS trusts, supermarket distribution centres, and emergency services across our network to check our timetable is meeting their transportation needs.  Our priority is to keep our trains running for the essential service workers who have to get to work, while keeping everyone safe and helping prevent the spread of the virus. This includes adapting our cleaning regime with our heavy cleaning programme suspended so the team can concentrate on disinfecting trains, with a particular focus on key touchpoints such as handrails, door buttons and toilets. As well as overnight cleaning we have extended the turnround times of trains to allow additional cleaning, bringing in off-track staff and trainees to help disinfect the trains whilst they are in service. The reduction in the number of train services has allowed the team to concentrate their efforts on the trains still running and so help keep customers and colleagues alike safe. We have also closed our waiting rooms and are making announcements on trains and at stations to promote social distancing among those who have no option but to travel, while using all available communication channels to advise against non-essential travel and urge people to save lives and stay home. Following Government advice, we have advised many of our non-operational colleagues to work from home and are restricting the activities of our customer contact centre. Unfortunately this has temporarily hampered our ability to handle refunds, however we are currently putting plans in place to allow us to restart this process very soon; although it will take some considerable time for us to work through the backlog of outstanding claims. I know that refunds have been a major concern for many customers and I am pleased that the industry has this week announced some further policy changes which will alleviate some of those concerns such as extending the refund window from 28 day to 56 days, helping those who may be self-isolating and who feared missing out on a refund. Full details are available on our website. Throughout this challenging period, we have tried to keep everyone updated through all available channels, including twitter, our website, station customer information screens, and stakeholder emails like this one. We have, and will continue to, take on board feedback about our services and how we can best meet the needs of not just those key workers, but also of those customers who are no longer travelling and need to change their plans. We recognise that together with Network Rail we have a vital role to play in keeping…

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1st April 2020
Coronavirus / Parish Council

Football Pitches – Coronavirus measures

Following government guidance received this morning the PC has been advised that all football pitches should be closed down. To this end we will be taping up the goal posts on both Thursley Road and Burford Lodge recs. We ask that residents please respect this. The recreation grounds themselves remain open for exercise and we remind residents to observe the clear guidelines on social distancing when using them. Thank you.

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30th March 2020
Coronavirus / Parish Council

Elstead Emergency Response

Hopefully everyone in Elstead will have received the leaflet linked below now. If you are able to volunteer to help those who are in need in our village we would love to hear from you. If you need help or support please contact us and we will be pleased to arrange some help for you. There is a dedicated telephone number on the leaflet and contact form link. Register online at www.elsteadvillage.co.uk/volunteer/ Call : (01252) 411 745 (attended between the hours of 10:00 and 16:00) Helpful information can be found on www.elsteadvillage.co.uk/coronavirus https://elsteadvillage.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/EER-leaflet-26032020-.pdf

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30th March 2020
Waverley Borough Council

Community Meals Service

Subject: Borough Wide Community Meals ServiceDate: 24 March 2020 at 07:46:31 GMT We would like to ensure that you are all aware of the borough wide community meals service that vulnerable residents may wish to access during these unprecedented times. The community meals service has capacity to support more people now.  Moving forward, the Council will be looking at ways to widen the community meals service to meet demand, which we anticipate will increase.  In addition the Council will soon be publishing information online for communities about how to deliver food safely to individuals, particularly hot meals.  Correct food preparation is particularly important for older adults and those with allergies and underlying health conditions.    Each of the following centres provide their own approved hot, freshly cooked healthy meal to identified areas of the borough.  Serving Elstead - Farnham area – Brightwells Gostrey 01252 727280 communitymeals@brightwellsgostrey.org Haslemere area – Haslewey Community Centre 01428 648716 inf@haslewey.org Godalming area – Waverley Borough Council 07771 805414 mealsgodalming@waverley.gov.uk  Godalming area – Farncombe Day Centre 01483 426685 info@farncombedaycentre.org.uk  Cranleigh area – Rowleys Centre for the Community01483 277155 tina@rowleyscranleigh.co.uk 

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24th March 2020
Roadworks / Travel

46 Bus – Concessionary travel update

From Friday 20th March 2020 Stagecoach will temporarily relax time restrictions on concessionary bus travel across Hampshire, Surrey and West Sussex to allow access to our services for the elderly and vulnerable early in the morning as the coronavirus epidemic continues. It comes as supermarkets make special arrangements for exclusive early morning shopping times for these people. https://www.stagecoachbus.com/regional-service-updates/south

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20th March 2020
Waverley Borough Council

Covid-19: Joint statement from Waverley’s political leaders and the chief executive

The political leaders and the chief executive of Waverley Borough Council have agreed to use its resources to prioritise the immediate health, wellbeing and safety of local residents – especially the vulnerable – in its plan to support the community through the Coronavirus challenge. The council’s benefits, community meals, support to local businesses, homelessness, critical housing tenant support, and waste collection services will be prioritised to ensure that those who are most in need are supported during this difficult time for the borough, and for the nation. We recognise the hardship facing our borough’s struggling businesses and will implement the new scheme for business rate relief as soon as we have the Government’s criteria.We will also prioritise our support to the National Health Service and to Surrey County Council, with its responsibilities for adult and child care services. We welcome Surrey County Council’s decision to establish a single contact centre for vulnerable people. We will work with them and the voluntary sector to ensure its effectiveness – ensuring those people who kindly offer their time and support to help those in need do so in a safe and co-ordinated way. To do all this, those aspects of the council’s business that do not directly support this immediate objective will be suspended or scaled down, so that staff can be deployed to our critical priority services. This means our work on Part 2 of the Local Plan, leisure centre refurbishment plans and formal committee meetings will be deferred until 30 June. While the council remains hard at work, with many of our staff working from home, the offices at The Burys in Godalming will be closed to the general public from Monday, 23 March, with special provision for homelessness and welfare visits. The Memorial Hall in Farnham and the Borough Hall in Godalming are also closed.Further detail and decisions about council services and support will follow in the coming days. Check our website for the latest updates:www.waverley.gov.uk/coronavirus.  The council’s Executive and Opposition leaders will continue to teleconference regularly with the senior officers as we implement our response and recovery plans.We are conscious that our staff members and our councillors are also personally feeling the impact of the virus and the national recovery plan, just as our residents are. As a consequence, our capacity is reduced and will face further challenges in the coming weeks. We are proud of our staff and councillor team, and grateful for the diligent, hard work they have already put into tackling Coronavirus and supporting the people of Waverley. Cllr John Ward, Leader of the Council, Leader of the Farnham Residents groupCllr Paul Follows, Deputy Leader of the Council, Leader of the Liberal Democrat groupCllr Maxine Gale, Independent CouncillorTom Horwood, Chief ExecutiveCllr Nick Palmer, Leader of the Labour groupCllr Julia Potts, Leader of the Opposition, Leader of the Conservative groupCllr Liz Townsend, Independent CouncillorCllr Steve Williams, Leader of the Green group   For further information contact:Tel: 01483  523402Web : www.waverley.gov.ukEmail: communications@waverley.gov.uk

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20th March 2020
Read more about the article Shackleford Road Temporary Closure
Parish Council / Roadworks / Travel

Shackleford Road Temporary Closure

SHACKLEFORD ROAD (C25), GODALMING - TEMPORARY PROHIBITION OF TRAFFIC ORDER NO.2 2019 Dear Sirs SURREY COUNTY COUNCIL PROPOSE TO MAKE the above mentioned Temporary Order under Section 14(1) and (7) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, the effect of which will be to (a) prohibit vehicles from entering or proceeding in that length of Shackleford Road (C25), Godalming that extends from its western junction with Milford Road (B3001), north-eastwards for a distance of 120 metres; and (b) suspend “THE SURREY COUNTY COUNCIL SHACKLEFORD ROAD (C25), GODALMING TEMPORARY PROHIBITION OF TRAFFIC ORDER 2019” in its entirety. This Traffic Order is required to enable BT to carry out cabling works. These works are anticipated to be carried out within 2 months of the 12 month period of operation of this Temporary Order that commences on 25 November 2019. Advanced warning signs will be displayed and the temporary closure which is anticipated to be required for 24 hours each day, will only operate when the relevant traffic signs are displayed. Access for pedestrians and; dismounted cyclists and equestrians will be maintained at all times. No sole access to any property will be affected however access for emergency services, residents, businesses, pedestrians, cyclists and equestrians will be maintained at all times via the vehicular diversion route will be via Milford Road and Shackleford Road.

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25th November 2019
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