Here's the latest Argus column by Caerphilly County Borough Council leader Cllr Philippa Marsden:

I HOPE everyone is keeping safe and well and that you are adjusting to life under lockdown. We all know that the restrictions are in place to protect public health and I would like to thank you all for your ongoing efforts to stay home, protect the NHS and save lives.

CCBC continues to reshape and reconfigure its services in order to respond effectively to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. I would like to thank staff at all levels across the organisation for their dedication and professionalism as we navigate through these challenging and unprecedented times.

MORE NEWS:

Here are a few key updates:

Country parks and cemeteries

We closed our country parks last month, although the sites can still be accessed locally and the many footpaths and cycle routes that cross through our parks also remain accessible. Municipal cemeteries have also been closed, except for planned interments, as anything other than funerals are deemed as non-essential journeys. We will review these arrangements as appropriate, in line with other local authorities

Refuse and recycling

CCBC has done well to maintain its refuse and recycling collections, particularly when other councils have reduced or removed some elements of their services. We have, however, decided to limit our weekly garden waste collection to four sacks per property in order to ensure that we can sustain our current levels of service.

Business Grants

The council has been working hard to get as many applications as possible processed over the past couple of weeks. To date we have paid out over £23 million, which equates to 75 per cent of applications received.

Free School Meals

We are currently providing free school meals to over 3,700 children across the county borough. I would like to thank all those involved in delivering these meals as they are ensuring that our must vulnerable families benefit from this fantastic service.

Childcare hubs

Two new sites in Rhy Syr Dafydd (Oakdale) and St James (Caerphilly) are now up and running. These new sites are welcome additions to the existing hubs and will provide even more opportunities for the children of key workers to be looked after in quality childcare settings.

I would like to assure everyone that this authority, thanks to our fantastic workforce, is responding well to this unprecedented situation and we will continue to serve the needs of our residents across the area.

Please continue to stay home, protect the NHS and save lives.