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Martin Whybrow writes: I would like to start by thanking everyone involved with setting up and running the three Community Support Hubs, including all of the many volunteers and the district council. I was pleased to be able to provide support for the Hythe and Romney Marsh Hubs at the planning and set-up stages and am in regular contact with the teams at both. I have committed to help provide financial support through my KCC Community Members Grant. They are providing such vital support and reassurance during this crisis and led the way in Kent and, indeed, in the whole country in terms of a rapid, well-constructed “bottom up” response. It is testimony to the terrific community spirit across the area.
Below is a summary of some of the main areas of KCC operations:

Kent Together
Supporting the local efforts, KCC has a Kent Together call support service which, as of the end of last week, had received more than 3,000 calls and 4,500 requests for help. The number is 03000 41 92 92.

Personal Protective Equipment
KCC has a PPE Task Force which has been working to obtain PPE and coordinate stocks across the county. Since 3 April, KCC and its partner Kent Commercial Services have made over 500 separate deliveries of hundreds of thousands of items of critical PPE to care settings all over Kent – all free of charge. The Council has also worked with KCS to establish a portal for ordering stock.

COVID-19 Testing for Care Home Staff
Individuals who are eligible are those who are self-isolating, have symptoms that may be due to Covid-19 and are either:
• A staff member working within a care home with symptoms;
• Symptomatic household member of staff member.
For East Kent there is a direct booking website (details have been distributed directly to care homes).

Mental Health and Wellbeing
There is a new 24 hour service for anyone in Kent or Medway in need of mental health crisis support. Support is now available simply by texting the word “Kent” or the word “Medway” to 85258. This is the UK’s first free 24/7 text service for anyone in crisis anytime, anywhere. The service is provided by the national charity Shout and every conversation is with a human being.

Social worker recruitment
KCC has launched a recruitment drive for social care professionals to support the council’s ongoing response to coronavirus. Professionals who have recently been re-registered by Social Work England or the Health and Care Professions Council are being encouraged to join the team to help the Adult Social Care service support and maintain the wellbeing of the county’s most vulnerable people during the outbreak. There are roles available across the entire Adult Social Care service.
Kent Highways
All operational services are performing effectively, including the pot hole contractors. Drainage, landscape services, urban grass and street works continue with full programmes. Street work permits remain high with more utility companies returning to planned programmes where social distancing rules allow. UK Power Networks has confirmed it will return to routine activities and has over 2,500 jobs in Kent within its immediate backlog.

A long-term road safety strategy is under development. This will seek to use the experience of lockdown to help influence, and provide measures, to change driver behaviour and public choice on how they travel. It will look to exploit sustainable transport modes and increase public transport use.

Household Waste Recycling Centres
The Communities Secretary, Robert Jenrick, has asked councils to plan for the organised reopening of their HWRCs, with updated guidance due to be published shortly to support this. KCC has said it will seek to reopen them as soon as it is safe and feasible to do so, with effective social distancing, PPE for staff and traffic management in place, using a booking system that KCC is developing jointly with Medway Council.

Public Transport
KCC is intending to provide refunds for Kent Travel Saver and 16+ schemes. Options for this are under development.

Scams and Guidance
Unfortunately criminals are using the crisis as an opportunity to make money, including through offers to decontaminate houses; offers to do shopping or collect prescriptions; pretending to be from the local health authority or NHS and offering to carry out virus tests; and requests for charitable donations, plus a range of online and email scams. Advice and guidance is on the KCC website; the number to report potential scams is 0808 223 1133.

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Martin Whybrow writes: I would like to start by thanking everyone involved with setting up and running the three Community Support Hubs, including all of the many volunteers and the district council. I was pleased to be able to provide support for the Hythe and Romney Marsh Hubs at the planning and set-up stages and am in regular contact with the teams at both. I have committed to help provide financial support through my KCC Community Members Grant. They are providing such vital support and reassurance during this crisis and led the way in Kent and, indeed, in the whole country in terms of a rapid, well-constructed “bottom up” response. It is testimony to the terrific community spirit across the area.
Below is a summary of some of the main areas of KCC operations:

Kent Together
Supporting the local efforts, KCC has a Kent Together call support service which, as of the end of last week, had received more than 3,000 calls and 4,500 requests for help. The number is 03000 41 92 92.

Personal Protective Equipment
KCC has a PPE Task Force which has been working to obtain PPE and coordinate stocks across the county. Since 3 April, KCC and its partner Kent Commercial Services have made over 500 separate deliveries of hundreds of thousands of items of critical PPE to care settings all over Kent – all free of charge. The Council has also worked with KCS to establish a portal for ordering stock.

COVID-19 Testing for Care Home Staff
Individuals who are eligible are those who are self-isolating, have symptoms that may be due to Covid-19 and are either:
• A staff member working within a care home with symptoms;
• Symptomatic household member of staff member.
For East Kent there is a direct booking website (details have been distributed directly to care homes).

Mental Health and Wellbeing
There is a new 24 hour service for anyone in Kent or Medway in need of mental health crisis support. Support is now available simply by texting the word “Kent” or the word “Medway” to 85258. This is the UK’s first free 24/7 text service for anyone in crisis anytime, anywhere. The service is provided by the national charity Shout and every conversation is with a human being.

Social worker recruitment
KCC has launched a recruitment drive for social care professionals to support the council’s ongoing response to coronavirus. Professionals who have recently been re-registered by Social Work England or the Health and Care Professions Council are being encouraged to join the team to help the Adult Social Care service support and maintain the wellbeing of the county’s most vulnerable people during the outbreak. There are roles available across the entire Adult Social Care service.
Kent Highways
All operational services are performing effectively, including the pot hole contractors. Drainage, landscape services, urban grass and street works continue with full programmes. Street work permits remain high with more utility companies returning to planned programmes where social distancing rules allow. UK Power Networks has confirmed it will return to routine activities and has over 2,500 jobs in Kent within its immediate backlog.

A long-term road safety strategy is under development. This will seek to use the experience of lockdown to help influence, and provide measures, to change driver behaviour and public choice on how they travel. It will look to exploit sustainable transport modes and increase public transport use.

Household Waste Recycling Centres
The Communities Secretary, Robert Jenrick, has asked councils to plan for the organised reopening of their HWRCs, with updated guidance due to be published shortly to support this. KCC has said it will seek to reopen them as soon as it is safe and feasible to do so, with effective social distancing, PPE for staff and traffic management in place, using a booking system that KCC is developing jointly with Medway Council.

Public Transport
KCC is intending to provide refunds for Kent Travel Saver and 16+ schemes. Options for this are under development.

Scams and Guidance
Unfortunately criminals are using the crisis as an opportunity to make money, including through offers to decontaminate houses; offers to do shopping or collect prescriptions; pretending to be from the local health authority or NHS and offering to carry out virus tests; and requests for charitable donations, plus a range of online and email scams. Advice and guidance is on the KCC website; the number to report potential scams is 0808 223 1133.