Latest News

Council Services Affected by Strike Action

Released on 14 Jul 2008

Due to strike action being taken by members of UNISON and Unite the Union on Wednesday 16 and Thursday 17 July, some Council services will not be operating or will be operating a reduced service. Council buildings may also be closed or have reduced opening hours. Details can be found below.

A spokesman for Oxford City Council says: "Oxford City Council is part of the national negotiating framework on pay and conditions.

"The Council respects every employee's right to take action if they disagree with the national employers' offer. Likewise, the rights of employees who do not take action should also be respected.

"Locally, Union representatives, employees and management, have worked hard to achieve and maintain good relations. It is this Council's intention that this good relationship should not be damaged by national action.

"Locally it is the Council's aspiration to achieve an Oxford Living Wage of a minimum of £7.00 per hour for employees."

Council services and building opening times will be affected as follows. This information may be subject to change and any updates will be made public as soon as we have the information:

Council Buildings

Council offices at the Town Hall will be open from 8am - 5pm. Council offices at St Aldate's Chambers (not including the Customer Service Centre), Ramsay House, Blue Boar Street and the Northway Centre will be open from 8am - 6pm.

The Town Hall will be open to the public from 8am - 5pm with a reduced service.

Ramsay House will be open to the public from 8.30 - 5pm with a reduced service.

Council Telephone Switchboard

The main 24-hour Council telephone switchboard will still be operating on both days and can be contacted on 01865 249811.

Council Meetings

The East Area Parliament meeting due to be held on Wednesday 16 July has been rescheduled for Monday 14 July at 7pm. The venue will be Larkrise Primary School, Boundary Brook Road.

There are no other Council meetings scheduled for these days.

Leisure Services

Oxford Ice Rink - Open to the public as normal on both days
Ferry Sports Centre - Closed on both days
Peers Sport Centre - Open to the public as normal on both days
Temple Cowley Pools - Open to the public for the Gym & Sauna only on both days
Barton Pool - Open to the public as normal on both days
Hinksey Pool - 7.30am - 2.00pm (Open on both days during this period for the normal programmed sessions, but operating a banding system on admissions)
Hinksey Pool - 2 - 8pm Closed on both days
Blackbird Leys Pool - Closed on both days
Blackbird Leys Leisure Centre - Open to the public as normal on both days.

Staff who work at a site that will be closed and are not striking, will be moved to one of the operational facilities.

City Works

The City Works Contact Centre - 01865 252900 - for enquiries about waste and recycling, street cleaning, flytipping, abandoned vehicles etc. will operate from 8am - 6pm as usual on both days.

Waste and Recycling

Please see the schedule below for the revised collection service. Any updates and necessary changes to this service will be available on the Oxford City Council website:

Refuse due to be collected on Wednesday 16th July will be collected on Friday 18th July and Saturday 19th July
Refuse due to be collected on Thursday 17th July will be collected on Saturday 19th July and Monday 21st July
Green boxes due to be collected on Wednesday 16th July or Thursday 17th July will be collected on the next normal collection day i.e. two weeks later - residents who cannot store all the materials in the green box for two weeks are advised that they can put green box paper into the blue box for collection next week as a temporary measure. Residents can also use the bring sites to recycle glass and paper
Garden waste due to be collected on Wednesday 16th July, Thursday 17th July or Friday 18th July will be collected one week late

The table below details changes to waste services caused by national strike action.

Normal Service		Wed 16	Thur 17	Fri 18
Revised Service	Refuse	Fri 18/Sat 19	Sat 19/Mon 21	Fri 18
Revised Service	Green Box	Wed 30	Thur 31	Fri 18
Revised Service	Garden Waste	Wed 23	Thur 24	Fri 25

Redbridge Waste and Recycling centre will be open as usual.

Business Waste

We will endeavour to operate the Trade Rounds as normal however this cannot be guaranteed.

Clinical Waste Collection Service

Will operate as normal on both days.

Street Cleansing

We will endeavour to operate a normal service to keep the streets clean but this cannot be guaranteed. Priority areas have been identified.

Public Toilets

Public toilets will be closed City wide on both days.

Car Parks

All the Council's Car Parks will be open as normal and enforcement officers will be patrolling as normal.

Park & Ride Sites

Redbridge, Seacourt and Peartree Park & Ride sites will be open and operational. The waiting and toilet facilities at Redbridge will be closed however.

Environmental Health

Environmental Health's Pest Control Service and Dog Warden service will not be available, and the out of hours rota will not be operating. Support staff will be answering telephHTTP/1.1 100 Continue ones but any service requests arising from such cHTTP/1.1 100 Continue alls will be dealt with on the Friday or as soon as possible after that.

Customer Services

Both of the Council's Customer Service Centres at Templars Square shopping centre and St Aldate's Chambers will be closed on both days. Notices will be going up to notify customers of this.

The Customer Service phone service will still be operational. Residents can call 01865 252849 to talk to a Customer Services operative.

Museum of Oxford

The Museum of Oxford will be closed on both days.

Benefit Fraud Investigation Team

The Investigation Team will be open for business as usual. The public can contact the team between 8am and 5pm.

Planning

The Planning team will be answering telephones but most enquiries and emails about applications or projects will have to wait until Friday for a reply.

Housing

The Housing Options team will provide telephone cover on both days for those seeking housing advice but there will be no duty cover. There will be no home visits on either day.

The out-of-hours homeless service will operate as normal.

The 24-hour Community Alarm scheme will operate as normal.

Oxford City Homes - Council Tenants

We will be running a reduced service in all areas at Oxford City Homes.

Oxford City Homes reception at Horspath Road will be open as normal on both days. Reception opens at 8am and closes at 5pm. Reception will be able to answer phone calls and try and put callers through.

The Oxford City Homes Contact Centre will be closed and a message will be put on the number informing callers that due to industrial action we will only be running an emergency service and if they stay on the line they will be put through to the Duty Officer.

The housing surgeries for Council tenants scheduled for Rose Hill and Barton on the strike days are cancelled. We will be putting up notices to inform people of this.

Crime and Nuisance Action Team (CANAcT)

The Crime and Nuisance Action Team (CANAcT) and Street Warden teams will be operating a normal service.

Parks

The Parks office at Northway will be open from 8am until 5pm. All Parks Depots will be operational. The only team that will not be functional is the Landscape team.

Cemeteries

The Cemetery Service will be fully functional on both days.

Markets

The Covered Market and Gloucester Green Market will be open for business as usual

Back to news listing

Welcome to Oxford