Coronavirus – Update 24 March 2020

Following last night’s announcement by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in relation to the Coronavirus and government instruction, an emergency meeting of the HTS senior management team and in liaison with the Harlow Council we can confirm that:

For the purposes of clarity, the government has announced that people will only be allowed to leave their home for the following very limited purposes for the next 3 weeks, these are:

  • Shopping for basic necessities, as infrequently as possible
  • One form of exercise a day – for example a run, walk, or cycle – alone or with members of your household
  • Any medical need, to provide care or to help a vulnerable person
  • Travelling to and from work, but only where this is absolutely necessary (essential) and cannot be done from home

Therefore:

With immediate effect, all environmental, repairs and maintenance and capital programme work will cease unless considered to be essential. This means that the following activities will still be undertaken:

Environment

  • Essential building cleaning- prioritised activities
  • Bins in public areas – prioritised activities
  • Essential fly tip clearances – prioritised activities
  • Waste transfer station – prioritised activities
  • Emergency fleet back up

R&M

  • Customer Services/Call Centre
  • Emergencies repairs only

We will continue to review these services over the coming days and will resource work as required.

With the exception of those employees who are deemed as requiring to provide any of these essential or emergency services, ALL other HTS employees have been instructed to not attend work for the next 3 weeks.

We apologise for any inconvenience to the tenants and residents of Harlow, however, we are in exceptional and challenging times and have and will continue to work under government advice or instruction.

If you are a resident or tenant and would like to report an emergency, please contact 01279 446666.

John Phillips

Managing Director

On behalf of HTS board and directors