Covid-19: School closures, business rates, waste and roads

School closures

The Government has recently announced that schools are to close from Friday for most pupils, apart from the children of key workers and vulnerable children. Further details on this will be announced in due course.

We are working with schools to ensure that virtual learning will take place wherever possible and provide support to families who do not have access to a computer or the internet.

Schools will put in place their own individual arrangements in setting work for pupils during the closure and will be in contact with parents to inform them of these.

We are also putting plans in place for children who receive free school meals and additional support at school.

We will continue to closely monitor national guidance for updates on the closures and will provide regular updates in due course.

Support for businesses

Sheffield City Council recognises that businesses are facing unprecedented times. We will do everything we can to help businesses survive and mitigate the impacts on their workforce.

In order to properly reflect the Government’s emerging schemes we are delaying the start of our 2020/21 business rate collection. No business rates payments will be requested in April until we have more detail from Government of how to administer the reliefs and grants. The earliest we will request payment is May.

For more information on this and other support available, visit: https://sheffieldnewsroom.co.uk/news/covid-19-update-on-business-rates

Waste collection services

All waste and recycling services are currently operating as normal. However it is expected that services, including bin collections, will be affected by the coronavirus.

If and when a reduction in the workforce means all waste services cannot be provided, black bin and clinical waste collections will be prioritised.

The best place to find up to date information about your bin collections is on the ‘Bin collection and service alerts’ page.

Highway maintenance

Streets Ahead is working to prioritise its highway maintenance services across the city. Over coming weeks this may mean stopping some works to ensure we can prioritise emergency, critical and key activities.

Undoubtedly, we expect the current situation will have an impact on our ability to deliver services at the same capacity and so, our programme will be subject to change with a focus on delivering works that are critical, first and foremost.

If you have recently received notice of works for your road, then please be aware that any dates proposed could now be subject to change. Similarly, if you are awaiting a response to an enquiry, this may take longer than originally anticipated.