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Luton Borough Council

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  3. Information on coronavirus
  4. Service changes

Service changes

During this Covid-19 outbreak emergency our main priorities are:

  • protecting the most vulnerable people in Luton
  • ensuring the health and safety of our residents and our staff

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic and government guidance, we're now enacting our contingency plans. See our main core service priorities and changes below.

Quick links

Abandoned vehicles

If you need to contact us to report an abandoned vehicle, you can do this via the online system. At this time, we will only be responding to high priority incidents.

If a vehicle is inAccess to Parking Services a dangerous position, please contact the Police on 101.

Access to Parking Services

We are no longer offering a public counter service and all of our services are now available online on the Parking webpages.

If you encounter difficulties using our online services or if you have any other concerns, please email [email protected]. In addition you can contact us by phone, please call us on 01582 547272 and leave a voicemail message. One of the team will return your call as soon as possible.

Anti-social behaviour

If you require immediate assistance, please contact Bedfordshire Police on 101 or 999 in an emergency.

If you need to contact an officer about an ongoing case we are managing, please contact your case officer. If you are not sure who this or of the contact details, please email us at [email protected].

If you need to report a new issue, please email us on [email protected] or call us on 01582 510330.

Blue Badge Service

New applications
If you are a new applicant, please continue to submit your application as normal through applying for or renewing a blue badge. We will review your application in line with the relevant criteria and contact you with our decision. If your application requires further information which you are unable to obtain due to current restrictions, we are likely to put your application on hold until such time as restrictions are lifted.
 
Re-applying for a Blue Badge
If you have a badge with an expiry date of 1 January 2020 onwards and are unable to renew this due to current restrictions, this will remain valid and you will not be issued with a PCN for displaying an expired badge. This relaxation of enforcement against expired Blue Badges will continue initially until 30 September 2020.

The only enforcement suspended is for expired badges, all other enforcement against other types of misuse or parking where blue badge concessions are not valid will continue. If you are able to re-apply because you have access to all of your relevant information, please continue to submit your application as normal through applying for or renewing a blue badge.
 
If you have any other concerns or questions please email [email protected]

Community Led Local Development (CLLD) small grants funding changes

In line with government’s announcements, the CLLD small grants programme will now not run as previously scheduled. The following will apply:
  • all applicants that have submitted their completed application will receive individual feedback
  • the application process will remain open until further notice
  • the decision day planned for the weekend of 18 April was cancelled and a new date will be fixed once the pandemic is over
  • should there be any change stipulated by the European Social Fund (ESF) the guidance may change/be updated

If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact any of the designated area projects and involvement officers.

Customer Services

  • To keep face to face contact to a minimum, services will be replaced with telephone contact as much as possible. Please help us to help the most vulnerable in our town by searching our coronavirus help page before making a call
  • In some cases, customers will be asked to email their requests in or provided with a scheduled telephone appointment where previously a face to face appointment would have been made.
  • Customers are no longer required to present documents in person but can either upload or send these by post.
  • To manage reduced staff levels will be temporarily reduce the operating hours of the contact centre from 8am to 6pm to 9am to 5pm. This will be reviewed in 4 weeks or sooner if staffing levels permit.
  • We have closed a number of public buildings in line with government advice. This means outreach services at Farley Hill and Lewsey Community Centres, Futures House and Luton Job Centre Plus are no longer running. In the event that government guidance changes to permit the opening of these sites, we will review our decision provided there are sufficient staff in place.
In order to maintain the safety of our customers and staff, we have replaced face to face advice and guidance with an enhanced telephone service for the following enquiries:
  • Free school meals: please call 01582 510346
  • School admissions: please call 01582 548016
  • Housing Benefit or Council Tax reduction: please call 0300 790 0345
  • Discretionary housing payments: please call 0300 790 0345
  • Council Tax and summons queries: please call 0300 790 0340
  • Business rates: please call 0300 790 0349
  • Choice based letting and housing waiting list enquiries: please call 01582 510370
  • New Bus Pass or renewal 01582 547256
You can make housing benefit or council tax reduction claims online or report a change in your circumstances via MyAccount

If you have been asked to provide document proofs for a benefit or any other enquiry please upload them at Luton documents

Or you can send them with a covering letter and a brief explanation of your enquiry and include your contact details, then post to:

Admin Revenues Proofs

5th Floor, Luton Borough Council, Town Hall, Luton, LU1 2BQ

Education admissions and appeals

With the current closure of schools there may be unavoidable delays to progressing in-year applications for school places. Late applications for children starting school or moving to a secondary or junior school in September may also be affected.
 
We're monitoring government guidance and currently considering the possible impact of the coronavirus on school appeals.

Day care centre closures

To protect our vulnerable residents within the Older People Day Care service the decision has been made to close the following day care centres from Monday 23 March until further notice.
 
Alternative care provision will be provided for people who require support during this time. The following centres are affected:
  • Farley Day Centre, Jill Jenkins, Whipperley Ring, LU1 5QY
  • Colwell Court Day Centre, Colwell Rise, LU2 9TW
  • St Monica’s Day Centre, St Ives Close, LU3 1PP
  • Betty Dodd Court Day Centre, Grange Avenue LU4 9AS
  • Chaul End Day Centre, Dunstable Road  LU4 9QS

Flying Start children’s centres

All Flying Start children’s centres are temporarily suspended until further notice. If you need advice or support please visit our website or call one of these numbers:
  • central - 01582 546931
  • north - 01582 546925
  • south - 01582 546929
  • west - 01582 546932

Housing services

See COVID-19 and renting: guidance for landlords, tenants and local authorities from GOV.UK.

Tenants and leaseholders
Thank you for working with us during this difficult period. We've put together a summary of the changes we've had to make to the services delivered by the Housing Service to protect staff, tenants and comply with the government’s directives.
Housing Services contacts
We've listed contact details for services within Housing Operations and Housing Needs during the closures due to COVID-19. Please note that these are being kept under review as circumstances change.

Investigations and case management

For cases we are currently investigating including (this list is not exhaustive):

  • noise nuisance
  • flytipping
  • environmental crime
  • business compliance

Please contact the officer allocated to your case in the first instance. If you are not sure who this is or of the contact details, please email us at [email protected] and quote your case reference number where possible.

If you need to report a new case, please do this wherever possible through the online reporting system or call the customer service centre on 01582 510330.

Licensing  - private hire and hackney driver licences 

Our counter is crrently closed and changed have been made to the process for Private Hire and Hackney Carriage appointments.
 
See Licensing - private hire and hackney driver licences

Luton Adult Learning - classroom based classes to end until further notice

From Monday 23 March, Luton Adult Learning will be no longer be holding face to face learning, which means they won’t be delivering classroom based classes or conducting exams until further notice.
 
They're in the process of looking for ways to deliver teaching online. Please email [email protected] or call  01582 490033 if you have any questions or concerns.
 
See lutonacl.ac.uk for more information.

MOT testing centre

Under government guidance, our MOT testing centre is currently closed. Your car, van or motorcycle’s MOT expiry date will be extended by 6 months if it’s due on or after 30 March 2020 - but you must keep your vehicle safe to drive.
 
Find out more about MOT extensions here.

Luton Registration Service - register office now open

Luton Register Office is open for birth registrations only from 8 June 2020. This is by appointment only. Please do not come to the office for any other business.
If you are showing any symptoms of Covid-19 or are self-isolating please do not come to the office.
For your safety and that of the staff, social distancing measures will be in place.

Birth registrations

  • If you are married only one person will be allowed to attend the appointment.
  • If you are not married then both parents should attend the appointment if the father’s details are to be added. The baby/babies to be registered may attend with the parent(s).
  • Unfortunately no other children are allowed to enter the premises at this time.
  • Payments for certificates will be by card only – no cash payments can be taken.
  • Please bring a pen to sign the register entry.
  • Please note there is very limited parking at the Register Office, we recommend you find alternate parking.

Book here

Alternatively call Customer Services on 0300 790 0341

Death Registrations

To register a death please book online for a telephone registration. Do not come to the office. If you are unable to book online please call customer services on 0300 790 0341
Payments for certificates will be by card only – no cash payments can be taken.

Book here

Alternatively call Customer Services on 0300 790 0341

Certificate Applications

Please apply online or call customer services on 0300 790 0341. Certificates will be sent out by post and will not be available to collect.

Order here

Correction or name change queries

Please email [email protected] or call customer services on 0300 790 0341

Marriage and civil partnership queries

Please email [email protected] or call 01582 548814 and leave a message for a call back.

Citizenship ceremony queries

Please email [email protected]

All other queries

Neighbourhood Enforcement

If you need to contact us about an existing community protection notice, fixed penalty notice or ongoing investigation, please email us at [email protected].

Parking enforcement activities and contacts

Car parking charges reinstated
All parking charges for both on street and council owned car parks are back to normal. Please ensure you pay for your parking before leaving your vehicle using one of the available options as shown on the machines and tariff boards. 

Contacting us
If you need to contact us about a penalty charge notice you have been issued, please review the Parking webpages.

If you need to report a vehicle that is parked dangerously and requires attention, please contact the police on 101.

For all other enquiries, please email us at [email protected].

Please do not make your way to this car park unless you are attending to have a coronavirus test. Other car parks are available in the town centre.

Parks service and events

Following advice from central government no public events can take place in Luton’s parks from now until further notice.

Also, update on service changes related to parks, grass cutting and allotments.

Pest Control

We will contact you to postpone and re-arrange appointments where necessary. We will provide advice over the telephone wherever possible.

During this time period, we will be assessing and prioritizing cases. We will only be providing a service for cases where there is a serious risk to health as a result of public health pests.

We will be implementing social distancing measures and our team will be asking you to help ensure that these are complied with.

Planning enforcement investigations - reduced/delayed

The Planning Enforcement team have reduced and/or delayed their planning enforcement investigations.
 
They are still continuing with current casework and are looking into options that might enable them to carry out future investigations.
 

Public protection

Following the latest government advice, we're adapting our public protection services while working to help ensure the safety of our residents, local businesses and our staff.

We encourage you, wherever possible, use our online services to:

We are currently operating on a reduced service across all public protection services.

During this period we may not be able to respond to your enquiry as promptly as we would like or provide the service that is being requested. If your request is urgent and cannot wait until the current situation improves then please review the following advice points and contact us where necessary.

Thank you for your patience at this difficult time. We currently have very limited access to departmental phone lines – please email us wherever possible.

Information for landlords
The government has issued guidance for landlords and tenants in the light of the Coronavirus outbreak, relating to health & safety obligations and changes to the law relating to possession proceedings.
Selective licensing
Selective licensing has been deferred until not before 1 July.

Revenues and benefits

  • Enforcement Agent visits for council tax business rates and BID levy will be replaced by telephone calls until the end of June.
  • Council tax and business rates inspections will be put on hold until the end of June.
  • Telephone verification will be attempted where possible.
  • The Council has decided not to summons council tax business rates and BID levy payers for late payment until the end of June.
  • The requirement to see original documentation for Housing benefit has been relaxed until the end of June. Original documentation can be uploaded and sent digitally via our website or posted. 

Stray dogs

If you are aware of a stray dog, please contact us on 01582 510330.

Waste and bin collections

Click the link below to find information on:

See waste and bin collections.

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© 2021 Luton Council, Town Hall, Luton LU1 2BQ