MANY services provided by Woking Borough Council are continuing, although the main offices in the town centre and other buildings are closed to the public.
Staff are being encouraged and helped to work from home and those on non-essential tasks are being redeployed to ensure frontline services can continue.
A council spokesman said: “Underlying what we do is the safety and well-being of the community, and the safety and well-being of our staff in meeting the needs of local people.
“While we aspire to ‘business as usual’ the reality is that it cannot be.”
All the borough’s community centres – Moorcroft, Parkview, St Mary’s in Byfleet and The Vyne in Knaphill – are closed to the public and will be used as hubs to co-ordinate support to vulnerable residents.
Day services at Brockhill extra-care housing scheme in Goldsworth Park have been suspended but the facility is staying open for residents.
Meals provided at centres will now be delivered to homes and social contact will be maintained through regular phone calls, visits and essential shopping through the home support services.
The planned programme of events and activities under the Celebrate Woking banner has been cancelled, and activities which use council resources or facilities will not be programmed or permitted during 2020.
The only event that remains scheduled is Remembrance Sunday on 8 November, which is still planned to be observed in the town centre.
Full council and committee meetings have been suspended. This includes the borough planning and overview and scrutiny committees, which were to have discussed the applications for Woking FC stadium and the building of associated flats and matters surrounding the handling of the matter by the council.
It is understood that some urgent decisions can be taken by officers under exceptional circumstances but it is not yet known if any major decisions are planned to be taken over the next few weeks or whether all decisions will be postponed.
For the full story get the 26 March edition of the News & Mail