Not everyone knows this, but the City Council’s Oxford Direct Services deliver a range of services to public organisations and individuals across the County.
They state that they offer a sustainable, cost effective and high quality service that achieves environmental compliance and helps their customers save money.
An extra £1,366,292 for social care in Oxfordshire will mean people can leave hospital earlier and receive better care at home.
This comes from an extra £150m announced by the Coalition Government this week to be spent on shortening hospital stays across the country during the busy winter period.
Thanks to the Liberal Democrats, the cash can be used to access various preventative services such as better home care support, crisis response teams and specialist equipment for people in Oxfordshire.
For more information, please see the Department of Health website
Oxfordshire County Council’s Fire and Rescue Service and Trading Standards are urging people to get their electric blankets tested free of charge ahead of the approaching colder months, after nearly 40% of blankets tested last year, failed.
How to book
Testing is by pre-booked appointment only, strictly on a first come, first served basis.
If you would like to get your electric blanket tested please contact the Electric Blanket Testing hotline on 01865 815607 or email trading.standards@oxfordshire.gov.uk
Following the last very popular Ward Focus meeting, we have arranged another on
Tuesday 16 August
at Headington School
from 6.00-8.00 pm (formal meeting starts at 6.30)
There will be timed items as before so you can come and go as you please. The agenda is as follows:
6.00-6.30 Surgery time & informal chat with councillors
6.30-7.10 Open debate, current planning applications, reports from Central and North Headington Residents’ Association & from Headington School
7.10-7.30 Tell us how we should spend our ward budgets!
7.30-7.50 Old Headington conservation area – what next?
7.50-8.00 Your ideas about issues to be covered next time
8.00-9.00 Close. Ruth and David will be in the pub afterwards if you want to bend their ears further!
There will be invited speakers from Headington School, CNHRA and Oxford City Council to let you know what’s going on, and to respond to your issues.
As always, we are looking forward to hearing YOUR views about the area in which you live.
We are grateful to Headington School for providing this venue.
The County’s Fire and Rescue Service is encouraging all households within the City Area to complete a Home Fire Risk Check, have a working smoke alarm and to have an escape plan that all of the occupants are aware of.
All of the information is available on the 365Alive website. If you are aware of any vulnerable members within your area that have not already been assessed, some home visits are possible to offer advice on how to make them safer.
The Street Warden service changes today and becomes the Community Response Team, with Community Wardens having a greater focus on tackling anti-social behaviour including environmental crime and enforcement.
The new contact number is 01865 252080.
The service will provide a rapid response investigative service for the whole of the city, focused on deterring, tackling and reducing anti-social behaviour. Their main areas of work will be working with other Council teams and partners to reduce:
Interpersonal, malicious behaviour directed against an individual or group
Environmental damage
Behaviour that restricts use of public spaces
David and I can now bid for extra resource from us in any area of particular need or with specific tasking and operations, so please let us know directly if you have any concerns as well as phoning the above number.
There are an increasing number of consultations online lately from the City Council and the County Council.
It’s easy to miss out on these. The City Council is asking for your feedback on:
Parks and open spaces
Its sustainability strategy
New governance arrangements
The County Council wants you to comment on:
Design approaches to Frideswide Square
The Oxfordshire Big Debate (basically where to make cuts!)
How important is Oxfordshire’s countryside to you?
Please do send in your comments – it is becoming increasingly common for councils to say that they have consulted residents but residents tell us they don’t know these consultations are happening. That is because they are very often online, and this bothers me because I know very well that some of our residents feel ‘disenfranchised’ by not having (or not choosing to have) access to the Web.
I shall set up sticky links to the the consultation websites so that you can click on them to make sure you haven’t missed out on anything!
Here is the latest bulletin from the City Council. If you have any remaining rubbish collection issues, please let David and me know
Thursday 21st JanuaryToday we have operated a normal collection service for Refuse, Recycling and Co-mingled for Blue week customers.
Food Waste and Trade Waste collections have run to a normal schedule. In addition, we have collected Co-mingled from Red week (Tuesday) customers in
North Oxford, Jericho and NorhamGardens.Our crews have supported each other throughout the day with the refuse crews, when they had finished their schedule of work and had tipped their loads, returning to assist their colleagues who were collecting Co-mingled waste in the Rosehill area. Some crews finished their work today at 17.45.We are now operating a normal residual waste collection service across the city.
Friday 22nd January
We will run a normal collection service for Refuse, Recycling and Co-mingled for both Red and Blue customers (Friday). There will be no green waste collection.Food Waste and Trade Waste collections will run as normal.
We will also return to those areas that have missed their previous Co-mingled waste collections because of the bad weather. Our focus will be on Marston (Wednesday collection).Deliveries of bins/boxes/lilac and garden waste sacks will resume.
Saturday 23rd January
We will be collecting Co-mingled (Blue Box) from the Barton area.
We will be operating a Green Box service – area to be advised.
Sunday 24th January
We will be running a limited green waste collection service in the
North Oxford area.
A Green Box waste collection service will also operate – area to be advised.
Latest bulletin from the City Council 13/1/10 at 17.23
Today’s recycling and refuse collection services were suspended today due to the adverse weather conditions.
However, Oxford City Council, did provide a limited trade collection service in the city centre. We also operated a limited clinical waste collection service to areas that were accessible.
Tomorrow, we hope to be able to collect residual waste, weather permitting. However, we will be reviewing the situation tomorrow morning. We would advise residents to check our website for further information.
Tonight we will continue with our gritting schedule and our gritters will cover major routes throughout the city.
Tomorrow we will be clearing access routes to a number of secondary schools throughout the city.
Here is today’s update regarding what Oxfordshire County Council is doing to deal with the effects of the recent heavy snowfall and ongoing planning for the freezing temperatures forecast for the coming days.
Snowploughs and gritters have again been in operation day and night, keeping clear 100 per cent of the county’s priority routes, which amounts to more than 800 miles of road. On top of this we continue to plough a large number of more minor roads and we have done our best to grit pavements where resources have permitted.
Many routes to Oxfordshire’s more rural locations have been cleared in recent days. In large part this is due to the kind assistance of local farmers who have been using their own equipment to supplement the county council’s work. The county council is very grateful for this and wishes to acknowledge their efforts.
The operation to grit Oxford’s five Park and ride sites continues and we have also had teams out in town centres clearing snow from pathways and other areas. The council has also been focusing on snowploughing and gritting routes around schools.
As you are aware, the council’s contracted supplier Salt Union had not delivered any salt to the county since December. However, we have now received a number of lorry loads of salt. The council will be continuing to grit and snowplough throughout the weekend.
Council adult social care officers are still using 4×4 vehicles to get through the snow and access vulnerable people. There have been no significant difficulties with service delivery and senior managers remain happy with the way that services have been able to continue despite the adverse weather.
