Message from the Leaders of Adur & Worthing Councils

Dear Resident,

We sincerely hope that you are coping in the best way you can during these terrible times and that your loved ones are safe and well.

As Leaders of Adur District Council and Worthing Borough Council we have refrained from communicating directly with you until now. You have all had plenty of messages and information about what to do during this outbreak.

However we thought it time to tell you that our staff, who we share to serve you all, are working as hard as they can to ensure crucial services are maintained as far as if possible.

Perhaps the most visible example of this is that you will have seen our refuse trucks still out every day collecting your waste. Touch wood so far we have not had to cancel rounds and we hope this can continue. 

We also want to tell you that we understand entirely the pressures you are all under. As members of the community with families of our own we know only too well the worry around jobs, bills and health that most of you are experiencing.

We are ensuring we make the strongest possible case to the government for financial help so we continue to support you, our own finances, like many others, having taken a hit.

We have established a series of Neighbourhood Teams out in the community working with the marvellous volunteers already out there so that we can be sure to help the most vulnerable of our community whether that be simply having someone to talk to or support getting food or for guidance on finance.

On the latter we know that we are all having to watch every penny now so we wanted to assure you that the money you pay for Council services is being spent extremely wisely.

Your Council Tax is paying for those refuse trucks we mentioned earlier, the police officers who are currently working around the clock to keep us all safe, social welfare staff looking after the most vulnerable in society and a whole host of other services such as housing repairs, ensuring food safety remains paramount and working to support businesses and employers to protect every job we can.

We know this is an anxious time for you and want to assure you that most Council services are operating as near to normal as is possible in the circumstances although we ask you to understand that response times to any query you have might be longer. 

We wish you all the best. Keep safe, stay well

Cllr Neil Parkin, Leader of Adur District Council

Cllr Daniel Humphreys, Leader of Worthing Borough Council