Council announce School Place reception reopening

The reception of Orkney Islands Council’s offices on School Place will reopen to the public from tomorrow, Wednesday.

The reception will initially open on reduced hours from 10am to 3pm, Monday to Friday, and a number of new safety measures will be introduced.

People are being asked to only attend in person for essential business and to continue, whenever possible, to use other methods of contact such as online, email or telephone.

Catherine Foubister, customer services manager, thanked customers for their patience in adapting to the closure of the reception.

“This has been a difficult time for everyone adjusting to a new way of working and managing all kinds of day-to-day matters that still need to be seen to,” she said.

“We have all done our best to adapt and find a “new normal” as time progresses. We are confident the Orkney public will adhere to the measures in place which are to try and ensure the safety of all.”

Floor signage, perspex screens and hand sanitiser will be utilised, while the public are asked to wear face coverings and maintain physical distancing of two metres.

An appointment is required should you require an officer, and a maximum of three customers will be allowed into the reception area at any one time.

Where possible, visits to the reception should be restricted to one family member.

There is a letterbox or red post box provided for dropping off documentation and dog waste bags are available from outside the main reception.

An online video to assist customers when coming into the reception area can be viewed here.

The council can also be contacted online: www.orkney.gov.uk/MyOrkney; by email: customerservice@orkney.gov.uk; by phone: 01856873535.