Cost of living support
Colchester City Council is providing support for residents facing the cost of living crisis.
Colchester City Council is providing support for residents facing the cost of living crisis.
Date issued: 5 January 2021
The Leader of the Council, Cllr Mark Cory, and the group leaders of the Liberal Democrat, Labour, Conservative and Highwoods Independent groups, Cllr Martin Goss, Cllr Tina Bourne, Cllr Paul Dundas and Cllr Beverley Oxford, have issued the following joint statement:
The Prime Minister’s announcement last night of a Level 5 national lockdown is the necessary response to a worrying surge in the rate of Covid transmission which has seen the number of infections reach a new daily high in recent days.
Colchester pulled together and had lower infection rates than elsewhere during the first two lockdowns – entering Tier 4 restrictions later than the rest of Essex just before Christmas – but despite our resilience and high levels of compliance, the new variant is more transmissible and there has been a worrying rise in cases locally since then.
There is no doubt in our minds, therefore, that we are all being asked to do the right thing to ensure those we love and care about the most and our most vulnerable residents remain safe.
Under the new national lockdown, the following restrictions will apply:
You must not leave or be outside of your home except where necessary. You may leave home to:
Meeting others:
For a complete list of all national lockdown restrictions, please visit www.gov.uk.
Unlike the previous two lockdowns, we face the additional struggle of coping with winter – requiring even greater resilience. As difficult as the coming weeks will be, you should know that this council will be here for you, just as it has been since the beginning of this crisis.
Rest assured, we will continue to work across the political spectrum with officers to provide the necessary services and support to all – just as we did throughout the previous lockdowns – helping to keep residents updated on any changes to services and playing our full part to ensure that all businesses are aware of the range of support available and get help swiftly out to them when we can.
We are enormously proud of the way our residents and communities have looked out for each other, supported each other and worked hard to keep our infection rates some of the lowest in the county. And we also want to thank the council’s staff for their continued efforts. Like us, they are committed to supporting the borough’s residents throughout the long and difficult period that lies ahead.
Please, please follow the rules; think about reducing the risk of infection both to yourself and others and continue to do everything you can to keep infection rates down. Everyone knows how difficult and disruptive to normal life this is, but we cannot and must not give up now.
The message is clear: Stay at home, Protect the NHS, Save lives
Page last reviewed: 5 January 2021
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