Coronavirus (COVID-19) information for residents and businesses

Contacting the council

We have changed the way we serve you during the Coronavirus pandemic.

Whilst we are no longer offering face to face services at the Civic Offices, our team are still on hand to help you with your enquiry.

To contact our customer services team, please email customer.services@southderbyshire.gov.uk or call our team on 01283 595795. Our team is on hand Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 8.45am to 5pm, Wednesday between 9.30am to 5pm and Friday 8.45am to 4.30pm.

If you have a non-urgent enquiry, or can email your enquiry to us instead at customer.services@southderbyshire.gov.uk, this will help us to serve customers with urgent enquiries more quickly. Thank you for your understanding.

We apologise if you have a longer wait than normal on the phone lines – we are doing all we can to serve our customers as quickly as we can.

Council services and bin collections

Bin collections in South Derbyshire are currently being carried out as usual despite the difficulties caused by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

We have redeployed staff and utilised additional vehicles to ensure the collections are able to go ahead and observe social distancing.

Please make sure you leave your bin out for collection by 6am on the usual collection day.

With residents spending more time at home, we are also aware that people are likely to have more waste and recycling.

To avoid spillages please make sure you:

• close the lids on your bins
• wherever possible securely bag your black bin waste.

To check when your bin is due to be collected, check the bin collections dates section of our website.

Saturday freighter service and local household recycling centres

The Saturday freighter service has been suspended until further notice. This is to prevent crowds gathering around the vehicles.

The Bretby Household Waste Recycling Centre operated by Derbyshire County Council has also closed to stop groups gathering.

Derbyshire County Council Community Response Unit 

Derbyshire County Council's Community Response Unit is now ready to take requests for assistance from members of the community who don’t have friends or family able to help them. Help is available for people across the county if they are:

• Self-isolating because either themselves or a member of the household is at risk
• Struggling to meet basic needs because of financial, social or health restrictions
• Pregnant
• Have underlying health conditions
• Aged 70 or over.

Volunteers from over 200 different organisations will be able to help with shopping, fetching prescriptions or offering a befriending service.

If you need help, register for help on their website or call 01629 535091 (Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm and Saturdays 9am to 1pm).

Become an NHS volunteer

The NHS is calling for volunteers in a variety of simple, but vital roles: 

Community response volunteer: This role involves collecting shopping, medication or other essential supplies for someone who is self-isolating, and delivering these supplies to their home.

Patient transport volunteer: This role supports the NHS by providing transport to patients who are medically fit for discharge, and ensuring that they are settled safely back in to their home.

NHS transport volunteer: This role involves transporting equipment, supplies and/or medication between NHS services and sites, it may also involve assisting pharmacies with medication delivery.

Check-in and chat volunteer: This role provides short-term telephone support to individuals who are at risk of loneliness as a consequence of self-isolation.

To sign up to become an NHS Volunteer Responder visit goodsamapp.org.uk. Once you have registered and checks are complete, you will be provided a log-in to the Good Sam App. To let the app know you are ready to volunteer, switch the app to 'on duty', and you'll see live and local volunteer tasks to pick from nearby.

Public toilets

To protect residents, all public toilets in the district have been closed. This is to ensure public safety. We will continue to monitor the situation and re-open them as soon as possible.

Council meetings

All council meetings have been postponed until further notice.

Council events

All council run events have been cancelled until further notice, including business support events. Thank you for your understanding and we look forward to seeing you at events in future. 

If you are due a cancellation, our team will contact you to arrange this. Please bear with us whilst you wait for us to contact you as it may take us a little time - thank you for your understanding. 

Cancellations include, but are not limited to:

Cancelled business and town centre events

• Wednesday 25 March – Swadlincote Town Centre – Great British Spring Clean
• Saturday 28 March - Open Mic on The Delph
• Tuesday 31 March – Swadlincote Job Opportunities Day
• Saturday 4 April – Swadlincote Easter Extravaganza/Small Business Saturday Market
• Thursday 30 April  - Meet the Employer Event at The Pingle Academy

Cancelled Rosliston Forestry Centre events

• Saturday 28 March – Forest Bathing Walk
• Tuesdays 7 and 14 April – Wildlife Watch Drop-in Family Activities
• Wednesdays 22, 29 April and 13 May – Think Like a Tree training course
• Saturday 2 May – Dawn Chorus Walk
• Saturday 2 May – Science Discovery Day
• Every Monday – Drop-in Gardening
• Every second and fourth Tuesday of the month – Rosliston Rangers
• Every second and fourth Wednesday of the month (from 22 April) – Saplings pre-school sessions

All events at Rosliston Forestry Centre until further notice – find out more.

Cancelled Walking for Health events

• All Walking for Health events have been cancelled until 31 May. 

Cancelled Easter events

• All Easter events have been cancelled.

Rosliston Forestry Centre

Following Government guidance to observe social distancing; we have taken the decision to close Rosliston Forestry Centre.

This is to protect our staff and members of the public. We will provide more information when the centre can reopen as soon as possible.

We are not taking booking for cabins up until Sunday 26 April. Guests booked to travel between these dates should not travel. There is no need to contact us today.  We will contact you to discuss your booking. Please be patient with us, we will get to you and are working through bookings in date order.

Leisure centres

Green Bank Leisure Centre and Etwall Leisure Centre are now closed in line with Government guidance.

Parks and open spaces

Following the new measures brought in by the Government on 23 March, people are now allowed to leave their home once a day for exercise. Our parks and open spaces remain open for exercise but all playgrounds, outdoor gyms, games areas, skate parks and picnic areas are closed. 

You must not meet anyone in the park you do not live with. Please make sure you sanitise or wash your hands thoroughly after visiting our parks.

Public toilets in the parks also remain closed.

Cemeteries

All cemeteries in South Derbyshire have been temporarily closed to the public following new Government regulations. The cemeteries will remain open for burial services but these must only be attended by a minister and immediate family of the deceased.

The measures have been introduced to prevent people gathering in the cemeteries and to encourage social isolation. The cemeteries will re-open when the Government advice is changed.

Community Centres/Town Hall

Following Government guidance on social distancing, we have taken the decision to close Stenson and Midway Community Centres and Swadlincote Town Hall. We are sorry for any inconvenience this causes and will keep you updated.

Food bank vouchers

If you need a food bank voucher please email our customer services team at customer.services@southderbyshire.gov.uk or call our customer services team on 01283 595795.

We will run through a series of question with you to check your eligibility. If you qualify, you can collect the food parcel directly from the Council Offices during our opening hours via the rear entrance of the building.  Please use the customer kiosk phone to let us know you are here.

Don’t worry if you don’t have access to a phone/email, you can use our kiosk phone at the council house free of charge (during working hours). The kiosk phone is at the rear of the building (access via the outdoor corridor near the bus station) and will allow you to dial our customer services team.

When using the kiosk phone, please observe social distancing Government guidance. Thank you for your understanding.

Worried about becoming homeless? Don’t worry we are still here to help

If you are worried about becoming homeless, please email our customer services team at customer.services@southderbyshire.gov.uk or call our customer services team on 01283 595795. Alternatively, if you need to speak to someone urgently outside of normal working hours, call 0845 6058058 or 01629 532600.

Don’t worry if you don’t have access to a phone/email, you can use our kiosk phone at the council house free of charge (during working hours). The kiosk phone is at the rear of the building (access via the outdoor corridor near the bus station) and will allow you to dial our customer services team.

When using the kiosk phone, please observe social distancing Government guidance. Thank you for your understanding.

Housing repairs

During the Coronavirus pandemic, we will only be carrying out emergency and urgent housing repairs. Non-urgent repairs will not be carried out and will be rescheduled at a later date.

Emergency repairs: These are repairs where there is an immediate risk to life and limb, serious damage to a property, the security of a property or severe inconvenience to the tenant (e.g. no heating in the winter).

Urgent repairs: There are repairs where there is a danger to life and limb, a danger to property, a security risk, or considerable inconvenience to the tenant (e.g. no hot water)

Before entering a property our team will carry out an on-site risk assessment and will only enter if they have the appropriate protective equipment/clothing.

Because our phone lines are busy, please do not all us if you have a non-urgent repair request, or are following up a non-urgent repair enquiry. Thank you for your understanding.

Dropping off keys for a council property?

If you are dropping off keys, please use our letter box at the front of the council house. Please ensure the keys are in an envelope/bag marked with your name, the property address and your forwarding address. Thank you.

Council Tax support

For Council Tax support, please email our Council Tax team on ctaxnndr@southderbyshire.gov.uk or call our customer services team on 01283 595795 if you have any queries. We are available Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 8.45am to 5pm, Wednesday 9.30am to 5pm and Friday 8.45am to 4.30pm.

Struggling to make council tax payments: If you are struggling to make council tax payments as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we would like to reassure you that we will not be taking any new recovery action in April, so you will not receive reminders or summons as a result of falling behind with payments this month.

If you can pay your council tax, please continue to do so, or if you can pay a lesser amount, please do so as this will help to prevent the amount you owe from building up. We would also encourage anyone who is struggling to apply for council tax support online or email us at ctaxnndr@southderbyshire.gov.uk to see how we can help. 

COVID-19 Hardship fund announced by Government: A £500million Hardship Fund has been announced by the Ministry of Communities, Housing and Local Government to support reductions in council tax for working age people who currently receive Local Council Tax Support. We are working with the Government on plans to implement this fund and will issue more details as soon as we can (last updated 25/03/2020). 

Dropping off documents: If you need to drop off documents for the Council Tax team, please ensure they are in an envelope/bag clearly marked with the following information: 

• Your name
• Your return postal address
• And if you know it, your account number

Please then post your documents into our letterbox by the main entrance.

Returning your documents: We will return your documents to you soon as possible by recorded delivery.

Business rates support

For business rates support, please email our business rates team on ctaxnndr@southderbyshire.gov.uk or call our customer services team on 01283 595795 if you have any queries. We are available Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 8.45am to 5pm, Wednesday 9.30am to 5pm and Friday 8.45am to 4.30pm.

Business rates reliefs and grants: To find out about the recently announced COVID-19 business rates relief, grants and other support, visit our COVID-19 business support page.

COVID-19 Business Rate relief and financial support

The Government has put in place an emergency rescue package for business as a result of the COVID-19 restrictions.

South Derbyshire District Council will administer two elements of the rescue package - business rate relief and grant support.

To find out more about this and other business support, visit our COVID-19 business support page.

Benefits support

For support with benefits, please email our council tax team on benefits@southderbyshire.gov.uk or call our customer services team on 01283 595795 if you have any queries. We are available Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 8.45am to 5pm, Wednesday 9.30am to 5pm and Friday 8.45am to 4.30pm.

If you are of working age and need to apply for a working-age benefit (including child tax credit, housing benefit, income support, income-based jobseeker’s allowance (JSA), income-related employment & support allowance (ESA) and working tax credit) you will need to apply for Universal Credit.   

Dropping off documents: If you need to drop off documents for the housing benefits team, please ensure they are in an envelope/sealed bag clearly marked with the following information: 

• Your name
• Your current address
• And if you know it, your claim reference number

Please then post your documents into our letterbox by the main entrance.

Returning your documents: We will return your documents to you soon as possible by recorded delivery.

Licensing

If you need licensing support, please email our customer services team at licensing@southderbyshire.gov.uk or call our customer services team on 01283 595795.

If you need to drop off documents for the licensing team, please ensure they are in an envelope/sealed bag clearly marked with the following information: 

• Your name
• Your current address

Please then post your documents into our letterbox by the main entrance.

Returning your documents:  We will return your documents to you soon as possible by recorded delivery.

Getting you your licence: When we have processed your licence, we will send it to you by recorded delivery, so that it reaches you as soon as possible and does not disrupt your business.

Need to make a payment?

If you need to make a payment to South Derbyshire District Council, please all our touchtone payment line on 01283 595865, visit www.southderbyshire.gov.uk or call our customer services team on 01283 595795.

Social services

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, Derbyshire County Council is restricting the face to face services it offers at South Derbyshire District Council’s offices.

You will still be able to contact your allocated worker via the number you have been given.  Alternatively please contact us via one of the following options:

9am to 5pm Monday to Friday – call the team on 01629 532685

Outside of office hours - Call Derbyshire on 01629 533190

Or visit www.derbyshire.gov.uk

Registrar services

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, Derbyshire County Council is restricting the face to face services it offers at South Derbyshire District Council’s offices and will not offer walk-in support.

To make an appointment to see the registrar, call 01629 533985 or 01629 533990 or email southderbyshire.registrars@derbyshire.gov.uk  

If you have a registrar appointment, please use the buzzer next to the main door. If you do not have an appointment, but wish to make one, please call the number above. Please note that we are not able to make appointments via the buzzer.

COVID-19 updates

For the latest information on coronavirus (COVID-19) visit the Government's COVID-19 website.

The Government has also introduced an alert service for WhatsApp users. To use the service, people are being encouraged to add 07860064422 and message the word ‘hi’ within WhatsApp.

27 March 2020