Staffordshire County Council putting together PPE kits for taxi drivers and other small businesses

Staffordshire County Council are preparing Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) kits for taxi drivers, which will include face masks and gloves to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

At a council cabinet meeting held on 17 June, members discussed ways of assisting smaller businesses as lockdown begins to ease.

Council member Mark Winnington said: "As businesses are starting to open up we realised one of the things that particularly micro businesses are concerned about is PPE, what they should have, how they should go about following the guidelines as a business.

"We have made a commitment that will cost £90,000 to put packs together.

"We're looking towards 2,000 packs of 30 face masks, 25 pairs of gloves, signposting advice and also where this PPE can be bought in the future.

"That will be sent out to businesses such as hairdressers, physios, hospitality, electricians and taxi drivers – any of those small businesses that have got to have some fairly close contact with the public.

"It's felt like a tsunami – not just for ourselves as a county council but all our residents and businesses.

"We need to keep ahead of that wave to make sure we do what we can – and try and guess to a degree where we need to input.“

As more and more people begin to venture out, and Government guidelines advising limited use of public transport such as buses and tubes, taxi drivers will hope for an upturn in work after being severely impacted from the nationwide lockdown.

But with the increase in work, will also come the increase of close contact with a number of different people. Having some form of protective equipment is now essential for such workers, so the council’s decision to provide kits will be much appreciated.