| Look out for your voter registration details from Buckinghamshire Council |
| 01 July 2020 Buckinghamshire residents are being encouraged to make sure their electoral registration details are up to date in the annual canvass. With the first elections for Buckinghamshire Council taking place in May 2021, the canvass is an important opportunity for residents to ensure they will be able to take part and vote. The annual canvass means Buckinghamshire Council can keep the electoral register up to date, identifying any residents who are not registered so that they can be encouraged to do so. Ian Hunt, Interim Head of Democratic and Electoral Services at Buckinghamshire Council, said: “It’s important that residents keep an eye out for messages so we can make sure we have the right details on the electoral register for every address in the county. To make sure you are able to have your say at the elections taking place next year, simply follow the instructions as provided. It is really quick to confirm your registration details. “If you’re not currently registered, your name will not appear in the messages we send. The easiest way to register is online at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote, otherwise, you will simply need to confirm or amend the details following the respond method on your communication. “This year’s canvass, which we have to carry out by law, is taking place during a challenging public health situation. We are working to ensure that we take account of public health guidelines, including the continued importance of social distancing.” The council will be contacting residents by post or email between July and August. Further information, including contact details, can be found at https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/your-council/council-and-democracy/elections-and-voting/confirm-your-registered-voting-details/ ends Elections are taking place in Buckinghamshire in May 2021 The Representation of the People Act 1983 places a duty on Electoral Registration Officers to maintain the electoral register for their area and to conduct an annual canvass of all residential properties. The electoral register lists the names and addresses of everyone who is registered to vote in public elections. The register is used for electoral purposes, such as making sure only eligible people can vote. It is also used for other limited purposes specified in law, such as detecting crime (e.g. fraud), calling people for jury service or checking credit applications. The open register is an extract of the electoral register, but is not used for elections. It can be bought by any person, company or organisation. For example, it is used by businesses and charities to confirm name and address details. Your name and address will be included in the open register unless you ask for them to be removed. Removing your details from the open register does not affect your right to vote. To be eligible to register to vote a person must be: Aged 16 or over (a person may register to vote at 16, but may not vote until they are 18) A British or qualifying Commonwealth citizen who has leave to enter and remain in the UK or does not require such leave. A citizen of the Republic of Ireland or other European Union (EU) member state. British citizens, Irish citizens and qualifying citizens of Commonwealth countries (including Cyprus and Malta) can vote in local government elections and Police and Crime Commissioner elections. To date, the UK Government has not made changes to the eligibility of EU citizens, meaning at present they too can vote in these elections. Full details of the Electoral Commission’s research on the electoral registers can be found on its website. |
Category Archives: Parish Council
New Councillors needed!
The Parish Council is looking for candidates who care about local community matters and who would like to to be co-opted onto the Parish Council. If you are interested in applying or finding out more please contact the Clerk (parish.clerk@radnage.net) with a few details about yourself and your reasons for wanting to become a Parish Councillor. We very much look forward to hearing from you.
HELP FOR BUSINESSES
| Press Release from Buckinghamshire Council 12 August 2020 |
| COVID-19 business grants scheme to end ……… Last call for coronavirus business grant applications |
| Buckinghamshire small businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors that haven’t already applied for coronavirus business grants have two weeks left to claim before applications for business grants close on Friday 28 August. In addition, applications for a second phase of discretionary grants will close at midnight on Sunday 16 August. Buckinghamshire Council has already paid out £83.9 million to 6,399 eligible businesses so far since the business grants scheme was launched over three months ago in response to the coronavirus crisis. The finance team worked weekends to process the flood of applications when the scheme was first launched, and have continued to respond quickly as the number of applications has tailed off. The grants’ importance was flagged up by Cllr Katrina Wood, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member Resources for Buckinghamshire Council, who said: “These grants have been vital to our economy – helping ensure the survival of shops, cafes, hotels, restaurants and many other businesses. “They have helped local businesses meet expenses during unprecedented times when there was very little money coming in and kept them going until things started to return to a new normal. “We received just over just over £91.8 million from government, meaning we have paid out over 91% of the available funding. There is almost £8 million still available and I urge any businesses who may be eligible to apply before the closing date.” Unallocated funds will be returned to the government after Friday 28 August. Go to www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/businessgrant for details about eligibility and to apply for business grants. These grants are available to all eligible businesses and, as they are grants and not loans, do not need to be repaid. There is also still time to apply for the second phase of Local Authority Discretionary Grants which can help businesses with fixed property costs such as rent, utility and broadband bills. Information and the application form is available here https://bbf.uk.com/business-support/local-authority-small-business-discretionary-grant We are working in partnership with Buckinghamshire Business First who can help businesses with general support, advice, free webinars and information. Visit the website at bbf.uk.com or email BusinessSupport@bbf.uk.com |
Buckinghamshire Recovery Investment Fund
New grants of between £3,000 and £120,000 are now available to support businesses in Buckinghamshire looking to invest in resilience, repurposing or recovery initiatives as they prepare to overcome the challenges presented by the COVID-19 (coronavirus) crisis.
The Buckinghamshire Recovery Investment Fund, provided by Buckinghamshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), is part of a coordinated support programme for businesses, with Buckinghamshire LEP working closely alongside Buckinghamshire Business First and Buckinghamshire Council.
Andrew M. Smith, Chair of Buckinghamshire Local Enterprise Partnership, said:
“These grants are being made available to support any eligible business based in Buckinghamshire who have started to make plans for how they can recover from the current Covid-19 crisis and are looking at activity to ensure their recovery, future resilience and growth. In addition, these grants are intended to complement those national measures already in place, to support Buckinghamshire businesses during this challenging time.”
Michael Garvey, Chair of Buckinghamshire Business First, added: “Over the past few months we have heard from many Buckinghamshire businesses impacted by COVID-19. We are working hard to do everything we can to support them through these challenging times and help them not only survive but position themselves for recovery. This new fund has been set up to provide support for local businesses whose future viability has been adversely impacted, to support them to grow and flourish post-COVID.”
Match-funded grants of between £3,000 and £120,000 are available to support businesses with innovative projects that contribute towards any of the following: new income streams / product development; improvements in productivity / profitability; jobs growth; accelerated COVID-19 recovery; and future resilience.
Businesses must match-fund 25% of the total project value. For example, the minimum project value which can be supported is £4,000 (the business invests £1,000 and the grant can fund £3,000). The maximum grant value is £120,000 (meaning the match-funding required will be £40,000 for a project value of £160,000 or more to achieve the maximum grant).
Grants are available to organisations that: meet the definition of a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME); have two or more PAYE employees; are registered in the Buckinghamshire LEP area; have not received over €200,000 of de minimis aid in the last three years; and were in good financial health prior to 29th February 2020.
For further details on these grants and an application form, please go to: www.bbf.uk.com/BRIF.
In addition, any business that is being affected by COVID-19 (coronavirus), or has concerns about its future impact on business, can visit the website www.bbf.uk.com/covid-19 where the most up-to-date advice and support is available.
Green waste and food waste collections restarted and waste sites now open.
Food waste collections resumed this week! (week ending May 29th).
Five Bucks household recycling centres reopened on May 6th
Buckinghamshire Council has reopened five of its nine household recycling centres to give residents the chance to dispose of waste that cannot be safely stored at home.
From Wednesday 6 May, the Amersham, Aston Clinton, Buckingham, Beaconsfield and High Wycombe sites will be open seven days a week, 9am-6pm – the usual summer opening hours. The other four sites will remain closed for the foreseeable future. To stay within the government’s coronavirus guidelines on essential travel, however, it is important that journeys to these sites during lockdown are only made if waste cannot be stored for longer at home without causing risk to health or safety.
The health of residents and staff is always the highest priority, so everyone visiting the reopened sites are expected to observe the new social distancing measures that have been put in place. This includes traffic management to control the number of visitors at any one time. The Council warns that this could lead to extensive traffic queues building up at site entrances, so it’s well worth delaying a visit until things are a bit quieter.
Bill Chapple OBE, Buckinghamshire Council Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change, said: “The decision to reopen the recycling centres was taken after listening to residents’ concerns on extra waste accumulation during the lockdown period. We want to ensure that people who have been struggling to manage their waste are able to dispose of it properly.
“However, I must warn visitors who do feel that a trip is essential that their visit will be different from normal due to the measures we are putting in place to protect both visitors and our staff. I would also stress that we are only open for residents of Buckinghamshire and will be asking visitors for identification to prove their address.
“As part of the need to ensure social distancing, we have had to limit the number of visitors on site at any one time, so long queues to access the site are likely. I’d ask people to bear in mind that the five sites that have reopened will be open from 9 am to 6 pm seven days a week, so it isn’t necessary to rush there at the first opportunity.
“Staff will be on hand to ensure that the social distancing guidelines are adhered to, therefore we urge all visitors to be patient and leave plenty of time for their visit.
“Fly-tipping is a crime. Buckinghamshire Council takes a zero-tolerance approach to fly-tipping and will prosecute wherever possible. However, there has been some concern amongst residents that the closure of the recycling centres has led some people to either fly-tip or hire unlicensed individuals to take away their rubbish. With the reopening of five sites, it means that anyone with accumulated waste that cannot safely be stored can now dispose of it properly.”
These are the things to remember when visiting the reopened household recycling centres:
- You should only visit the site if you cannot safely store your waste at home.
- All residents visiting the site will need to observe the social distancing measures now in place. This also means no assistance for unloading can be provided.
- There will be limits on the number of vehicles allowed on site to allow for social distancing. There may be delays accessing the site and possibly queues of waiting vehicles.
- Only one person per vehicle where possible.
- Residents will be asked for their proof of address. Only Buckinghamshire residents will be allowed to use the sites.
- The existing permit system is still in place, but trailers are temporarily banned from sites.
- In line with Public Health England guidance, residents who are vulnerable, or who are showing symptoms which may indicate coronavirus, should not visit household recycling centres.
- We will continue to charge for non-household waste brought to sites.
- Because of the higher staffing levels required to ensure social distancing, we cannot open Aylesbury (Rabans Lane), Chesham, Burnham and Langley sites for the time being. These sites remain closed so please do not visit.
Press release from Buckinghamshire Council April 30th 2020
Buckinghamshire Council will restart green waste collections across the county from 11 May and also stand ready to open five of its nine household waste sites as soon as the Government gives the green light nationally.
The moves to help residents across the county deal with their additional waste were announced at Cabinet today (30 April) by Bill Chapple OBE, Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change.
Today’s announcement follows the closedown of both areas at the start of the coronavirus outbreak due to government guidance, as well as staff shortages due to sickness and those needing to self-isolate. However Bill Chapple said things had improved sufficiently to reinstate the two services.
“Coronavirus has had a massive impact on all our waste services but waste teams from across the county have worked tremendously hard to prioritise collections and keep waste and recycling bin collections going. However, we’re now fighting back and it’s my intention to get services operating somewhere close to normality wherever I can, subject to current conditions continuing.
“Bringing back green waste collections will really help residents tend to their gardens during the lockdown. I know collection crews will be working hard particularly on the initial rounds, so could I ask residents to be considerate and avoid over-filling bins or putting additional garden waste out alongside.”
Residents’ normal garden bin collection days will stay the same but the Council advises checking their website first just to make sure nothing has changed. Collection times may however change, so residents are asked to put bins out by 6.30am. In addition, no subscribers will be out of pocket while green waste hasn’t been collected as contract extensions or reduced-priced renewals are being introduced. The Council will also be reinstating its bulky waste collection service across the county.
Bill continued, “To allow residents to dispose of other essential rubbish that might be harmful to store, we’ve also been working behind the scenes to prepare five of our most suitable household waste sites for reopening. These sites are at Amersham, Aston Clinton, Beaconsfield, Buckingham and High Heavens in High Wycombe and are best able to deal with queuing vehicles.
“We’re now just waiting for the Government’s final authorisation to open and this is expected within the next couple of weeks.
“That said, sites will look and operate differently to comply with strict social distancing requirements. We’ll be adopting a ‘supermarket-style’ of operation with strict controls on the number of people entering the site at any one time and marked off areas to maintain two-metre gaps.
“As soon as we get the green light, we’ll publish more detailed guidance on when these sites will reopen and how they will operate so residents can be absolutely clear on what they need to do.
“It’s been a concerted effort from the whole waste team to find the best ways to reintroduce services given the extraordinary times we’re in and I really hope it will provide some much-needed help for local residents going forward.”
For more information, please visit www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk
GARDEN BONFIRES – Think!!
Please don’t light garden fires during the coronavirus pandemic.
As well as the danger of it getting out of control there are people in the community living with respiratory problems which could be made worse if exposed to bonfire smoke. Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service, Buckinghamshire Council have said: ‘We know it’s not easy at the moment, but please compost your garden waste where possible, and stack or bag up rubbish for disposal when the current emergency is over’.
Whilst it’s tempting to burn some garden rubbish, please, consider your neighbours and the emergency services who are already stretched and keep our communities safe.
Thank You for being a good neighbour.
BEWARE OF SCAMMERS!
| Press Release from Buckinghamshire Council 02 June 2020 |
| Trading Standards alert over ‘test and trace’ scammers |
| ‘Think before you click’ scam alerts have been sounded by Trading Standards officers to try to head off scams in the wake of the launch of the Government’s coronavirus Test & Trace system. Virus lockdown has seen an estimated 40% increase in reported doorstep, phone and email scams across Buckinghamshire, and Trading Standards say their priority is to protect residents from potential text, email and phone frauds based on the new NHS Test & Trace system. They warn people to be wary of ‘phishing’ texts and emails, to ‘think before you click’ on a link in a text or email suggesting, for example, that someone testing positive to Covid-19 had come into contact with them and recommending a click-link for more help. Fred Wilson, Buckinghamshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Regulatory Services, said:”The important thing to remember is to always be alert. If in doubt, do NOT click on any links that could send your details straight to the scammers.” He said although alerts from the NHS Test & Trace service could come by text, email or phone call, there was clear Government guidance as to how it works, and there was no need to give financial information as it is a free service. Fred said that while traditional scams targeted older and more vulnerable people, Buckinghamshire and Surrey Trading Standards warned lockdown scams are no respecter of age or socio-economic profile. Classic examples so far have ranged from emails and texts claiming you are due a refund from your TV licence, council tax or income tax, using Covid-19 as bait and providing a dodgy link, to fake texts purporting to be from the government promising a ‘relief’ payout and providing a fake link. Other scams have involved shopping orders: facemasks that never arrive, hand sanitiser that isn’t, even fake NHS lanyards for sale. “Criminals can spoof texts, making messages appear in a chain of texts alongside previous genuine messages making them look so plausible,” said Fred. “So as the Test & Trace scheme rolls out, the warning is to be very alert. Don’t give them a foothold in Buckinghamshire!” Fred said residents should forward dodgy-looking emails to the National Cyber Security Centre at report@phishing.gov.uk Lockdown scam losses could have been much worse, were it not for Trading Standards officers’ vigilance and preventive action against scam phone calls, which try to get residents’ bank details. They have supplied potential victims with free Truecall blocking devices that during four months stopped more than 1,400 nuisance phone calls, 276 of which were fraudulent, saving residents an estimated total of £830,000 in potentially scammed cash. In addition Trading Standards had 43 unsolicited calls reported. Since the Truecall initiative was started in 2014, Trading Standards report that 35,240 scam calls have been blocked, which could have cost residents in excess of £380,000 in potentially scammed cash. As lockdown scams continue, Trading Standards advice to residents is: – Be sceptical, don’t be afraid to delete the email/text or put the phone down. – Take your time, don’t be rushed. – Know who you’re dealing with: if you need help, talk to someone you know or get in touch with Trading Standards advice line on 0300 123 2329 – Protect your financial information, especially from people you don’t know. – Never engage with someone or allow them access unless you are able to verify their authenticity and who they are. Residents who are being subjected to nuisance calls can request a Truecall phone blocker from Trading Standards by emailing trading.standards@bucksandsurreytradingstandards.gov.uk Government Test & Trace guidance https://www.gov.uk/guidance/nhs-test-and-trace-how-it-works Contact tracers will: – call you from 0300 013 5000 – send you text messages from ‘NHS’ – ask you to sign into the NHS test and trace contact-tracing website – ask for your full name and date of birth to confirm your identity, and postcode to offer support while self-isolating – ask about the coronavirus symptoms you have been experiencing – ask you to provide the name, telephone number and/or email address of anyone you have had close contact within the two days prior to your symptoms starting – ask if anyone you have been in contact with is under 18 or lives outside of England Contact tracers will never: – ask you to dial a premium rate (09 or 087) number to speak to them – ask you to make any form of payment or purchase a product or any kind – ask for any details about your bank account – ask for your social media identities or login details, or those of your contacts – ask you for any passwords or PINs, or ask you to set up any passwords or PINs over the phone – disclose any of your personal or medical information to your contacts – provide medical advice on the treatment of any potential coronavirus symptoms – ask you to download any software to your PC or ask you to hand over control of your PC, smartphone or tablet to anyone else – ask you to access any website that does not belong to the government or NHS |
Doorstep scammers are taking advantage of the coronavirus emergency to con elderly and vulnerable people. There has been a rise in the number of scam complaints related to the coronavirus outbreak, according to Buckinghamshire and Surrey Trading Standards team, who are urging members of the public to be aware. Since the beginning of the month the total number of scam complaints has increased by 40%.
Latest complaints include reports of a South Buckinghamshire woman in her 80s who answered the door to a man who tried to demand £220 in cash to complete a health and safety check. Additionally, there have been widespread complaints of scammers trying to take people’s bank details to cover payments for school meals whilst the schools are closed.
Residents are also being urged to be especially wary of people offering or selling:
- Virus testing kits – these are only offered by the NHS.
- Vaccines or miracle cures – there is currently no vaccine or cure.
- Shopping or medication collection services that require payment upfront.
- Home cleaning services.
- Overpriced or counterfeit products.
Residents must also be wary of emails, texts, telephone calls and messages via social media from scammers offering refunds on taxes or bills, as these are highly prevalent.
Trading Standards have provided some helpful tips to help prevent people from becoming victims of scams:
- Don’t be pressurised into making a decision. If someone is trying to rush you or panic you, they are probably trying to scam you.
- Only purchase goods from trusted retailers.
- Be suspicious of requests for money upfront.
- Do not give your bank card or bank details to a stranger. Never write your PIN number down.
- Know who you’re dealing with – if you don’t know the person who’s offering you help then ask to be introduced by someone that you know and trust.
Gareth Williams, Buckinghamshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Public Health, said: “I am absolutely appalled that anyone would use a time of national emergency to target vulnerable and older people. This is as low as you can get.
I’m heartened by the fantastic number of people locally who want to help others, and I’d encourage anyone looking out for their elderly and vulnerable neighbours to keep an eye and ear out for these types of scammers.”
If you have information or are worried about coronavirus related scams please contact Trading Standards. You can email trading.standards@bucksandsurreytradingstandards.gov.uk or call on 01296 388788.