Children across Gedling borough who are eligible for free school meals are set to benefit from a national voucher scheme.
Gedling MP Tom Randall has welcomed the new measure, which will allow youngsters to continue to access the provision from home.
Borough schools can now provide every eligible child with a weekly shopping voucher worth £15 to spend at supermarkets while they are closed due to coronavirus.
Schools can continue to provide meals for collection or delivery themselves, but where this is not possible, the scheme will allow schools to provide vouchers to families electronically, or as a gift card for those without internet access.
Pupils eligible for free school dinners will be sent a food voucher
The vouchers can be spent on food at a range of shops including Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Waitrose and M&S and the government is working to get more shops to join the scheme as soon as possible.
Gedling MP Tom Randall said: “This is welcome and very reassuring news for many families across Gedling borough and will help to ensure children get healthy nutritious meals out of school.”
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson added: “I recognise that the unprecedented action this Government is taking to protect the country from coronavirus, including closing schools, is dramatically affecting the lives of many families.
“I want to thank schools for the support they are continuing to provide to families during such uncertain times.
“No child should go hungry as a result of the measures introduced to keep people at home, protect the NHS and save lives. That’s why we are launching this scheme to make sure children who usually benefit from free school meals still have access to healthy and nutritious meals while they are not attending school.”
Parents will receive the voucher through their child’s school, which can then be redeemed online via a code, or sent to their house as a gift card and used at supermarkets across the country.
Gedling Borough Council is to suspend all car parking charges with immediate effect as part of its ongoing strategy to maintain critical services and reduce the risk of Coronavirus spreading.
The council, last week, announced that car parks near play areas and parks would be closed except to Blue Badge holders and a decision has now been made to suspend any car parking fees in the council’s town centre car parks to free up staff to work on maintaining the council’s critical services.
The suspension of all car parking charges will help reduce the risk to staff who are employed to manage council car parks and parking enforcement. It will also give residents more time to park when travelling for essential shopping as shops and supermarkets are rightly implementing social distancing techniques to protect staff and customers. It also reduces the risk of infection by stopping people from having to obtain a ticket from the machines at car parks.
Government advice is clear that residents should only travel when absolutely necessary and only for essential shopping visits whilst complying with social distancing measures.
Leader of Gedling Borough Council, Councillor John Clarke said: “As people continue to follow the government’s guidelines and stay at home to protect our NHS and save lives, we are continually looking at ways to reduce the risk to our staff and make it easier for residents to park when travelling for essential shopping and for them to not have to worry about touching parking machines. We would normally offer two hours free parking so, for the time being, people can park for longer without having to display a ticket.”
Mourners should keep two metres apart at funerals being held in Gedling borough and only members of the same household and close family should attend, according to new guidance issued by the Government’s health agency.
Public Health England (PHE) said on Tuesday that funerals must be conducted in a manner consistent with social distancing principles to avoid the further spread of Covid-19.
It also said that relatives should avoid “close contact” with anyone who has died with symptoms of the virus.
Gatherings of more than two people and all public events including weddings have been banned since March 23 in a bid to contain coronavirus, but funerals were exempt.
PICTURED: Gedling Crematorium
Anyone with symptoms of Covid-19 should not attend funerals, PHE said in advice published on the Government’s website.
It added there was a “small but real risk” of the transmission of the virus from the body of the deceased.
PHE said mourners are strongly advised against any “rituals or practices that bring them into close contact with the body of a person who has died from or with symptoms of coronavirus Covid-19″.
It is common in Catholic countries to hold wakes with the deceased’s body in the room the day before burial or cremation.
Other cultures take part in the washing of their late relatives.
PHE said any close contact with the dead should only be carried out using proper personal protective equipment (PPE).
It won’t have escaped anyone that we are in for some challenging times.
As such, Gedling Eye wants to extend a helping hand to any local businesses in desperate need of talent.
We are inviting borough-based companies to send us their job ads that we will run for free on this website so that local people can peruse and apply for new opportunities.
If you’ve been laid off amid the coronavirus pandemic, keep your eyes on Gedling Eye because we’ll be running ads for jobs.
If you’re hiring people on account of a surge in demand for specific resources, or for other reasons, let us know, and we’ll publicise the fact for free every Friday in a roundup of the jobs that we’ve been made aware of.
Things we need to know include: job title, location, key skills and where our readers can apply or find out more info.
With all the uncertainty there’s been in the last few weeks, and the raft of announcements from the Government, it can be a little confusing as to exactly what help is available.
As well as attempting to get on top of the escalating health emergency, the Government has also laid out numerous schemes in an attempt to halt the economic slowdown.
The latest GDP figures are expected on Tuesday, March 31, and it is widely expected the current lockdown will negatively impact the country’s growth.
Technically, talk of a recession is still distant – two consecutive quarters of negative growth are required for this.
But the Government hopes the wide-ranging schemes it has outlined could help keep this talk as distant as possible.
With many businesses in Gedling borough working hard to keep afloat, we’ve set out what help is available to them.
1. The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
In terms of the cost to the Government, this is the big one.
The taxman will reimburse 80 percent of workers’ wages – up to £2,500 per month – if they have had to be temporarily laid off but are still on the payroll. These are known as ‘furloughed’ workers.
It’s designed to stop companies having to make people redundant.
It can also be backdated, to March 1, and initially lasts for three months, although chancellor Rishi Sunak has said this will be extended if necessary.
You’re eligible if:
It provides help to any company with a Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax scheme which was set up on or before February 28.
Companies also have to have a UK bank account.
How to get it…
You’ll need to apply to the Government for this one. You can do that here but not until around the end of April.
2. Business rates holidays
This one is sector specific, and only applies to retail, hospitality and leisure businesses, most of which have been told to close by the Government.
It will mean shops, restaurants, cafes, pubs, cinemas, live music venues and hotels – among others – no longer have to pay any business rates in the upcoming tax year – from Wednesday, April 1.
You’re eligible if:
You can get this tax holiday if your company fits in one of the criteria set out here
How to get it:
You don’t need to do anything. The new business rates bill will be recalculated by your local council and sent out to you.
In some places – including Gedling – bills had already gone out before the new measures were announced, but these should be ignored and companies should wait for a new bill.
The Government has pledged to pay 80% of employees’ wages for three months
3. Support for firms with existing business rate relief schemes
One-off grants of £10,000 are being paid to small businesses which are already in receipt of either small business rate relief or rural rate relief.
You’re eligible if:
You’re an English business that occupies a property, and you were receive small business rate relief or rural rate relief from March 11
How to get it:
You don’t need to do anything. Your local council will write to you if you’re eligible.
4. VAT bill holiday
Companies which have a Valued Added Tax (VAT) payment due between March 20 and June 20 can get a three-month deferral.
Companies also have the choice to pay the bill now, if they want.
You’re eligible if:
Your company is VAT registered and has a VAT payment due within the two dates above
This gives an extra six months for income tax self-assessment.
You’re eligible if:
You are due to pay your second self-assessment payment on July 31. You do not need to be self-employed to be eligible for the deferment.
How to get it:
It’s automatic, with no applications required
6. Support for businesses paying statutory sick pay
Employers who have paid out statutory sick pay for an employee who has been off work as a result of COVID-19 can claim back a refund from the Government
You’re eligible if:
You’re a UK-based company with 250 employees or fewer.
How to get it:
TBC. The Government is still working out the finer details, and these will be announced in due course.
7. Grants for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses
The Retail and Hospitality Grant Scheme provides businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors with a cash grant of up to £25,000 per property.
You’re eligible if:
Your business is in the retail, hospitality or leisure sector, and has a rateable value of under £51,000
How to get it:
You don’t have to do anything. The council will write to you if you’re eligible
8. Support for nurseries
With many parents keeping their youngsters at home, nurseries have come under significant pressure.
You can get a business rates holiday from April this year until April 2021.
You’re eligible if:
You’re on Ofsted’s early years register, and your occupied building is wholly or mainly used for the provision of the early years foundation stage.
How to get it:
You don’t have to do anything. Councils will re-issue you with a bill
9. Loan scheme
The Government’s temporary coronavirus business interruption loan scheme supports small and medium-sized companies with access to loans, overdrafts, invoice finance and asset finance of up to £5 million and for up to 6 years.
The Government is providing the 40 lenders with a guarantee of 80 percent on each loan.
You’re eligible if:
You’re a UK firm with turnover of less than £45 million a year, and you’re not a bank, trade union, political organisation or insurer. If one of the 40 lenders turns you down, you can apply to others.
Gedling borough’s bulky waste and glass collection services are being suspended due to council staff shortages.
Gedling Borough Council today said it has made the decision to stop all bulky waste and glass collections from Tuesday, March 31 ‘to ensure its critical waste collection services can continue to be prioritised’.
The council blamed reductions in staffing levels and an increase in the amount of waste being created due to people staying at home in response to the Coronavirus outbreak.
Staff from other areas of the Council have been redeployed and trained up to assist waste collection but the pressure on COVID-19 is placing on the council’s frontline workers means there are currently insufficient crews to maintain all waste services at this time.
PICTURED: Gedling Borough Council
Gedling Borough Council said a decision to suspend bulky waste and glass collections ‘will be kept under constant review’.
Any residents who have bulky waste collections already booked will be contacted and given the option to have a refund or to rearrange the collection at a later date.
Portfolio Holder for Environment, Councillor Peter Barnes said: “The decision to suspend collection of bulky waste and glass has not been taken lightly, but it will have the least impact on residents and allow us to prioritise the other more critical waste services.
“For the last couple of weeks our heroic workers have worked hard to maintain all our collections, but it is clear that this is unsustainable at the present time and creates uncertainty for residents.
“Our staff are working tirelessly to make sure we can get the bins emptied especially now more people are at home and, naturally, creating more waste than normal so we need to factor this in.
He added: “We are incredibly grateful for residents’ patience, support and understanding at this difficult and challenging time.”
Neighbourhood police officers have been patrolling Gedling borough to enforce social distancing measures.
Officers are enforcing the government’s latest guidelines to help stop the spread of coronavirus.
Sgt Mike Ebbins from Carlton Neighbourhood Police Team, said “It is pleasing to see that most of our community are taking heed of the government’s advice by staying at home and not gathering in groups.
PICTURED: The new measures are to halt the spread of coronavirus
“People need to be sensible and continue to adhere to the simple instructions provided.
“My team are there to stop groups of people congregating and to ensure people are only making essential journeys. If you have questions or concerns feel free to speak to the officers from a safe distance.
People can only leave their homes for one of the four following reasons: shopping for basic necessities; one form of exercise per day; any medical need or to care for a vulnerable person; or for travel to work if absolutely necessary.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in an address to the nation on last Monday, said police will have powers to enforce these rules.
People in Gedling borough are being warned not to fall for a new scam text message doing the rounds which claims they have been fined for stepping outside during the UK coronavirus lockdown.
This is the latest in a series of fake texts doing the rounds that are related to the virus and claims to be from the Government.
It tells the recipient their movements have been monitored using their phone and they must now pay a fine or face a more severe penalty, the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) warned.
The scam appeared after Police were given powers to issue on-the-spot fines to those flouting the new measures put in place during the lockdown to prevent the spread of the virus.
CTSI lead officer Katherine Hart said the texts should be ignored.
“I am appalled and infuriated at the ways unscrupulous individuals exploit this situation,” she said.
“Anyone who receives this text should ignore it. It is simply another ruse to steal the payment details of users. Do not “click or tap on any links” in potential scam messages.”
Those who ignore the new tougher restrictions could be hit with a £60 fine initially and another for £120 for a second offence.
