Dear Residents,

Staffordshire County Council have provided the following information

Covid Winter Heating Support – Now taking referrals ONLY

Thank you to everyone who shared the message about the covid winter heating support scheme. The scheme is helping eligible residents to pay their heating bills and keep their homes warm.

With your help we have received over 1,100 requests for support. This is an incredible turn out, however, it is a lot more than we anticipated.

Due to the volume of requests, we have decided to temporarily shut down the online application form. This will give our team the chance to get on top of the applications and make sure that everyone who has applied is spoken to.

However, we do not want to leave anyone struggling, so we are still accepting direct referrals into the scheme from professionals. This means that if you come across a resident in need, you should make a referral on their behalf. This will enable us to prioritise the most vulnerable. 

You can make an online referral by visiting – www.staffordshire.gov.uk/covidwinterrefferal

Just to remind you, we are able to support residents who:

1. Are struggling to pay their fuel bills
2. Have a broken heating system

We will be able to give residents:

1. Up to £200 worth of financial assistance to pay their heating bills
2. Emergency radiators and a winter warmth pack if their heating is broken. We will also investigate whether a long-term central heating solution could to be installed at a heavily discounted rate.

Staffordshire County Council need your help – volunteer to help our Covid response

Early in the pandemic, Staffordshire County Council asked for volunteers to help make sure critical services could continue in the face of rising Covid-19 cases. More than 700 of you volunteered, which meant vital tasks, like caring for the vulnerable, could continue. We’re calling on our army of volunteers once more, to help at this critical stage of the pandemic. The NHS will soon be rolling out mass vaccination centres in the county and is looking for our support to man the centres and to make sure priority groups get the vaccine. Likewise, our hospitals also need support.

We also need support at our testing centres, and to identify and contact people in the care sector who are eligible for the vaccine. Helping in these critical areas means we can test more people, make sure those who need vaccinations get them in good time and free up hospital staff with clinical experience to help in critical areas.

We’ve made a commitment to provide support where we can. If you think you can spare some time to help, either inside or outside of work hours, please speak to your manager first and sign up to I Count.

For more information on the opportunities available, visit I Count on the Do It Staffordshire platform.

Please help if you can.

“Entitled To”: Online Benefits Checker

“Entitled To” is an online benefits checker, enables residents to easily input their details and find out what benefits they may be entitled to.

We are encouraging people to use it directly themselves, but the county council are keen for all their provider services, staff, partners and volunteers to promote it with residents.

The e-video link shows how simple it is to use. The calculator is free to use, and it should only take 10 minutes to complete – all details provided are anonymous.

Please find below a link to the latest weekly list of planning applications.

http://www.eaststaffsbc.gov.uk/planning/applications-and-decisions/weekly-list/documents

Dear Residents

Staffordshire County Council have provided the following information:

Families who are struggling financially could get up to £200 financial help to pay their heating bills. This support is part of the covid winter grant scheme.

Financial support will be given to families as pre-paid meter credit or be paid directly to their energy provider to add credit to their account or to clear prior debt.

Families in an emergency situation who do not have heating, will also get portable heaters delivered within one week and a winter warmth pack including hats, scarves, blankets and gloves. Their information will also be shared with the Staffordshire Warmer Homes scheme which will help to get a long term heating solution in place.

This fund is limited and will be allocated on a first come first serve basis. We know that most residents who will need support are already known to parish councils and other services. That’s why, this week we are asking you to share the information about the scheme with your councillors. We hope that councillors will encourage residents to apply for the support on a 1:1 basis or make referrals into the system before we launch the fund publicly.

Residents can apply online at www.staffordshire.gov.uk/covidwintersupport.  If residents do not have access to the internet, councillors can make referrals through the website with their permission, or they can apply over the phone by contacting ‘Beat The Cold’, a local charity who are helping us to deliver this scheme on 01782 914915.

Dear Residents

We have been asked to pass on this survey details.

• Last year Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI) supported 38 farming families in the county, with an associated expenditure of £66,191 (the most supported county in the West Midlands).  Income was a fantastic £20,824!
• Today sees the launch of the #BigFarmingSurvey and they are hoping to gain 26,000 responses nationally.The survey can be seen here http://ex.ac.uk/BigFarmingSurvey or for those who’d like to request a printed copy to be sent to them please email FarmSurvey@exeter.ac.uk

  In addition, 28,000 farms will be mailed by University of Exeter, printed copies will also appear in two editions of Farmers Guardian, one of Farmers Weekly, in the Feb issue of NFU British Farmer & Grower, Farming Wales and Student Farmer and also in the CLA magazine. This really is going to be the largest farming survey of all time.

Dear Residents

We have been asked to provide the following information and link to a survey about your experience of accessing your GP.

The Survey acknowledges the following

“It is essential that primary care services remain well informed of all ranging public experiences to demonstrate a compassionate and rational understanding of real time barriers, challenges and themed feedback opinions of accessing primary care. Successively, primary care services can continue to strive to meet patient needs through responsive and reactive shared community  intelligence.

Considering this, we are calling out to residents of Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent to share their feedback experiences of accessing primary care services. Feedback items could include, small or large, positive or negative outcomes around:

1. Successfully accessing an appointment
2. Accessing digital appointments
3. Failed attempts to access an appointment
4. Obtaining appointments with suitable health professionals
5. Barriers that prevented you accessing primary care
6. Waiting times and delays
7. Communications

The Access to Primary Care survey can be accessed via the link below

https://engagingcommunities.researchfeedback.net/s.asp?k=160819527945

Dear Residents

We have been provided with the following information about the EU Rules and guidance for Business.

Please use the website below for further information

https://www.wmgrowthhubs-eusupport.co.uk/

£5m funding to support Staffordshire business through the pandemic

A raft of new support programmes for small businesses and apprentices is set be launched through a Staffordshire councils’ partnership.

This will add to the package of support already being delivered by the county council and programmes by a range of other organisations, including central Government.

By pooling a targeted county council investment with district and borough council support funding, the programmes could get off the ground and benefit small businesses imminently. The three programmes would also be topped up by Government funding and other sources. With all combined funding, the total value of the schemes would be £5million.

What does it mean?

1) More funding on top of the Additional Restrictions Grant – Each borough and district council has an allocation of funding from the Government to support small businesses impacted by the pandemic called the Additional Restrictions Grant. The county council will invest £860,000 towards the scheme and run all three on behalf of the partnership if approved.

2) Contributing to the cost of apprentices through  ‘The Staffordshire 500’   Apprentices Wage Support programme  – Supporting smaller businesses not paying into the national apprenticeship levy by contributing to the cost of the wages of 16 to 24 year olds.  This  could create up to 500 apprentices.

3) Up to £5,000 for re-training through the  ‘Nil Cost Training for Employers Top-up Project’ – Offering businesses the opportunity to up-skill employees or train new staff if looking to change  business operations or enter  new markets. Up to £5,000 would be provided and matched through other funding sources. Up to 400 Staffordshire businesses could be supported over the next 15 months through the programme.

4) The Small Business ‘To Thrive’ Financial Support programme  – would offer grants to small businesses between £2,000 and £5,000 to cover expenditure costs. Applicants would need to demonstrate all the measures they have put in place to remain open during the restriction period.

Watch this space for more information when the new initiatives go live.

Staffordshire County Council business support already in place includes:

1) Over £615,000 in start-business support, including:

• The Start-Up Programme of free online webinars and training  – get your business going
• The Start-Up Loans Scheme – of £3,000 to £5,000 for people who have completed the Start-Up Programme
• ‘Ignite’ – the start-up programme supporting students to start up their own business

Dear Residents

We have been sent the following, please complete as requested.

Today we’ve launched the ‘Your police. Your voice.’ survey, and we’re urging you to get involved and give your feedback on crime and policing in Staffordshire.

The survey is anonymous and should take less than 10 minutes to complete.

You can access it online until noon Monday February 8^th 2021 by visiting www.staffordshire.police.uk/yourpoliceyourvoice

We are keen to understand the issues that matter most to our communities, and your feedback will enable us to get a better understanding of these issues to ensure that services and resources are being delivered in the best way to address any concerns. Ultimately this will help us to continually improve the service we deliver across the county and help the force achieve its vision of a safer Staffordshire.

If you are unable to complete this electronically you can request a hardcopy by emailing campaigns.engagement@staffordshire.pnn.police.uk