Changes to county council services
We are making changes to some services to keep our residents and employees safe.
For information about council tax payments, bin collections, housing and business rates, please contact or visit the website of your district/borough council.
View all the new national restrictions that are in place or visit our FAQs page for answers to some commonly asked questions.
See below for the key changes:
Bus services are still likely to change at short notice during this Covid-19 recovery phase. We will continue to add service changes throughout November as we become aware of them.
More information and updates can be found on our Changes to bus services page.
All 11 children’s centres will remain open across Staffordshire for Childcare, Family Time and health appointments, while ‘family support’ and ‘peer support’ is available as required.
Staffordshire’s adult care services will continue to operate in their current Covid-19 secure format supporting residential care, supported living, bed-based respite care and ‘day opportunities’ in buildings and online.
Library buildings will be closed from Thursday 5 November. There will be no public access for browsing, PC use or meeting room hire.
However, we will continue to offer the following from our static and mobile libraries:
- Order and Collect
- Grab and Go bags
- Request
During the lockdown period:
- Fines will be waived for overdue items
- We will continue to develop our digital offer and enable people to join online
- Our eLibrary can be accessed at our library services page.
- We will look to enhance our befriending offer to support people who are lonely or isolated
- Libraries will not be open after 5pm Monday-Friday
- Libraries will be open their usual hours on Saturdays
- Stafford Library will be closed on Sundays
For further information about which library services are available please visit the updates page.
Unfortunately, there may be unscheduled closures of libraries if staff are self-isolating as we want to reduce the risk of infection to ensure your safety. Please check that the library is open for the services listed above before you visit.
Staffordshire’s Archive and Heritage Service will be closing the Staffordshire Record Office during lockdown, while the William Salt Library in Stafford remains closed.
The service will continue to answer enquiries and provide digital copies of items to fulfil orders and the public will still be able to browse our collections online through Staffordshire Past Track, Find My Past and Staffordshire Name Indexes sites.
Our museums will be closed, as they are one of the venues the Government has elected that must close to reduce social contact during the national restriction period.
Marriage and Civil Partnership Ceremonies will not be able to go ahead during the National restriction period. If you have a ceremony booked with us between 5 November and 2 December you can find more information on what to do by visiting our Getting Married in Staffordshire website.
The Registration of Births and Deaths, and appointments to give Notice of Marriage are unaffected by the national restrictions and continue as they have been since March 2020. You can find out more information on these services on our updates page.
The county’s 14 household waste recycling centres also remain open, with updated information available on our webpages.
A reminder that the below guidance is in place:
- Do not visit if you or anyone in your household has had symptoms in the last 14 days
- Wear a face mask if you are able to during your visit
- Practice 2 meters social distancing at all times
- Only one person is allowed to exit your vehicle
- Staff are not able to provide physical assistance at present. Only bring waste you can safely dispose of on your own (if you are a disabled user, please follow the link above for more information on how we can support you)
- If there is a queue when you arrive, please consider returning at a later date or time
The Charity Re-use Shop at Cannock will be closed until further notice. However, donations are still being accepted at all other recycling centres.
Rights of way remain the same, please check our rights of way webpage.
Given the importance of getting fresh air and taking exercise, county council-owned country park car parks will remain open for people wanting exercise, though some facilities on the sites may be affected. Check our webpages for details.