The Friends Against Scams team have produced a social media pack alongside the press release (https://www.friendsagainstscams.org.uk/article/505/beware_of_covid_19_scams) and letter template. Please share these posts to draw attention to the infographic below that has been designed on how to protect yourself and others from coronavirus scams.
Message circulated on behalf of Graham Metcalfe DWP.
The processes for making a UC claim are much changed & more user friendly being aimed towards vastly reducing & ultimately removing the need to attend Jobcentres.
Details will be taken on trust from customers for the foreseeable period with no Fail to Attend actions or Sanctions being actioned.
Please refer to the link below for further advice & support.
https://www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/coronavirus/
Please also be advised that Citizens Advice national Help to Claim UC helpline remains available to advise, guide & support new claimants also, (details attached).
The most crucial thing currently is to advise all UC claimants to make enquires via their journals, which is an area that is being substantially resourced & prioritised with colleagues being redeployed from all other areas of the our service to support this work.
This will allow the service centres to focus on processing & making payments to customers rather than answering phone queries.
The volumes of calls & claims have both significantly increased so we need to get the message out to the customer base via all partners channels.
Lincolnshire Resilience Forum (LRF) Communities and Volunteer Coordination Cell within the County Emergency Centre will be operational from 8am to 4pm Tuesday 17th March 2020 until further notice. The cell will be active Monday to Friday.
Currently the cell has been tasked by the LRF to gather information about local activity only and not to mobilise, task or deploy any organisation, community group or individual. Reports are coming in of organisations/communities/individuals kindly offering support to those members of the community who may be self-isolating and/or vulnerable. Whilst we applaud this community spirit it is essential that you do not put yourselves or others at risk in any way. We need to build a picture of current community activity within Lincolnshire in order to best support you going forward.
We actively encourage you to notify us of any current or planned activity you are aware of within your community by contacting us via email CEC_CVC@lincoln.fire-uk.org We can also be contacted Monday to Friday 8am to 4pm on Lincoln (01522) 787034. We will remain in regular contact with you and would appreciate you doing the same.
The information in this resource is for any group or organisation in the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector, including umbrella bodies and networks. It explains a new way in which health and care services are being organised locally across all of England: primary care networks (PCNs).
Does your organisation support people with their wellbeing, or provide services helping people with their health and care in Lincolnshire?
We want to hear your views on the challenges and opportunities facing your group or organisation moving forward.
Please complete our survey, which could take you around 15 minutes, to help us map the state of the sector in Lincolnshire.
By completing the survey your organisation is in with a chance to win one of three donations of £100 for your group or organisation. Winners will be announced at the VET annual conference on the 19th March!