Category Archives: Surrey News Updates

Young Carers’ strategy: young people and parent survey

Overview

Surrey County Council and Health and Social Care partners are refreshing the Young Carers’ Strategy which will inform services for young carers in Surrey.

They would like to hear from young people and parents to help them better understand young carers’ services and how these can be improved. They would like to know a bit about your lives and your experience of any support received.

The survey is open until Thursday 1st July and can be completed by young people and parents. Young people may need help from an adult to answer their questions.

The survey will take around 10-15 minutes to complete. There are up to 28 questions for young people and 23 questions for parents / guardians. 

Answers to the survey will be used only to inform the Young Carers’ Strategy. All findings will be anonymous and will not affect your access to any services.

Young carers and parents of young carers who complete the survey will also have the opportunity to be entered into a prize draw for a chance of winning a trip to Thorpe Park! This will cover 4 entry tickets and travel (if required). At the end of the survey you will be asked for your details so we can enter you into the draw (young people must have their permission from parents to enter). 

Here is a link to the survey.

A message from South Western Railway as passengers return to the railway

From: SWR Stakeholders
Sent: 17 May 2021 18:22
To: nikki.barton@haslemeretc.org
Subject: A message from South Western Railway as passengers return to the railway

Dear Nikki,

I thought you might be interested in the below press release, which sets out the work we at South Western Railway have completed since the start of the pandemic to improve and upgrade our network. As you can see, improvements range from extra waiting shelters to better Wi-Fi. 

As restrictions lift further and people begin to return to the railway, I am sure that this announcement will be of interest to your constituents 

If you have any questions, please let me know. 

Best wishes,

Phil Dominey
Senior Regional Development Manager

South Western Railway (SWR) is looking forward to welcoming customers back to a more punctual, reliable and energy efficient network, following a year-long programme of extensive improvements made possible by low passenger numbers.


Since the first national lockdown in spring last year, passenger numbers on SWR’s network have remained consistently low compared to pre-pandemic levels. However, SWR has continued to run reliable services for people who need to travel and stepped up cleaning regimes to keep customers safe.
At the same time, SWR took the opportunity to work on initiatives that would have otherwise taken much longer to deliver, and created more disruption, had they been attempted when passenger numbers were at 100 per cent.


To list a few:
• 1456 train doors have been checked – and, if necessary, fixed. Doors that don’t open and close safely and smoothly can cause delays.
• Seven “Duty Control Managers” have been employed to lead the Control Room and make journeys smoother.
• 48 stations have been completely repainted, brightening up customers’ journeys.
• 280 new benches have been rolled out, 40 new waiting shelters have been installed across 30 different stations and 15 waiting rooms have been refurbished, allowing for a more comfortable passenger experience.
• All 187 SWR stations now have Wi-Fi, and there has been a 23 per cent increase in onboard connectivity speeds, meaning better access to the internet.
• 10 stations have been made more accessible, and safer, via automatic doors, smoother pavements, sturdier handrails, new ramps, and anti-slip tactiles and treads.
• 160 additional cleaning staff are helping to keep trains and stations clean, with thousands of litres of a long lasting disinfectant being used.
• And 16,180 light bulbs have been changed to LEDs, reducing energy use across the network by 21 per cent.
This comes as RMT members voted overwhelmingly for a deal to end the long-running dispute over the role of the guard last month, which had caused significant disruption to customers.
Claire Mann, SWR’s Managing Director, said:
“While our customers were away, we’ve taken every single opportunity to improve our services.
“We have made real progress and continue to work hard to transform what is one of Europe’s busiest networks. We’re investing heavily in our network, our people, and our local areas to improve the quality, safety, and reliability of our services, and better meet the needs of customers and our communities.
“We exist to connect people – with family, with friends, with employment, with experiences, and with opportunities – and we can’t wait to welcome our customers back to the railway as soon as they are ready to travel with us again.”


Surrey Heartlands Covid Partner Newsletter

From: COMMS (NHS SURREY HEARTLANDS CCG) <syheartlandsccg.comms@nhs.net>
Sent: 10 March 2021 17:34
Subject: Surrey Heartlands Covid-19 Vaccination Programme Partner Update 10th March 2021

  Partner update 10th March 2021  
 
Welcome to our regular Covid-19 vaccination update.  This short update will be published and circulated every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, in addition to our weekly vaccination newsletter.  If you wish to subscribe/unsubscribe please email us at:  syheartlandsccg.comms@nhs.net  
 
  Large-scale vaccination service to move from Epsom Downs Racecourse to Sandown Park

From 17th May, our large vaccination service at Epsom Downs Racecourse – which people book via the National Booking system – will be transferring to Sandown Park Racecourse.  As the country moves out of lockdown restrictions and plans to phase the return of horse racing events at Epsom Downs emerge, we need to relocate the vaccination centre from Epsom Downs to Sandown Park.   Vaccination appointments for those eligible will continue at Epsom Racecourse until 15th May.  From 17th May all appointments will take place at Sandown Park. Once invited people should continue to book their appointment for the vaccination centre though the National Booking system. We expect the move to Sandown Park to be made without disruption and are grateful to the Jockey Club for their commitment to continue supporting the vaccination programme in Surrey. Local people booking appointments now may receive their first dose at Epsom Racecourse and second dose at Sandown Park. Details on appointment bookings can be found on our FAQS.   The site at Epsom also accommodates a Local Vaccination Service which is managed by local GPs. This service will also re-locate within the same timeframe and it is expected to remain within the local Epsom area.    

National Booking system trialling text invitations for Covid-19 jab

Yesterday NHS England announced that the NHS national team will now start texting people inviting them to book their Covid-19 jab, making it quicker and easier to get an appointment.  Previously all invitations via the National Booking system were made via letter.  Nationally, almost 400,000 people aged 55 and over and 40,000 unpaid carers who are now eligible for the vaccination will receive an invitation by text as well as by letter.   Similar to text messages which are already sent out by many local GP-led vaccination services, the message will include a web link for those eligible to click and reserve an appointment at the large-scale vaccination centres of pharmacies.  The service will also send text reminders 2-3 weeks after the original alert to encourage people to make their appointment if they haven’t already.  Texts will arrive in advance of the standard letter, meaning if the trial is successful the solution could enable the NHS to react faster to changing vaccine supplies and fill appointments quickly.  This will help increase uptake of the jab, particularly as the NHS moves on to younger age groups.  

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
 
  You can find a comprehensive set of FAQs on the local programme on our website here  
I have had my first vaccination. 
Do I still have to wear a face covering when shopping and can I hug my grandchildren?
Having the first vaccination jab does not guarantee we cannot catch coronavirus but it should reduce how seriously we are affected by the virus if we catch it. This means that even after you have had your first vaccination you could still catch and spread coronavirus to your family and the people you come into contact with. It is therefore really important that you continue to follow current guidance to stay at home as much as possible, continue with social distancing, wear a face covering and regularly wash your hands.  
 
     
  Useful links ·       FAQs ·       NHS.UK Covid-19 vaccine ·       GOV.UK Covid-19 vaccination programme ·       Data release ·       Information on priority groups  
  ———————————————————————————————————————————— Surrey Heartlands Communications Team, 10th March 2021  
   

Surrey Highways – Severe Weather response

Sharing a severe weather response that has been issued to all Surrey County Council Councillors.

Dear Councillors,

As you may have seen already we are expecting some severe weather later today and tomorrow.  Both days will bring a scattering of heavy showers, accompanied by strong winds  (around 50-60mph) in places. 

With the wet weather and saturated ground conditions we might expect to see some localised short term flooding and a number of trees to fall.  This is likely to cause some disruption to travel. 

To mitigate the potential impact on our network we have doubled our resources across the Immediate Response Service, including general crews and well as tree surgery and gully crews. 

If you need to report a highways emergency please use the emergency number 0300 200 1003.

The report it online functions are still available for non-emergencies.

In terms of flooding specifically;

  • If there is a threat to life – call 999
  • If there is flooding across the entire road or pavement – call Surrey CC (Highways) – 0300 200 1003
  • If sewers and foul water are involved – call Thames Water – 0800 316 9800
  • If a main river watercourse is involved – call the Environment Agency – 0345 988 1188
  • If your enquiry is not urgent, please contact our team via flooding.enquiries@surreycc.gov.uk.

Emergency utility works on Wey Hill, Haslemere

From: Surrey Streetworks Team
Sent: 10 March 2021 12:51
To: Nikki Barton <Nikki.Barton@surreycc.gov.uk>
Subject: Emergency utility works on Wey Hill, Haslemere

Dear Councillor,

For your information can I advise you of emergency works being carried out on Wey Hill, Haslemere (Outside property number 22).

SGN need to repair a gas escape. The traffic management that is placed is Two-Way Signals and the estimated end date is the 12/03/2021.

We have requested manual control between 06:30-09:30 & 16:00-18:30 to minimise disruption as much as possible.

I hope you find this information useful.

Kind Regards,

Network Coordinator – Waverley

Streetworks Team

Network and Asset Management Group Surrey Highways

Public Space Protection Order in respect of Anti-Social Behaviour

Proposals are being developed for a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) under the provisions of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 to apply within the Godalming Town Council area and within the Borough of Waverley.

The consultation period runs from 1 March until 2 Apriland any feedback would be welcomed to ASBPSPO@waverley.gov.uk . Further information is available on the Council’s web site at https://www.waverley.gov.uk/asbpspo

Free school meals update for half term

I thought it would be useful to provide a bit of an update on the provision of the free school meals in Surrey over half term.

This half term, Surrey County Council will continue to ensure all 18,000 children in the county eligible for Free School Meals are supported.

This is using money provided by the government as part of £170m COVID Winter Support Grant announced in November 2020. The Winter Support Grant has so far supported 26,661 households in Surrey since it was announced.

Food vouchers worth £15 per child were sent to parents and young people by email or text by Friday 12 February. Printed vouchers are being provided to parents who cannot access them online.

These vouchers can be only be exchanged for food and can be used in most supermarkets and the McColl’s chain of local shops.

The national free school meals programme only covers term time.

Wonde, a national provider of free school meal vouchers, will send the vouchers direct and ease the burden on schools that are already busy coping with the impacts of covid-19.

Parents or young people who have received vouchers or who have questions can find out more on the School Vouchers support website.

I hope that is useful. If you have any questions, do please let me know on Nikki.Barton@surreycc.gov.uk

Surrey County Council Highways Winter update for Friday 5 February through to Monday 8 February.

Continued rain over the next two days, this combined with lowered temperatures may cause ice and a skid risk.   Looking further ahead there is a chance of snow and dropping temperatures causing further problems on Surreys road.  Surrey Highways are working hard to keep the roads clear, safe and Surrey moving.

Snow

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for Surrey across the weekend – UK weather warnings – Met Office

The current forecast is that we will get snow across the county from later Saturday night early Sunday morning. Significant accumulations of snow are possible, particularly in the east of the county and on higher ground.  The daily winter updates will continue to be sent out with more specific information when treatments are planned.

We have a team of snow ploughs, 4x4s and our snow angels on standby to assist as necessary – they help with clearing pavements and local roads/routes.

We have enhanced gritting and provisions for the testing and vaccinations sites across the county, our routes can be found online along with which roads get gritted – Salting routes in Surrey – Surrey County Council (surreycc.gov.uk)

Winter advice can be found online with lots of links to help you prepare for the ice and snow – Winter advice 2020-21 – Surrey County Council (surreycc.gov.uk)

There is a salting and gritting fact page that we have updated and it has much of the information attached to this email – Salting and gritting facts – Surrey County Council (surreycc.gov.uk)

We will continue to update as necessary throughout the weekend, and our dedicated road and transport updates page will be updated as necessary – Roads and transport updates – Surrey County Council (surreycc.gov.uk)

Rain/Flooding

The river levels remain very high following the recent rainfall and you may have seen that the Environment Agency have deployed a temporary flood barrier at Walton Lane in Weybridge. 

A number of other areas in the county have also seen flooding of roads due to the rainfall and high groundwater levels preventing water draining away. 

The river levels have stabilised and should start to drop over the coming days, however as the catchment remains wet any further rainfall is likely to have an impact.

If there is a threat to life – call 999

· If there is road flooding – call Surrey CC (Highways) – 0300 200 1003

· If sewers and foul water are involved – call Thames Water – 0800 316 9800

· If a main river watercourse is involved – call the Environment Agency – 0345 988 1188

If your enquiry is not urgent, please contact our team via flooding.enquiries@surreycc.gov.uk.

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10 things you never needed to know about gritting…………..

1. Road Surface Temperatures Are Important. When we watch the weather forecast we are advised of anticipated air temperatures. However, road surface temperatures and air temperatures are rarely the same and the road surface temperature is also used to make decisions on when to apply salt. In order to make sure rock salt is used as efficiently as possible, we use high-tech road sensors that are able to determine road surface temperature. They combine the data with local forecasts before deciding whether gritting is appropriate or not. We currently have 11 road sensors at our weather stations across Surrey, and a further 30 sensors in other locations in the process of being installed this year.

2. Myth – Once the gritter has put salt on the road all ice will melt. This is not true! Spreading salt on the road is only the start of the de-icing process. Movement of salt around the road by traffic is essential to complete the process. Overnight, when traffic levels are low, roads can take longer to melt ice if it has formed.

3. Myth – Spreading salt on fresh snow will melt it more quickly. This is not true! Salt only effectively melts snow when it is less than 40mm deep and traffic can move the salt around.

4. Myth – No matter what the temperature salt will melt the ice. This is not true! Salt is less effective at temperatures below minus five degrees centigrade and takes longer to melt snow and ice in these conditions.

5. How it works; by spreading salt, passing lorry, bus, van and car tyres crush the salt crystals and create a saline solution. This melts any ice present which then washes away into nearby storm drains, leaving roads clear.

6. Gritting is not just about cost – Cost is not the only factor that prevents use using gritting lorries on certain roads. A bigger problem is that some roads and locations are inaccessible in certain locations. This is why we have 1815 grit bins in strategic locations and a small army of farmers who help us with the ploughing and gritting.

7. Gritting is a skilled operation – Gritting requires good driving skills and the ability to operate machinery in challenging conditions, usually in the middle of the night when it’s freezing outside and there is only limited visibility at best. Drivers are City & Guild qualified and have CPC and HGV qualifications

8. The rate and speed of the salt spread is electronically controlled by the lorries. The routes are all GPS tracked with vehicle, speed, location, spread and time on all our routes.

9. We have 11 weather stations across Surrey that give us hourly updates; which show the anticipated air temperature, road surface temperature, wind speed and rain or snowfall. We also have an agreement with neighbouring authorities and Highways England to sue their data. We plan gritting treatments from this information. We also receive a two to five-day forecast every day to help us plan ahead. Each station has a sensor embedded in the road that monitors if the road is ‘chemically wet’ – whether it still has salt dissolved in it from the last treatment or not.

10. The P1 Routes are 39% of the entire counties road network. All treatments are completed within 3 hours.

How are members of staff are involved in gritting? No-one works on gritting full-time. All gritting staff fit their work in around their other full time jobs at the council during the winter season (mid-October to mid-April).

Why are gritters sometimes not spreading salt? This can be deceptive. Gritting vehicles have become more sophisticated, and lorries now dispense the required amount of salt directly down on to the road in a fine spray that you may not see. However, sometimes a vehicle might not be spreading any salt. This might be because:

  • • it hasn’t reached the starting point of its treatment route • it is returning to the depot to refill
  • • It is driving on a road that is not on the gritting route.
  • • it is driving over a section of road that has already been treated by a fellow driver
  • • Treatments are occasionally treated prewet (salt and brine mixed) and treatments aren’t clearly visible

Every gritting vehicle is fitted with a GPS system which tracks its route and speed, and it’s part of the inspector’s job to make sure the lorries don’t deviate from their routes. The system also records at what time and location the vehicle is treating and this is monitored after each run to ensure routes are being treated correctly.

The science of gritting

Although we call it gritting, there is in fact little or no grit involved. What is actually spread on the roads is mined rock salt (sodium chloride). The bottom line is this: salt lowers the freezing point of water, and this is how it helps keep roads clear and safer for driving so that things keep moving despite the freeze. As the salt particles come into contact with the snow or ice, melting begins, and water is produced. This water containing dissolved salt is called “brine.” Brine freezes at lower temperatures than regular water, so it remains a liquid at below-freezing temperatures. The brine works its way further into the snow and ice and eventually down to the road surface. From here, brine can spread out under the ice, breaking the bond between the road surface and the ice. The remaining snow and ice float on top of the liquid brine, allowing traffic to quickly break down into slush. Water freezes at 0°C – the presence of the salt prevents water from freezing until -6°C to -8°C. However, salt starts to become less effective at -5°C and almost ineffective at lower temperatures. In extremely low temperatures, or heavy snowfall, a mix of salt and grit may be used to help vehicles get about. Rock salt needs vehicles to drive over it to work effectively. Vehicles grind the salt into smaller particles to spread it across the road – this means that grit is sometimes not effective when there isn’t much traffic or when there is a lot of snow.

Surrey Neighbourhood Watch – Warning of A Scam Regarding Covid Vaccination Bookings

Notification from Surrey neighbourhood Watch

Dear Surrey resident

Covid vaccinations are being carried out across Surrey and some of you will have already been called for your first vaccination. For those waiting, please be aware that there is a scam whereby people are receiving texts that appear to be from the NHS and ask for personal and bank details to pay for the vaccination. These are scams.

The Covid vaccination is free and you will be contacted via a text (usually from your GP practice), a letter from the NHS, or possibly a phone call from your GP if short notice. All these methods will allow you to choose a venue and a time. You are not applying for the vaccination – you are being invited to attend one of the vaccination centres. At no time will you be asked for any other personal or financial details (but you may need to provide date of birth as a security measure).
The link below downloads a poster from the government giving details of what a scam invitation will look like.

Keep safe and well
Martin Stilwell
Surrey Neighbourhood Watch

An update on South Western Railway timetable – January 2021

From: SWR Stakeholders
Date: 8 January 2021 at 5:06:54 pm GMT
To: nikki.barton@haslemeretc.org
Subject: An update on South Western Railway timetable – January 2021

Dear Nikki,

As you will know, throughout this pandemic, our priority has been to provide safe and reliable train services for all those key workers who are keeping our country running through this difficult time.

As we enter a third national lockdown this commitment hasn’t changed.

However, as cases of COVID-19 continue to rise, we, like many other businesses are feeling the effects.

More of our colleagues are testing positive for COVID-19 or self-isolating. We also have a number of colleagues that are shielding due to being Clinically Extremely Vulnerable.

Alongside this, with further restrictions in place, we have again seen a reduction in the number of customers travelling with us.

Therefore, in order to continue to provide a reliable service for those who need it, from Monday 11 January 2021 we will be reducing the number of weekday services we will be running.

Our journey planners for next week have been updated, and PDF timetables are available on our website at: www.southwesternrailway.com/plan-my-journey/timetables.

However, further changes to timetables may need to be made at short notice, so we strongly recommend customers  check their journey closer to the time of travel at www.southwesternrailway.com/plan-my-journey.

We’ll continue to keep this position under review so that we can again increase services when it’s appropriate to do so, taking account of Government policy and customer demand, and we’ll continue to keep you updated.

If you do have any questions please do not hesitate to contact myself or my team by emailing stakeholders@swrailway.com

Thank you for your continued support and cooperation.

Yours sincerely,


Senior Regional Development Manager.
South Western Railway