Message from ERYC re provision of services

This information has been sent to Parish/Town Councils

As we enter the fifth week of social distancing measures being introduced, I am writing to update you on the current position on the delivery of some of our front line services and in particular those services delivered by the Council’s Streetscene Services. The list below provides information on which services are currently continuing to be delivered, those services that have been reduced and those services that have been suspended, as a result of the current COVID-19 situation whilst adhering to Government advice especially around distancing measures.
Work on prioritising services across Streetscene has been undertaken with an emphasis on maintaining safe roads, continuing our scheduled bin collections, ensuring our cemetery service continues and that vehicles and plant are maintained and operational for these services to deliver works for all our residents.
Staff that have seen their normal job roles reduced have been redeployed to provide capacity in these critical functions. For example we have reduced the number of staff permitted to travel in our refuse vehicles to a maximum of two, in order to comply with social distancing requirements. Additional members of the collection crews are now transported to meet up with their team in separate vehicles driven by redeployed staff. In readiness for increased absence due to COVID-19 an additional 200 members of staff have been trained in waste collection operations to supplement the service if the situation worsens.
The service area is continually monitoring and assessing the situation with a view to risk assess areas of service delivery which may be resumed. The current position on services delivered by Streetscene are listed below.

Services which are being continued:
 Household waste collection services - collection of green, brown & blue bins
 Commercial waste collection
 Bulky waste collection
 Clinical waste collection
 Street/park litter bins emptied
 Cemetery & bereavement service (office open 8.00am to 4.00pm Mon-Thurs / 8.00am to 3.30pm Fri)
 Forestry - emergency & call out service only
 Street cleansing & grass mowing - emergency/highway safety reasons
 Grass mowing of parks and open spaces (from Monday 20 April 2020)
 Schools grounds maintenance (from Monday 20 April 2020)
 Sewerby Hall and Gardens grounds maintenance (from Monday 20 April 2020)

Services suspended:
 Routine street cleansing services
 Highway verge grass mowing (Service area currently working on plans to reintroduce this service from 4 May 2020)
 Tree inspections and routine maintenance
 Grass mowing at council house gardens
 Playground inspections (includes schools)
 Markets - Bridlington, Beverley, Cottingham & Pocklington
 Household Waste Recycling Sites (HWRS) (Currently under review)
Technical Services
Services which are being continued:
 Car parks – All Council car parks and pay-and-display-bays are free in the East Riding up until 31 May 2020 to show support for the NHS and other key frontline workers at this time
 Civil Enforcement Officers are patrolling in vans and will only enforce when a vehicle is parked dangerously or causing an obstruction. Some enforcement may take place in Controlled Parking Zones should any residents report specific issues. This is following guidance issued by the British Parking Association
 Civil Parking Enforcement Notice and Appeals staff continue to work from home
 Street works staff working from home. Street works inspections continue following a slight increase in the amount of work being undertaken by utility companies
 Street Lighting – some programmed works and emergency call outs
 Gritting of roads - drivers working as normal with stringent vehicle and equipment sanitisation measures in place (Winter Maintenance to be stood down as at 30 April 2020 for the season)
 CCTV – single operators on shifts
Highway Maintenance
Services which are being continued:
 Highway maintenance and repair works continuing on a priority basis to ensure the highway network is kept open and safe for key users. We continue to work with our key suppliers to ensure availability of materials and plant to perform this key service across the authority highway network
 Highway safety inspections and response to enquiries being undertaken by area teams as mobile/agile working alone in vehicles
 Gully emptying continuing on rota in rural areas with staff observing distancing guidance
 Out of hours emergency standby cover continues as usual
 Prioritising patching, surface dressing, and larger maintenance schemes needed for asset and road safety reasons, and those works which can be carried out more safely for the public and our crews due to light traffic conditions and maintaining social distancing
Services suspended:
 Some future minor maintenance schemes, particularly in busier areas may be postponed due to the inability to practice social distancing between our workforce and members of the public, and due to an increase in some areas in the number of parked vehicles, however not those schemes that are proposed for safety reasons
Taskforce & Environmental Enforcement
Services which are being continued:
 Enforcement actions limited to safety critical issues only
Services suspended:
 Village taskforce and parish meetings cancelled this year, to resume in 2021
Fleet Services
Services which are being continued:
Vehicle Maintenance Unit
 Work on Council vehicles continues as usual with social distancing measures in place
 MOT and Taxi testing scaled down as per Government guidance, although the MOT station is still open for business
 All vehicles with MOT expiring on and after 30 March 2020 will have a 6-month extension applied
 All vehicles with Taxi Compliance Certificate expiring on and after 30 March 2020 will have a 6-month extension applied