East Cambs District Council, working with Cambridgeshire County Council as the lead authority of the Local Resilience Forum, is stepping up its response to the COVID-19 pandemic in order to safeguard the wellbeing of residents, staff, and members. The Council is taking a number of steps to support residents and keep its services operating.
The Council’s community hubs, which offer advice and support on a huge range of issues, will operate over the telephone, with new phone lines open for residents. Alongside this, the homeless prevention and support service continues to run and anyone concerned about a rough sleeper, or people who find themselves getting into financial difficulty with rent or mortgage payments should get in touch.
Planning and licensing services will continue as normal, waste collections also continue as normal. If you are self-isolating, personal waste (such as used tissues) and disposable cleaning cloths can be stored securely within disposable rubbish bags. These bags should be placed into another bag, tied securely and kept separate from other waste. This should be put aside for at least 72 hours before being put in your usual external household waste bin.
The Council is gearing up to implement rebilling of business rates to reflect the new discounts announced by the Chancellor, and implementation of the business hardship fund to ensure it gets to the people that need it quickly.
To limit face-to-face interaction, East Cambs have made the decision to cancel all council meetings and committees until the end of May.
In line with national guidelines set out by the Government and Public Health England (PHE), East Cambridgeshire District Council have shut their reception in Ely for the foreseeable future to end the risk posed by face to face contact between members of the public and staff.
Alternative methods of contact have been put in place to ensure that service levels are maintained throughout the reception closure.
Office hours will remain the same and services can be accessed from 08:45-17:00 Monday to Thursday and 08:45-16:00 on Fridays.
Contact numbers for services:
For all Council service enquiries other than Housing Benefit or Council Tax, please call 01353 665 555 or email customerservices@eastcambs.gov.uk
Out of hours emergencies: 07710 978 900
Homelessness & Housing advice: 01353 665 555
Community Advice and Support: 07717 498 707 or 07517 996 118
Council tax enquiries: 01842 756 569
Housing benefit and council tax reduction enquiries: 01842 756 566
Housing benefit overpayment enquiries: 01842 756 569
Business rates enquires: 01842 756 568
You can report, pay and apply for Council services online at www.eastcambs.gov.uk