From bin collections to benefit payments, here’s a roundup of Southampton City Council services and opening times over the Christmas season - including information about getting rid of your tree when the time comes.
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While many council services will be operating as normal throughout the Christmas period, there are areas that will be affected or unavailable. Here’s a roundup provided by the council in their own words.
Customer Services and Gateway
If you need to contact the council, the Customer Services phone lines are open:
Mondays 8.30am - 5pm
Tuesdays 8.30am - 5pm
Wednesdays 9am - 5pm
Thursdays 8.30am - 5pm
Fridays 8.30am - 4.30pm
Closed Bank Holidays
On the last Friday before Christmas (23 December 2022), Customer Services phone lines will be open from 8.30am to 12 noon. We will be re-opening on Wednesday 28 December 2022 as usual. We will also be closed on Monday 2 January 2023 and re-opening on Tuesday 3 January 2023.
Our Gateway in Guildhall Square will open as follows:
Monday 19 - Thursday 22 December 2022 – open from 10am - 3pm
Friday 23 December 2022 – open 10am - 12noon
Monday 26 - Friday 30 December 2022 – closed
Monday 2 January 2023 – closed
Tuesday 3 January 2023 onwards – regular opening hours
Civic Centre reception will be closed from 12noon on 23 December 2022 until 3 January where regular opening hours will resume.
General waste and recycling collections
General waste and recycling collections will be unchanged until Monday 26 December.
Between Monday 26 December and Monday 2 January 2023, your bin collections will be one day later than your usual collection day. So if your usual collection day is a Monday, it will be a Tuesday instead, and so on, during the festive season.
| Usual collection day | Revised collection day |
| Monday 19 December 2022 | Usual collections |
| Tuesday 20 December 2022 | Usual collections |
| Wednesday 21 December 2022 | Usual collections |
| Thursday 22 December 2022 | Usual collections |
| Friday 23 December 2022 | Usual collections |
| Saturday 24 December 2022 | No collections |
| Sunday 25 December 2022 | No collections |
| Monday 26 December 2022 | Tuesday 27 December 2022 |
| Tuesday 27 December 2022 | Wednesday 28 December 2022 |
| Wednesday 28 December 2022 | Thursday 29 December 2022 |
| Thursday 29 December 2022 | Friday 30 December 2022 |
| Friday 30 December 2022 | Saturday 31 December 2022 |
The normal household waste and recycling collection schedule resumes on Monday 2 January 2023. Your bin collection calendar is available on the waste and recycling section of the council website.
Garden waste and bulk waste collections
Garden waste collections will be suspended the week commencing Monday 26 December 2022 and will start again on Monday 9 January 2023.
Requests for larger bins will not be processed between 19 December 2022 and 9 January 2023.
Bulky waste collections will continue as normal.
Household Waste and Recycling Centre
The Household Waste and Recycling Centre will be open 7 days a week, 9am to 6pm, except for Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day when the HWRC will be closed.
Christmas trees
We are unable to collect real Christmas trees with kerbside general waste collections, so please ensure you dispose of your Christmas tree responsibly.
Existing Garden Waste customers must cut up their trees into small pieces and place these inside their brown-lidded bins. Residents who do not subscribe to the garden waste service are encouraged to take their trees to recycling centres and dispose of them, or add them to their own home compost system.
Libraries
All council libraries will open as normal with the exception of national bank holidays and Christmas Eve. There will also be an additional closure on Wednesday 28 December and reduced opening on Saturday 31 December of 10am to 2pm.
All community operated libraries will be closed throughout the Christmas and New Year period.
Be sure to check the opening hours of your local library before visiting.
Museums and Art Gallery
Southampton City Art Gallery will be closed from 24 December to 1 January (inclusive), reopening Monday 2 January 2023
Tudor House and Garden will be closed from 24 December to 1 January (inclusive), reopening Monday 2 January 2023
SeaCity Museum will be closed from 24 to 26 December, and closed on 1 January 2023
Southampton Register Office
Opening hours – by appointment only:
Friday 23 December – appointments offered between 9am till 12noon
Saturday 24 to Tuesday 27 December – CLOSED
Wednesday 28 to Thursday 29 December – appointments offered between 9am to 4pm
Friday 30 December – appointments offered between 9am to 3.30pm
Saturday 31 December – open for pre-booked Ceremonies only 9.30am till 12.30noon
Monday 2 January 2023 – CLOSED
Tuesday 3 January – return to normal opening times
To book a birth or death appointment, please book online by visiting register a birth or register a death. Any death enquiries, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or for any other query, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Housing Benefit payments
Housing Benefit payments for the 2022 Christmas and New Year period are detailed below.
If you receive payment by cheque, please allow extra time for any postal delays.
Normal payment cycle will resume week commencing 2 January 2023.
Weekly payments
Payments sent 20 December 2022 will arrive in accounts by 22 December 2022
Payments sent 22 December 2022 will arrive in accounts by 28 December 2022
Fortnightly payments
Payments sent 20 December 2022 will arrive in accounts by 22 December 2022
Monthly payments
No monthly payment due
Urgent payments
No Urgent payment runs over Christmas
Council tenant payments
Will run as normal and show in accounts by 26 December 2022 and 2 January 2023
Support for Council Tenants
Remember that Local Housing Offices are closed from midday on Friday 23 December 2022 and will re-open on Wednesday 28 December 2022. Offices are also closed on Monday 2 January and will re-open on Tuesday 3 January 2023. If you need to contact us while we are closed you can report repairs online or call our out of hours service on 023 8023 3344.
And if you’re looking at bidding for a new home via Homebid please note that bidding over the Christmas period will open on Thursday 22 December at 12noon and will close at 8am on Tuesday 3 January 2023.
Gritting and snow clearance
From November through to the end of March we provide the winter maintenance service for the city which includes pre-salting to help prevent ice forming and post-salting to melt ice and snow that has already formed. Priority one routes are treated as routine pre-salting, in advance of any forecast of frost, ice or snow.
We monitor daily weather forecasts and road conditions to enable us to decide when precautionary salting or other treatment is required and can react quickly to extreme weather conditions. Find out more on our gritting pages about road gritting and requesting a gritting bin to be re-filled. Find out more on our gritting pages about road gritting and requesting a gritting bin to be re-filled. For up to date information follow our highways service on Twitter at @scchighways