March 22, 2020

Staff at Mid Devon District Council are working tirelessly to ensure our services continue to operate within our communities. In light of the Government’s action to limit social contact and travel, as well as our own reduction in staff numbers, the Council must now adapt its working to ensure services are prioritised according to need.

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Staff at Mid Devon District Council are working tirelessly to ensure our services continue to operate within our communities. In light of the Government’s action to limit social contact and travel, as well as our own reduction in staff numbers, the Council must now adapt its working to ensure services are prioritised according to need.

We have taken the decision to significantly reduce the public opening hours to Phoenix House and from Monday 23^rd March our opening hours will be:

10am to noon on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Phoenix House will be closed to the public all day on Wednesdays. Even when the offices are open we would urge anyone who can to access our services online rather than in person.

We are working closely with our partners including other local authorities, Public Health England and Central Government to ensure the public continue to receive services such as waste and recycling collections, access to benefits and use of our three leisure centres.

Our efforts to support local businesses are also at the forefront of the work we are doing and we are actively working with Central Government to secure prompt access to funds for small and medium businesses across the district.

The Council has also suspended all polls with immediate effect. This includes by-elections that are already underway, therefore the Tiverton Town Council by-elections that were scheduled for 16 April 2020 and the Taw District ward by-election scheduled for 7 May 2020 will be postponed until further notice.

Stephen Walford, Chief Executive, said: “ I want to reassure you that we have continuity plans in place to ensure we can flex our resources and alter our services when we need to.  It may mean there are changes to the way we work and how you receive these services but please be assured that we are working to a plan that will ensure our work is sustainable for the long term while we are faced with this crisis. This a challenging time and people will undoubtedly be anxious about the situation and what tomorrow may hold. I would encourage you all to be supportive of your friends, colleagues and neighbours who are all alongside you facing this together.”

Leader of the Council, Bob Deed, said: “ All our members are looking out for their communities at this worrying and uncertain time.  I am confident we have a team of staff who will do their upmost to keep the council running in a way that supports our communities at a time when they need it most.”

Please visit our website or follow us on social media @MidDevonDC for further updates. You can also sign up to receive news email alerts directly from the Council. https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/UKMIDDEVON/subscriber/new

To access our online services please visit www.middevon.gov.uk/do-it-online