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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3,194 disclosures

  1. Agency expenditure on care workers in council led adult social care services

    Agency expenditure on care workers in council led adult social care services

    Please provide the following information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

    Scope clarification

    For the purposes of this request:

    • “Care workers” refers to frontline adult social care workers (e.g. reablement support workers, domiciliary care workers, support workers) and excludes qualified social workers, occupational therapists, clinicians, managers, or children’s services staff.

    • “Council led services” refers only to services run directly by the council or by wholly council owned entities (e.g. local authority companies), and excludes independent/private providers commissioned via contracts or frameworks.

    Q1. Total agency spend (care workers only)

    For the financial year 2025/26, please state the total amount spent by the council on agency care workers working within council led adult social care services.

    If the accounts are not finalised for 2025/26 please provide for the year 2024/25 and please reference this as the financial year you have used.

    Q2. Spend by service type (care workers only)

    Please provide a breakdown of the agency care worker spend 1 by service type, where available, for example:

    • Reablement / Intermediate Care

    • Discharge to Assess

    • Council run supported living

    • Urgent or crisis response services

    • Other council run adult social care services

    Q3. Hours supplied via agencies (if recorded)

    For the same period, please provide:

    • The total number of hours worked by agency care workers in council led adult social care services.

    If hours are not recorded, please confirm this.

    Q4. Agency charge rates (care workers)

    Please confirm:

    • The average hourly rate paid to agencies for care workers

    • The highest and lowest hourly rates paid during the period

    If rates vary by service, please provide ranges.

    Q5. Separability of margin (if recorded)

    If recorded information is held, please state whether the council records:

    • The pay rate to the worker

    • Separately from the agency fee or margin

    If this information is not held, please confirm this explicitly.

    Q6. Supplier list

    Please provide a list of recruitment agencies that supplied care workers to council led adult social care services in the above period.

    Q7. Workforce context

    If available, please provide:

    • The number of permanent care worker vacancies in council led adult social care services as at August 2026.

    Published: 10 September 2026

  2. LGA savings 2025-2026

    Please advise of the efficiency savings your Council achieved in the financial year 2025/26 which savings, if any, were due to advice from the Local Government Association. This could include from LGA peer review, attending LGA conferences, or reading LGA research.

    If listing all the savings would be too onerous please restrict to any identified savings you have recorded of over £100,000.

    Published: 10 September 2026

  3. Widemarsh Street and Maylord Orchards

    I would like to make a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in respect of commercial properties owned by the Council on Widemarsh Street and within the Maylord Orchards scheme.

    Please could you provide the following recorded information for any commercial lettings, lease renewals or rent reviews completed within the last three years:

    * Property address or unit number;

    * Lease, renewal or rent review date;

    * Lease term;

    * Annual rent payable;

    * Rent review dates, where applicable; and

    * Break dates, where applicable.

    I am compiling evidence of rents and lease terms for commercial properties within the local area. I do not require the names or personal details of any tenants, and these may be redacted from the response.

    Please provide the information in spreadsheet format where reasonably practicable.

    Published: 9 September 2026

  4. Drone & AI CCTV

    AI CCTV Please confirm whether the council currently operates, or has operated during the last 12 months, any CCTV or video surveillance systems which incorporate artificial intelligence.

    If yes, please provide:

    The supplier/vendor and product name of each system. A list of the AI-enabled or automated capabilities available within each system.

    Which of those capabilities are currently enabled and operational.

    Drone usage

    Please confirm whether the council has owned, leased, operated, or contracted the use of any drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) during the last 12 months for enforcement, regulatory, compliance, investigative, community safety, anti-social behaviour, environmental crime, planning enforcement, parking enforcement, or similar monitoring or evidential purposes.

    If yes, please provide: The number of drones operated by, or on behalf of, the council.

    The model name(s) and supplier(s). The purpose(s) for which the drones are used.

    Whether any drones are allocated to specific functions or teams.

    Whether the drones incorporate AI, automated analytics, object detection, facial recognition, thermal imaging or similar image-analysis capabilities.

    Which of those capabilities are technically available and which are currently enabled.

    A brief description of how drone deployments are authorised and conducted.

    Whether drones are deployed routinely for patrols, or only in response to specific incidents, reports, investigations, inspections, or other identified needs.

    Whether deployment logs are maintained and, if so, the categories of information routinely recorded within those logs.

    Whether drone imagery, footage, or other data may be shared with police forces and, if so, under what circumstances.

    Whether any drones are operated by contractors or other organisations on behalf of or in partnership with the council and, if so, the name of the organisation(s).

    If any part of this request is considered likely to exceed the cost limit under section 12 of the Act, please provide any information that can be supplied within the limit and advise how the remainder of the request could be refined.

    Published: 9 September 2026

  5. Trading Standards Staffing Levels

    A) Staffing levels

    1) How many FTE members of staff were employed by your trading standards service in 2018/19?

    2) How many FTE members of staff were employed by your trading standards service in 2022/23?

    3) How many FTE members of staff were employed by your trading standards service in 2025/26?

    4) How many FTE vacancies (if any) were your trading standards service carrying in 2018/19?

    5) How many FTE vacancies (if any) were your trading standards service carrying in 2022/23?

    6) How many FTE vacancies (if any) were your trading standards service carrying in 2025/26?

    B) Trading standards activities

    1) How many enforcement visits were carried out by your trading standards service in 2018/19?

    2) How many enforcement visits were carried out by your trading standards service in 2022/23?

    3) How many enforcement visits were carried out by your trading standards service in 2025/26?

    4) How many prosecutions were commenced by your trading standards service in 2019/19?

    5) How many prosecutions were commenced by your trading standards service in 2022/23?

    6) How many prosecutions were commenced by your trading standards service in 2025/26?

    7) How many informal cautions, letters of advice and written warnings were issued by your trading standards service in 2018/19?

    8) How many informal cautions, letters of advice and written warnings were issued by your trading standards service in 2022/23?

    9) How many informal cautions, letters of advice and written warnings were issued by your trading standards service in 2025/26?

    10) How many age restricted test purchases (e.g. alcohol and tobacco, vapes, fireworks, knives etc) were carried out by your trading standards service in 2018/19?

    11) How many age restricted test purchases (e.g. alcohol and tobacco, vapes, fireworks, knives etc) were carried out by your trading standards service in 2022/23?

    12) How many age restricted test purchases (e.g. alcohol and tobacco, vapes, fireworks, knives etc) were carried out by your trading standards service in 2025/26?

    13) How many shop closures (either temporary or permanent) were ordered by your trading standards service in 2018/19?

    14) How many shop closures (either temporary or permanent) were ordered by your trading standards service in 2022/23?

    15) How many shop closures (either temporary or permanent) were ordered by your trading standards service in 2025/26?

    16) How many premises in your council area had their licences revoked or removed following concerns raised by your trading standards service in 2018/19?

    17) How many premises in your council area had their licences revoked or removed following concerns raised by your trading standards service in 2022/23?

    18) How many premises in your council area had their licences revoked or removed following concerns raised by your trading standards service in 2025/26?

    Published: 8 September 2026

  6. Trading Standards Activity Relating to Mattresses and Beds (2020–2026)

    1. The number of complaints received by your Trading Standards service relating to the sale or supply of mattresses or beds suspected of being unsafe or non-compliant.

    2. The number of investigations undertaken by your Trading Standards service relating to mattresses or beds suspected of being unsafe or non-compliant.

    3. The number of mattresses or beds seized, removed from sale, or otherwise prevented from being supplied as a result of Trading Standards action.

    4. Where already recorded and readily available, the reason for any seizure, removal from sale or other enforcement action, for example concerns relating to fire safety, product safety, labelling or counterfeit products.

    *Note: For the purposes of this request, "unsafe or non-compliant" is intended to include mattresses or beds where Trading Standards has identified, suspected or investigated concerns relating to product safety, fire safety, construction or materials, labelling or safety information, applicable product regulations or standards, counterfeit products, or other regulatory non-compliance.

    Historic examples of relevant Trading Standards concerns have included "mattress scams", mattresses that failed fire safety tests, and sellers using false brand trademarks. This is intended as a broad description rather than an exhaustive definition, and I would be grateful for information based on the categories or classifications already used by your service.

    Published: 8 September 2026

  7. Service Management Survey 2026

    Please see attached questions in relation to this FOI.

    Published: 7 September 2026

  8. Neighbour Complaints about Invasive Weeds, 2021-2025

    Under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, or the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 where applicable, please provide information about complaints received by the council concerning invasive weeds growing on neighbouring or adjoining land.

    For each of the five complete calendar years 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, please provide:

    1) The total number of unique complaints received concerning invasive weeds.

    2) A breakdown of these complaints by the following plant species:

    · Japanese knotweed

    · Bamboo

    · Giant hogweed

    · Himalayan balsam

    · Other invasive plant species

    Please provide the information electronically, preferably as an Excel or CSV file.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    For the purposes of this request:

    · Please include cases where the plant had spread, was alleged to have spread or was considered at risk of spreading from neighbouring or adjoining land.

    · Please include complaints concerning privately owned, commercially owned and council-owned neighbouring land.

    · Please exclude reports made solely about an invasive plant growing on the reporting person’s own land, unless the report also concerned its spread from neighbouring or adjoining land.

    · Please exclude routine inspections, scheduled maintenance and infestations identified internally where no corresponding report was received from a member of the public.

    · “Other invasive plant species” means any other plant recorded by the council as invasive, non-native, encroaching or requiring control because of its spread.

    Please count each unique case or council reference number once, even if multiple communications were received about the same case. Please allocate the complaint to the calendar year in which it was first received.

    If one complaint concerned more than one named plant species, please include it under each relevant species.

    Where records confirm that no relevant complaints were received, please record the figure as “0”.

    If responding to the full request would be manifestly unreasonable, please prioritise providing the total number of unique neighbour complaints for each year, followed by the species breakdown in the order listed above.

    If any part of this request requires clarification or refinement, please contact me.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Published: 7 September 2026

  9. Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE)

    1. Does the council have a Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE)?

    If yes, please provide responses to the following questions. If no, please disregard the following questions.

    1. Please confirm the names and religious denominations of all Group A members of the SACRE from 2019 until present.

    2. Please confirm the names of all Group C members of the SACRE from 2019 until present.

    Published: 7 September 2026

  10. Councillors provided with funding distributing to charities

    I am requesting the following information under the Freedom of Information Act.

    1. Does the council operate funding schemes whereby individual councillors are provided with funding that they can distribute to charities and other organisations at their discretion? These schemes have different names in different areas, such as “member budgets”, “ward budgets”, “locality budgets” etc.

    If the council is uncertain of whether a particular funding scheme fits this criteria, please check with me.

    If the answer to question 1 is “no”, the council need not respond to the rest of this FOI request.

    If the answer to question 1 is “yes”, please proceed with the remainder of this request.

    2. For each year since 2024/25 (including 2026/27 year to date), please list each councillor, their political party/grouping that year, their ward, their annual budget under the scheme(s), and the list of entities they chose to distribute funding to under the scheme(s) covered by question 1. For each recipient entity, please state:

    a. The name of the recipient entity (e.g. the name of the charity)

    b. The amount of funding

    c. What the funding was for (if recorded)

    Published: 4 September 2026