COVID-19 - our services

Struggling with ideas of things to do to stay active and keep your mental health in a positive place? We've compiled a list of resources across a wide range of subjects to try and provide something of interest for everyone.

• adult care support and a range of contact details
• COVID-19 help for adults with learning disabilities 

Please regularly check the Council meetings calendar for updates on public meetings. Some meetings may be cancelled, while others will be taking place online for the public to view. You will see details on the agenda for meetings taking place online about how you can submit questions or written statements for the meeting.

If you have any questions about meetings taking place, please contact Democratic Services on committee@wiltshire.gov.uk.

Coronavirus: bereavement advice and support

Visit our Coronavirus business support page.

The decision has been made to temporarily close City Hall until such a time when it is safe and financially viable to reopen. This means all performances that were scheduled to take place will now no longer take place. Staff will arrange full refunds for all people who have booked tickets.

Community Engagement Managers (CEMs)

Our CEMs are here to support your local group. They can help you coordinate, make links with other groups and organisations and be a constant source of advice and guidance. Their contact details and the community areas they cover can be found on the Area boards page.

Food banks

At this difficult time, food banks are in need of more volunteers and donations. If you are able to help in any way please get in touch with your local food bank. Food banks are there to support vulnerable people in a crisis, which is usually subject to a referral from a trusted source, such as a social worker.

• Food banks currently operating in Wiltshire (PDF) [153KB] (opens new window)  (details subject to change)

Befriending organisations

A number of befriending organisations in Wiltshire are providing support to people who perhaps feel lonely or isolated.

Take a look out our for a list of the organisations and the type of support they provide in the below table.

If you need support with payments contact us as soon as possible:

• call 0300 456 0109
• email counciltax@wiltshire.gov.uk

For more information and FAQs please visit  Council tax

• Contact council tax and benefits

Maintenance

Any council tenant with a gas safety check scheduled will go ahead as planned, as it is a legal requirement that we remain gas compliant as a landlord. All engineers will wear the appropriate personal protection equipment (PPE) and will stay two metres away from residents at all times, in line with social distancing measures. However, if you are self-isolating due to COVID-19 symptoms, or if you have underlying health conditions, or you would like to postpone your appointment, please call contractor PH Jones on 01722 413344 to reschedule your visit.

Resident engagement events and trips

All planned events and trips are postponed until further notice.

• Coronavirus: bereavement advice and support

• Parking
• Septic tank and cesspit emptying
• Streets and street care

As a precaution, our drop in service has been temporarily suspended until further notice.

We have taken this decision to minimise the risk to clients, staff and visitors, particularly those with pre-existing health conditions and those aged over 70.

For the time being, we will be operating a telephone and email service to respond to advice enquiries. Extra advisers are being deployed to operate the telephone helpline during this time. Contact details for the temporary service are as follows:

• West: 01225 718005, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm
• North: 01249 706666, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm
• South: 01722 434233, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm

You can also contact the service on homeless@wiltshire.gov.uk 

We have been delighted to reopen leisure centres and welcome people back into our facilities. The health and safety of customers and staff will continue to be our absolute priority. Please see below for details of reopening, services and facilities available and details on online booking.

See more details on COVID-19 reopening.

If you have any queries or enquiries, please contact the centre directly, via email, through Facebook or by phone. All contact details are on our webpage.

For information about Places Leisure centres please visit Places Leisure.

We are pleased to be able to offer an order and collect service, with bookable computers at a number of libraries across the county.

Find out about the library services available during COVID-19 and library opening hours at Libraries.

Some Wiltshire Council-run street markets selling essential items are  open.

Please adhere to all measures in place and take notice of the on-site signage, including staying at least two metres apart from each other and our stallholders.

View more on Street markets.

Following the latest government guidance, you can only leave home to exercise once a day. You can meet with one person from outside your household, while keeping two metres apart at all times.

• Read the Government guidance

When enjoying yourselves outdoors remember to stay safe and alert: 

• take hygiene precautions when you are outside
• wash your hands as soon as you are back indoors
• keep at least two metres apart from anyone outside your household at all times
• take hand sanitiser with you when you set off in case there are no handwashing facilities
• Wiltshire countryside update
• Rights of way

Planning applications

We are continuing to process planning applications to help keep the local economy moving, although it is possible that officers may be re-allocated to COVID-19 support work at short notice. All Planning Officers are now working from home, so please communicate with them via e-mail.

We have now stopped site visits, so we cannot currently put up site notices. Wherever possible, we are now relying on postal neighbour notifications to comply with the legislation, and third parties can continue to view details of applications on our website. However, in certain circumstances, such as alterations to listed buildings; major developments; and prior approvals, site notices are still a legal requirement. In these cases, we will seek to send them directly to the applicant and request that they are displayed. We will not be arranging any face-to-face meetings until further notice.

When submitting applications, please include photographs of the site and its surroundings. For example, if it is a rear extension, photographs showing the rear and its relationship to neighbouring properties will help the process, as we may be able to deal with some applications via assessment of the plans, photographs and online imagery. Please also ensure you do not send hard copies of applications to council offices as there may be a delay in processing these.

We have had a high percentage of applications dealt with under delegated powers for a long time, and this will continue. At present we are currently reviewing the position regarding the holding of planning committees, and note that the government has included proposals in the Coronavirus Act for handling committees, but these require the issuing of Regulations by the Secretary of State that have yet to be published. We will advise you if this impacts on your applications.

As you may be aware, the Planning Inspectorate is also affected, and is publishing updates about the impact on its service.

We have been asked about the likelihood of the government automatically extending the deadline for implementing extant permissions. This is not something that is within the control of the council and would require the government to change the planning legislation. As Parliament is now in recess, it would appear unlikely that there will be any changes on this aspect  in the foreseeable future.

The service may be hit by further restrictions imposed by the government, or by sickness, and we thank you for your continued support and understanding at this time.

Local Land Charges

The Local Land Charges team will continue to operate a service as close to normal as possible, while following all the latest guidance. Many officers will now be working from home, so please communicate via e-mail on locallandcharges@wiltshire.gov.uk. Please remember that you can submit an LLC1 (Official Certificate of Search) for £30 and receive the refined results via email. Please also be understanding about delays and changes to timescales and limit queries regarding turnaround times.

• Local land searches

Ceremonies
Register a birth

Weddings and civil partnerships 

Weddings can go ahead only in specific circumstances, such as end of life.

Funerals can go ahead with restrictions on numbers of attendees - 30 people can attend funeral ceremonies, and 15 people can attend linked commemorative events.

For more information please call 0300 003 4570 or visit the registration webpages.

Can I now register the birth of my child and notices of marriage and civil partnerships?

The Registration Service has recommenced appointments for the registration of births.  We have re-opened our appointment telephone line 0300 003 4569 to enable all new parents to make appointments for birth registrations which have occurred within our local authority boundaries.

A small number of babies born during the lockdown period from 24 March to 01 June 2020 inclusive have still to be registered.  We would urge parents who have not yet made an appointment to contact the above number as soon as possible to make an appointment booking to complete the process.

• Coronavirus: bereavement advice and support

We are currently only offering telephone death registration appointments. You must book your appointment by telephoning 0300 003 4569. The customer services officer will book you an appointment slot and you will need to be available for one hour from the start time of that appointment for the Registrar to contact you to conduct the registration. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause but these measures are in place to protect both our customers and staff.

How much will it cost?

The service is free of charge. To deal with the deceased's estate, you may need to purchase death certificates which are certified copies of the register entry. Currently due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are restricting purchase to one certificate per registration. Further copies can be purchased once the pandemic is over. There is an £11 fee for each certificate issued. We can only process card payments so please have a card available to pay for your certificate at the time of registration.

We have published some guidance for those attending funeral services during this time:

• Cemeteries and burial services
• Coronavirus: bereavement advice and support

 Information relating to schools can be found on our dedicated page.

• COVID-19: colleges, schools and early years settings

• Septic tank and cesspit emptying

We usually return to empty any missed containers the following day so please leave your bins our, although in some instances it is taking a little longer for us to reach you. We apologise for the inconvenience this may cause, but please continue to leave your containers out and we will return as soon as we can. We continue to operate on Saturdays to empty bins on rounds not completed as scheduled on Fridays.

Throughout lockdown we have managed to maintain all waste and recycling collection services, including general waste, mixed dry recycling, chargeable garden waste, and bulky household waste collections.

If you suspect you have COVID-19, put waste tissues into a plastic bag and tie it when full. You can also put disposable cloths or wipes, used to clean hard surfaces such as kitchen worktops and bathrooms, in this bag. Once the bag is full, double bag it in a second bin bag and tie it up. Store the bags for 72 hours (three days) and then please place them in your normal wheeled bin. If you don't receive a wheeled bin collection, please make sure a council-issued bag label is placed on the outside of the double-bagged waste.

Please see the latest Defra guidance on cleaning your home and disposing of waste.

Our waste collection staff are working as three-person crews, and have been closely following the guidance from government, Public Health England, the NHS and the Waste Industry Safety and Health (WISH) Forum since the start of the pandemic. This guidance has been regularly reviewed and continues to state that good hygiene is the most important control in preventing the spread of COVID-19, combined with cleaning hard surfaces in vehicles regularly. he crews are encouraged to wash their hands regularly, not touch their eyes, nose or mouth and, where possible, ventilate vehicle cabs when travelling. If staff have symptoms (or if someone in their household has symptoms) they are told not to come in for their shift and to arrange to take a COVID-19 test and follow government procedures. The WISH guidance recognises that for large rural counties such as Wiltshire, it's not possible to restrict crew sizes without having a significant impact on waste and recycling collections. The crews also work in small bubbles wherever possible and follow social distancing guidelines at all times while at the depot. By strictly following this guidance and practice, the frontline waste and recycling collections have been able to continue to operate. 

Household recycling centres

Book or cancel a visit to a HRC

Waste and recycling collections

If your collection is missed you can report it online though the missed bin collection page.

Waste collection calendar

The Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre reopens its doors to the public on 5 January.

They have new opening hours and procedures to ensure the safety and comfort of customers and staff and all visits must now be pre-booked. Opening hours and how to book can be found on Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre