Councillor Alex Dale, Cabinet Member for Young People at Derbyshire County Council, has made a statement regarding reopening Derbyshire schools following the Coronvirus outbreak.

“We support the Government in its ambition to see schools opened up to more pupils as soon as it is sufficiently safe to do. To do this we’ve been working flat out to support schools in interpreting the guidance and planning to admit the target year groups announced by the Prime Minister on 10 May.”

“This is an incredibly complicated issue to work through. Unfortunately, the guidance so far issued by the Department for Education has not always been entirely consistent or clear on some key aspects and this has created some issues for schools and the council.”

“Due to the challenges that we’re having to work through with schools, it is clear now that many primary schools in Derbyshire will not be able to admit the additional year groups (reception, year 1 and year 6) that the Government had envisaged by 1 June. This is because the latest advice from the Government is that children need to be 2m apart in classrooms, and that it is not safe to rota children through the week and more time is needed to work through these issues.”

“The Department for Education have been absolutely clear with us that the priority remains the children of key workers and those who are vulnerable. In turn we’ve made clear to all schools that from 1 June their first priority should be aiming to increase the number of children from these groups.”

“Then we have advised that they should also continue to plan for how they might accommodate children from the other key year groups (reception, year 1, year 6, year 10 and year 12).”

“Every school in Derbyshire is different and their approaches to offering more places back in classrooms for our children and young people will vary.”

“If schools do admit children on 1 June from the key year groups they will need to make sure they have the room to do this safely.”

“We hope that secondary schools will be able to offer some face to face learning for year 10 and year 12 students, due to the greater flexibility they have in terms of space.”

“We will continue working with schools to identify when they will be able to admit whole year groups in the coming weeks, although for many of our schools this will still be challenging.”

“I want to thank head teachers, school employees and governors who have worked extremely hard over recent weeks as they plan for 1 June. I’d also like to thank parents and carers in advance for bearing with us and their local schools while we continue to work very hard to deliver on our collective ambition to get more children back to school as soon as possible.”

Derbyshire County Council household waste recycling centres are now open with restrictions in place – but residents are only advised to visit them if they have waste they cannot store safely at home.

The safety of site staff, residents and the wider community is the number one priority and new measures are being introduced at all sites so that users and staff can stick to social distancing rules to help prevent the spread of coronavirus and to help manage traffic.

Vehicles will be allowed into recycling centres on certain days depending on whether the last number on their number plate is odd or even. Vehicles with 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 as the last number will be allowed in on even numbered dates in the month and those with 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 will be allowed in on odd numbered dates in the month.

To help the centres run smoothly, users are being asked to follow these golden rules:

• Only travel to your local recycling centre if it is essential because you can’t continue to store waste safely at home without it causing injury or harm. No other reason for the journey would be considered a legitimate purpose. Please use your kerbside bins and bulky waste services where possible or store until sites are operating as normal.
• Avoid taking excessive amounts of waste to keep vehicles moving in and out as quickly as possible to help reduce queue times. That means leaving vans and trailers at home for the time being.
• Wear protective gloves, appropriate footwear and clothing and only bring what you can safely handle as staff will not be able to help you carry your waste as they normally would.
• Keep the number of people on site to a minimum by travelling alone – unless you need another adult from your household to help carry your waste – stay at least 2 metres away from staff and other users and wash your hands when you get home.
• Stay at home if you, or anyone in your household, has had coronavirus symptoms in the last 14 days, are self-isolating or at high risk of contracting the virus.

Councillor Simon Spencer, Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Infrastructure, said: “If your visit is essential, please read our safety guidance before you travel and remember to stay in your vehicle while queuing.”

“Please continue to use the kerbside waste and recycling services run by your district and borough councils and hang on to any items you would normally take to our sites if you can or try selling them online if there’s still some life left in them.”

“Our priority is the safety of site staff, residents and the wider community. We’ll be keeping a close eye on traffic and taking steps to limit disruption on roads in surrounding areas but there’s no doubt this will be challenging.”

“Staff will be doing all they can to help things run as smoothly as possible so please treat them with respect. You can help by avoiding busy times and checking traffic information and apps before you travel.”

The recycling centres will be open 7 days a week from 8.30am-6pm in the following locations: Ashbourne, Bolsover, Bretby, Chesterfield, Glossop, Ilkeston, Loscoe, Northwood (Darley Dale) and Waterswallows – near Buxton. Business and / or trade waste will not be accepted.