Freedom of information (FOI) releases from Herefordshire Council

This is a disclosure log of Herefordshire Council's responses to freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) requests that might be of wider public interest.

If you can't find the information you're looking for, you can make a new FOI request.

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3,259 disclosures

  1. Council Customer Service Enquiries

    For the purpose of this request, please define an “enquiry” as any inbound request for information, support, or service received and managed through the council’s central Customer Services, Customer Contact Centre, Contact Centre, webchat service, online customer contact channels, or equivalent first point of contact function. This request does not extend to enquiries sent directly to individual departments, service areas, officers, or councillors where these interactions are not centrally recorded. Please provide the following information for the most recent 12-month period for which complete data is available, and specify the exact dates covered.

    Q1. Total enquiries. Please provide the total number of enquiries received by the council’s Customer Services/Contact Centre function during the reporting period.

    Q2. Channel breakdown. Where recorded, please provide the total number of enquiries received through each of the following channels:

    * Telephone

    * Email

    * Online form or customer portal

    * Webchat

    * Virtual assistant or chatbot

    * Social media

    * SMS, WhatsApp, or another messaging service

    * Other (please specify)

    If the council records some of these channels together, please provide the information using the categories held.

    Q3. Telephone performance. If held, please provide:

    * Average speed to answer telephone calls

    * Total number of abandoned calls

    * Average call-handling time

    Q4. Service hours. Please provide the standard operating hours of the central Customer Services/Contact Centre function, including whether staffed customer service support is routinely available during evenings or weekends.

    Q5. Complaints. If held, please provide the total number of complaints specifically relating to performance, responsiveness, or accessibility of the central Customer Services/Contact Centre function.

    Q6. Customer satisfaction. If held, please provide the average customer satisfaction score (CSAT) or equivalent customer service satisfaction measure for the reporting period.

    Q7. First contact resolution. If first contact resolution is measured, please provide:

    * The first contact resolution rate

    * The number of enquiries resolved at the first point of contact, if recorded Please also provide the council’s definition of first contact resolution.

    Q8. Use of artificial intelligence. Does the council currently use any AI-powered technology within its central Customer Services/Contact Centre function? If yes, please briefly describe the technology and its purpose. This could include, but is not limited to, chatbots or virtual assistants, automated email handling, call summarisation, knowledge tools, or technology that assists customer service staff.

    Q9. Customer service workforce. Please provide the average number of full-time equivalent staff working within the central Customer Services/Contact Centre function during the reporting period. If an average is not held, please provide the number recorded at the nearest available data and specify that date.

    Q10. Most common reasons for contact. If enquiries are categorised by reason for contact, please provide:

    * The five most common recorded enquiry categories during the reporting period

    * The number of enquiries recorded in each category, if held If any requested information is not held, please state this.

    Where possible, please provide any closely related information that is readily available.

    Published: 14 October 2026

  2. Refuse collection vehicle access

    Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, could you please provide the following information from the last 12 months:

    1. A list of roads or streets where standard refuse or recycling collection vehicles are currently unable, or instructed not, to travel for routine household collections.

    1a. If time and cost limits allow, please also provide the same information for commercial waste collections carried out by the council or on its behalf.

    2. Where recorded, the reason for each restriction, such as narrow roads, unsafe reversing, weight restrictions or lack of turning space.

    3. Where recorded, how collections are instead carried out, such as using a smaller vehicle, crews collecting on foot, or residents using an agreed collection point.

    4. Where recorded, the date on which the current access restriction or alternative collection arrangement began.

    For clarity, I am only interested in ongoing or regular access restrictions, rather than one-off issues caused by roadworks, weather or temporary obstructions.

    Please provide the information in spreadsheet format where possible. If some information is not held, please provide the available information and clearly state what is not held.

    If the request would exceed the appropriate cost limit, please provide advice and assistance under Section 16 of the Act as to how it could be refined.

    Published: 14 October 2026

  3. Conservation Area Planning Controls and Measurement Standards

    1. CONSERVATION AREA POLICY COMPLIANCE: The council's formal policy document, threshold guidance, or operational framework regarding "material deviations" from approved red-line boundary footprints for residential developments within designated Conservation Areas. What spatial or linear measurement tolerance (if any) triggers an immediate Stop Notice or Enforcement Notice for an unauthorized structural footprint displacement?

    2. CADSTRE / BOUNDARY MEASUREMENT ACCURACY STANDARDS: The formal equipment and data verification standards required for Planning Enforcement officers when taking site measurements. Does council policy mandate the use of high-precision geodetic or GPS total station equipment when validating layout clearances near disputed titles, or are general hand-held tape measures considered legally compliant for final enforcement site assessments?

    3. INTER-DEPARTMENTAL NOTIFICATION PROTOCOLS: The internal policy or protocol governing communication between Planning Enforcement and Building Control when a structural footprint deviation is discovered. Specifically, what is the protocol when an unauthorized layout displacement directly affects adjacent domestic structures under the 3- metre and 6-metre rules defined by Section 6 of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996?

    4. FOUNDATION INSPECTION ENFORCEMENT POLICIES: The council's standard enforcement criteria and statutory steps taken when a developer constructs structural walls and a roof shell over foundation trenches that bypassed mandatory local authority inspections and structural sign-offs.

    Published: 14 October 2026

  4. Laboratory animal transport enforcement, Sequani Ledbury

    I am making a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 concerning local-authority enforcement of animal welfare-in-transport legislation in relation to laboratory animals transported to or from:

    Sequani Limited

    Bromyard Road

    Ledbury

    Herefordshire

    HR8 1LH

    APHA has confirmed to me that the primary responsibility for enforcement of welfare-in-transport legislation rests with local authorities, including routine welfare checks on animals and their means of transport.

    For the period 1 January 2024 to the present, please provide:

    1. The number of welfare-in-transport inspections, vehicle inspections, roadside checks, arrival/departure checks or other compliance checks carried out in connection with animals transported to or from Sequani.

    2. Copies of inspection reports, compliance records, officer notes, warning/advisory letters and enforcement records arising from those checks.

    3. Records of complaints, referrals or intelligence received concerning transport of dogs or other laboratory animals to or from Sequani, with personal details of complainants redacted.

    4. Records identifying any commercial transporter inspected, checked or investigated in connection with those movements, including records containing the name “Impex” where held.

    5. Records showing whether transport documentation was examined, including documentation recording origin/ownership, place and time of departure, intended destination and expected journey duration.

    6. Records concerning vehicle hygiene, cleaning, disinfection or biosecurity where vehicles were used for laboratory animals.

    7. Any records concerning use of the same vehicle for different species, including dogs and non-human primates.

    8. Substantive correspondence between Herefordshire Council and APHA, the Home Office, Sequani or a transporter concerning welfare-in-transport compliance involving the Ledbury establishment.

    9. Records of any enforcement action, improvement requirement, caution, prosecution, referral or formal advice issued in connection with animal transport to or from the site.

    10. If no inspection or enforcement activity has taken place in relation to laboratory-animal transport at this site during the requested period, please confirm that explicitly.

    I am not requesting information that would identify planned future animal movements, routes or other security-sensitive operational details.

    Published: 14 October 2026

  5. Higher risk buildings - Herefordshire

    1. How many 18m Higher-Risk Buildings (HRBs) as defined by the Building Safety Act 2022 does the authority own or manage?

    How many HRBs have been identified as requiring remediation of: · Unsafe cladding;

    and/or · significant external wall system fire safety defects;

    and/or · EPC ratings below C and require EWI upgrading, and how will this be procured

    2. How many 11- 18m buildings as defined by the Building Safety Act 2022 does the authority own or manage?

    How many 11-18m buildings have been identified as requiring remediation of:

    · Unsafe cladding;

    and/or · significant external wall system fire safety defects;

    and/or · EPC ratings below C and require EWI upgrading, and how will this be procured

    3. How many low-rise buildings as defined by the Building Safety Act 2022 does the authority own or manage?

    How many low-rise buildings have been identified as requiring remediation of:

    · Unsafe cladding;

    and/or · significant external wall system fire safety defects;

    and/or · EPC ratings below C and require EWI upgrading, and how will this be procured

    Published: 14 October 2026

  6. Sexual abuse safeguarding concerns

    I would like to make a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Please provide the following information for each of the last three completed financial years. For the purposes of this request, I am seeking information about safeguarding concerns involving alleged sexual abuse, rather than information about cases in which sexual abuse has been established or proven.

    1. Safeguarding concerns

    For each of the last three completed financial years, please provide:

    2. The number of safeguarding concerns recorded as involving alleged sexual abuse where the adult concerned was aged 65 or over at the time the concern was raised.

    3. Of those concerns, where the information is held and can be provided from existing records without reviewing individual case files, the number where the recorded location of the safeguarding risk/incident was:

    * the person's own home

    * in the community (excluding community services)

    * in a community service

    * care home - nursing

    * care home - residential

    * hospital

    * other/unknown

    If the council uses different or more detailed location categories, please provide the information using the council's existing recorded categories where possible.

    4. Source of risk/alleged perpetrator For the safeguarding concerns identified in question 1, please provide, where this information is already recorded and can be extracted without reviewing individual case files, the number falling into each recorded category of source of risk/alleged perpetrator.

    In particular, if separately recorded, please provide numbers for:

    * employee/staff member of a care home, nursing home or other care provider

    * agency worker/agency staff

    * Other - known to individual

    * Other -unknown to individual (If the council does not record these categories in this way, please provide the equivalent categories used in its existing safeguarding records).

    5. Police involvement

    For the safeguarding concerns identified in question 1, please provide the number that were:

    * referred to the police/reported to the police/or otherwise recorded as involving police involvement.

    If the council uses a different recording category, please provide the equivalent information.

    6. Section 42 safeguarding enquiries For each of the last three completed financial years, please provide the number of Section 42 safeguarding enquiries involving an adult aged 65 or over where sexual abuse was recorded as the/a type of abuse/alleged abuse.

    If separately recorded, please also provide the number of such enquiries by recorded location of the safeguarding risk, including residential care home, nursing home, the person's own home, other setting, and unknown/not recorded.

    I am requesting aggregated statistical information only and do not require any information that would identify individual adults, alleged perpetrators, care providers or other individuals.

    Where the requested information is not held in precisely the categories specified above, I would be grateful if you could provide the closest equivalent information already held by the council rather than treating the request as requiring the creation of new information.

    If any part of this request would exceed the appropriate cost limit, please provide advice under section 16 of the Freedom of Information Act on how the request could be refined while retaining as much of the requested information as possible.

    If any information is exempt from disclosure, please provide the non-exempt information and identify the exemption relied upon for any information withheld.

    Published: 14 October 2026

  7. Private Rented Sector Complaints and Service Requests

    I am writing to request information relating to complaints and service requests concerning privately rented residential properties. Please could you provide the following information for each calendar year from 2021 to 2025 inclusive:

    1) The total number of complaints or service requests received by the council relating to privately rented residential properties.

    2) A breakdown of these complaints or service requests by the council's existing recorded category or issue type, for example, where applicable,

    anti-social behaviour,

    noise nuisance,

    waste/rubbish,

    animal-related nuisance,

    property damage or

    other environmental/neighbourhood issues.

    If the council does not routinely identify whether a property is privately rented within its general complaints system, please provide the requested information where it is held within a relevant private-sector housing, environmental health, housing standards or housing enforcement dataset.

    If the council does not categorise complaints or service requests using the examples above, please provide the existing categories used by the council rather than creating a new categorisation specifically for this request.

    If the requested information is not held in exactly the format described, please provide the closest equivalent information already held by the council, where this can be provided without undertaking new analysis or creating a new dataset.

    Published: 12 October 2026

  8. Use of NON-Glyphosate Weed Control Products, Methods, Efficacy and Viability

    I am writing to make a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000/Environmental Information Regulations about the use of NON-glyphosate weed control products and methods, their efficacy and viability for use in local authority settings. The queries are as follows:

    1. Do you or your contractors currently use any of the following NON-glyphosate-based weed control measures?

    Manual Weeding

    Mechanical weeding

    Mulching

    Cultural control Vinegar/ acetic acid

    Hot foam Non-glyphosate chemical products (please name)

    Pelargonic acid

    Hot lances/ weed guns (using flame)

    Weed barriers/ membranes

    Hot water

    Electricity Steam

    Letting weeds grow

    Other (please name)

    2. For the same list, please identify which, if any, products you or your contractors have considered or trialled, but REJECTED giving the reasons why in each case.

    Manual Weeding

    Mechanical weeding

    Mulching Cultural control Vinegar/ acetic acid

    Hot foam

    Non-glyphosate chemical products (please name)

    Pelargonic acid Hot lances/ weed guns (using flame)

    Weed barriers/ membranes

    Hot water

    Electricity Steam

    Letting weeds grow

    Other (please name)

    Published: 12 October 2026

  9. Trading Standards and origin labelling compliance

    I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act. For each of the following financial years:

    * 2023/24 (1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024)

    * 2024/25 (1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025)

    * 2025/26 (1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026)

    Please provide the information requested below. Let me know if you need any clarifications or further information to complete this request.

    Definitions For the purposes of this request:

    * "Country-of-origin mislabelling" means any complaint, referral, intelligence report, investigation, inspection or enforcement activity concerning the accuracy of a stated country, territory or place of origin on goods offered for sale.

    * Please include cases whether the allegation was ultimately substantiated or not.

    * If exact figures are unavailable, please provide the nearest available recorded figures and explain any limitations.

    * If information is not held, please state "Information not held", rather than leaving a response blank or putting ‘0’ in a table cell.

    Question 1: Complaints and Investigations

    How many complaints, referrals or intelligence reports relating to suspected country-of-origin mislabelling were recorded?

    How many distinct cases relating to suspected country-of-origin mislabelling were recorded for investigation?

    Complaints / referrals / intelligence reports

    Cases recorded for investigation

    Question 2: Enforcement activity

    How many enforcement actions relating to country-of-origin mislabelling were recorded by your authority?

    Please provide a breakdown using the categories recorded by your authority. e.g. Advice letters Warning letters Compliance notices Product seizures Formal cautions Civil enforcement actions Criminal prosecutions commenced Convictions obtained Total fines imposed by courts (£) Other (please specify)

    Question 3: Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) and Israeli settlement cases If recorded, of the complaints and investigations actions reported in Question 1, how many related to products originating from or suspected of originating from:

    * the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT);

    * Israeli settlements located within the OPT; or

    * goods described as originating from "West Bank", "Palestine", "Occupied Palestinian Territories", "Israeli Settlement" or similar wording?

    Complaints / referrals / intelligence reports

    Investigations opened Enforcement actions

    Question 4: Enforcement activity related to Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) and Israeli settlement cases

    If recorded, of the enforcement activity reported in Question 2, how many related to products originating from or suspected of originating from:

    * the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT);

    * Israeli settlements located within the OPT; or

    * goods described as originating from "West Bank", "Palestine", "Occupied Palestinian Territories", "Israeli Settlement" or similar wording, please provide a breakdown of cases using the categories recorded by your authority. e.g.

    Advice letters

    Warning letters

    Compliance notices

    Product seizures

    Formal cautions

    Civil enforcement actions

    Criminal prosecutions commenced

    Convictions obtained

    Total fines imposed by courts (£)

    Other (please specify)

    Question 5: DEFRA Technical Advice Guidance If recorded, how many recorded complaints, referrals, investigations or enforcement actions referenced compliance with the DEFRA 2009 Technical Advice Guidance concerning produce originating from the Occupied Palestinian Territories?

    Complaints / referrals / intelligence reports

    Investigations opened

    Enforcement actions

    If any such cases were recorded, please provide a brief summary of the outcome of each case (with suitable redactions).

    Question 6: Proactive compliance activity During any of the above financial years, did your authority undertake any proactive inspection, sampling, survey, project or compliance exercise specifically intended to assess the accuracy of origin labelling relating to:

    * Occupied Palestinian Territories produce; or

    * Israeli settlement produce?

    If yes, please provide the number of exercises recorded and a brief summary of the activity and outcome where this information is readily available.

    Question 7: Guidance and Procedures

    If held and readily available through normal electronic searches, please provide copies of any guidance, policy documents, operational procedures, briefing notes or training materials used by officers when assessing:

    * country-of-origin claims generally; and/or

    * origin labelling relating to the Occupied Palestinian Territories or Israeli settlements.

    Question 8: Business Guidance

    In any of the above financial years, has your authority issued guidance, advice, warnings, newsletters or educational material to businesses concerning country-of-origin labelling requirements? If yes, please provide copies or links to the material if readily available through normal electronic searches.

    Published: 12 October 2026

  10. Pothole Statistics

    please provide me with the following information:

    The number of potholes reported to you in

    2024,

    2025 and

    to the end of August 2026

    and the source of the reporting -

    eg: public reports,

    routine highway inspections,

    information from other employees and companies.

    The total amount of money spent repairing potholes in

    2024,

    2025 and

    to the end of August 2026.

    The percentage of all pothole damage claims paid out in

    2024,

    2025 and

    to the end of August 2026.

    The amount of money paid out for pothole claims in

    2024,

    2025 and

    to the end of August 2026.

    The amount of the single largest payout for a pothole claim in

    2025 and

    to the end of August 2026,

    and if possible any details of the make and model of the vehicle the claim was made for.

    For pothole damage claims that were refused in

    2024,

    2025 and

    to the end of August 2026, please state the reason for refusal either per claim or as a percentage of the overall figure.

    The amount of money spent in legal fees to defend the council against pothole claims from drivers in

    2024,

    2025 and

    to the end of August 2026.

    Published: 12 October 2026