County Matters
We are into a difficult period with another national lockdown. If anyone needs help or support, please contact County via the website at cumbria.gov.uk or phone the emergency support helpline here in South Lakes on 08007831966. Grant funding is available to local businesses via the District Council and central government have just allocated more funding to all authorities to meet these requests. I must thank our local Medical Centre here in Grange for their work in organising and beginning the administration of the vaccine for us all in our community. A disturbing element of the pandemic has arisen over the past few weeks or so as trading standards and the police have put warnings out around a new scam from the criminal element; so please be aware and follow the advice below.
Action Fraud is warning the public to remain vigilant as criminals begin to take advantage of the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccine to commit fraud. In the UK, coronavirus vaccines will only be available via the National Health Services of England, Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland. You can be contacted by the NHS, your employer, a GP
surgery or pharmacy local to you, to receive your vaccine. Remember, the vaccine is free of charge. At no point will you be asked to pay.
- The NHS will never ask you for your bank account or card
details.
- The NHS will never ask you for your PIN or banking
password.
- The NHS will never arrive unannounced at your home to
administer the vaccine.
- The NHS will never ask you to prove your identity by sending
copies of personal documents such as your passport, driving licence, bills or payslips.
If you receive a call you believe to be fraudulent, hang up If you believe you are the victim of a fraud, please report this to Action Fraud as soon as possible by calling 0300 123 2040
or visiting www.actionfraud.police.uk
In this winter period, our highways teams are out and about still gritting roads and doing essential resurfacing work. Besides thanking our wonderful NHS and care staff for all their continuing hard work the council staff should also be thanked for all their work in keeping services running in these difficult times. I know that going forward with the vaccine roll-out we may be able to eventually return to some sort of normality but in the meantime, I would ask everyone to observe the rules and please stay safe
Kindest regards
Bill Wearing Conservative County Councillor Grange Division
