Six Council Enforcement Officers and two town centre security officers will double up as Covid Marshals across Fareham to support and advise people on sticking to Government guidelines on social distancing and preventing the spread of the virus.
The Enforcement Officers will combine the Covid Marshal duties with their usual roles of dealing with fly-tipping, litter and abandoned vehicles. The town centre security officers, who are contractors, will also be fulfilling this important role for the town and outlying district centres.
In addition, three employees from the Council’s Environmental Health Commercial Team, who would normally be conducting food and hygiene inspections, will be working closely with businesses to ensure they understand and are complying with the rules.
The Covid Marshals will wear armbands so they can be identified, and their role will be to advise, support and explain the restrictions to people to gain their compliance and help reduce the spread of the virus. They will not have any enforcement powers.
The commercial team working with businesses does have enforcement powers and can issue closure notices where necessary.
Executive Member for Health and Public Protection, Cllr Trevor Cartwright, said: “Our new Covid Marshals will become a familiar sight across the town centre and the district centres where they will be advising and supporting people to follow the national restrictions.
“On the whole people across Fareham have been really good at following the restrictions, but where there is some confusion about what can or cannot be done the Covid Marshals will be on hand to provide advice and help.
“We know a lot of businesses have managed to set up a click and collect system and that means there could be issues with people maintaining a safe distance while waiting outside premises for their purchases. The Covid Marshals will help to make sure those queues remain safe.”
