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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2,935 disclosures

  1. Research Governance for External Research Studies Involving Children’s Social Care

    I am writing to make a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

    I would be grateful if you could provide the following information relating to research governance for external research studies involving Children's Social Care.

    ________________________________

    1. Research Governance Procedure

    Please provide:

    1a. A copy of any policies, procedures, guidance documents, or process maps that outline your research governance procedure for external research studies involving Children's Social Care.

    1b. Within these documents, or separately if necessary, please confirm who reviews and approves applications for external research studies involving children's social care (e.g., job titles, teams, panels).

    ________________________________

    2. Number of Children's Social Care Research Applications Involving Child Participants (last 5 years)

    For the period 1 January 2020 - 31 December 2024 (or the most recent five-year period for which you hold data), please provide:

    2a. The number of research governance applications received for external research studies where children were intended research participants within Children's Social Care.

    2b. Of these, the **number of applications that involved children 11 years and younger.

    If you do not hold age data in this form, please state this.

    ________________________________

    3. Outcomes of Applications (last 5 years)

    For the same period, please provide:

    3a. The number of applications approved for external research studies involving child participants within Children's Social Care.

    3b. Of these approved applications, the **number that involved children 11 years and younger.

    If data is not held in this form, please state this.

    ________________________________

    4. Approval Timeframes (if held)

    4a. Please provide any recorded information you hold on the time taken to process research governance applications relating to Children's Social Care during the same five-year period, including (where available):

    * the date the application was received, and

    * the date the application was approved or declined.

    If this information is not held or not held in a retrievable format, please state this.

    Published: 24 April 2026

  2. Accommodation for Homeless Households and Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children

    I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to kindly request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

    Could you please provide the details outlined below, specifically regarding accommodation for homeless households and unaccompanied asylum-seeking children? If possible, I would appreciate the data being as of today, 26th March, 2026 or from the most recent month-end (Feb 28th, 2026), whichever is easier for your team to collect.

    If any of the requested information is exempt from disclosure, I would be grateful if you could share the non-exempt portions, along with an explanation of any data that cannot be provided.

    1) Homeless Accommodation Demand - All household types

    a) Number of households supported under homelessness legislation by your Authority in any form of homeless accommodation.

    b) Number of households supported under homelessness legislation by your Authority in Hotels/B&B/AirB&B type settings.

    2) Homeless Accommodation Demand - Families

    a) Number of families in all forms of homeless accommodation.

    b) Number of families in Hotels/B&B/AirB&B type settings.

    c) Average length of stay for families currently in Hotels/B&B/AirB&B type settings.

    d) Average cost of accommodation for a family in Hotels/B&B/AirB&B type settings.

    e) Nightly Cost excluding HB Income.

    3) Homeless Accommodation Demand - Singles assisted under homeless legislation

    a) Number of single people in all forms of homeless accommodation.

    b) Number of single people in Hotels/B&B/AirB&B type settings.

    c) Average length of stay for single people currently in Hotels/B&B/AirB&B type settings.

    d) Average cost of accommodation for a single person in Hotels/B&B/AirB&B type settings.

    e) Nightly Cost excluding HB Income.

    f) Does your Authority use Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMO's) for homeless accommodation for single people?

    4) Homeless Accommodation Demand - Childless Couples assisted under homeless legislation

    a) Number of childless couples in all forms of homeless accommodation.

    b) Number of childless couples in Hotels/B&B/AirB&B type settings.

    c) Average length of stay for childless couples currently in Hotels/B&B/AirB&B type settings.

    d) Average cost of accommodation for a childless couples in Hotels/B&B/AirB&B type settings.

    e) Nightly Cost excluding HB Income.

    f) Does your Authority use Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMO's) for homeless accommodation for childless couples?

    5) Homeless Accommodation Demand - Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC)

    a) Number of UASC in all forms of accommodation.

    b) Number of UASC in Hotels/B&B/AirB&B or other nightly charged accommodation settings.

    c) Average length of stay for UASC currently in Hotels/B&B/AirB&B or other nightly charged accommodation settings.

    d) Average cost of accommodation for UASC in Hotels/B&B/AirB&B or other nightly charged accommodation settings.

    e) Nightly Cost excluding HB Income.

    f) Does your Authority use Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMO's) for accommodation for UASC?

    Published: 24 April 2026

  3. Pest Management needs

    Are the pest management needs of property owned and managed by the local authority (e.g. offices, land, etc.) delivered by a contractor or by employees of the local authority? If a contractor, can you provide the name of the contractor?

    Published: 23 April 2026

  4. Lobbying for climate action & funding - Climate Emergency UK

    Please treat this as an Freedom of Information/Environmental Information Regulations request. I would like information about your council’s lobbying work in relation to climate action for the Council Climate Action Scorecards. In particular, please supply me with information relating to the following questions:

    Has the council written to or met with UK, national or devolved governments to ask or lobby for climate action since 1st January 2024? Please provide some evidence of the most recent letter or meeting such as a copy of the letter or email sent, or the date, topic of meeting and position of the person that the meeting was held with. This includes either asking for more powers and funding for local authorities to take climate action, or asking for the government to take further action themselves.

    This includes working with other local authorities to send joint letters or meetings to lobby UK or devolved governments, and includes both general climate action and calls for action on specific issues such as transport where climate change is mentioned as a motivating factor for taking action.

    This includes if a cabinet member or other councillor has written to or met with the UK or devolved governments on behalf of the council. I look forward to hearing from you in due course.

    Published: 23 April 2026

  5. Preventative pest control measures and compliance

    I am writing to request information about preventative pest control measures and compliance oversight at sites for which the Council has responsibility. Please provide the following information:

    1. A description of the preventative measures currently in place to reduce the risk of pest infestations at council-owned or council-managed sites. This should cover the full range of sites under the Council's control, including (but not limited to) housing stock, council offices, depots, public spaces, parks, and any other land or buildings managed by or on behalf of the Council. Please address each category of site, even if only briefly, rather than limiting the response to housing or tenant-facing services.

    2. Details of any policies, procedures, guidance, or standard operating procedures used to ensure that pest prevention and control activities comply with:

    - a. Relevant legislation (including environmental health and animal welfare requirements)

    - b. Any internal council standards or best-practice guidance.

    3. Information on how the Council monitors and ensures compliance with these preventative measures and guidelines, including:

    - a. Any inspection, audit, or review processes, including the frequency of such processes, who is responsible for conducting them, and whether any independent or external scrutiny is applied

    - b. The role of officers, teams, or contractors in overseeing compliance

    - c. What action is taken, or what escalation process exists, where non-compliance or a failure of preventative measures is identified

    4. Where pest control services are delivered by external contractors, please confirm:

    - a. What policies or codes of practice relating to prevention and control that external contractors are expected to comply with

    - b. How the Council assures itself that those requirements are being met Please note that I'm not asking for a site-by-site or case-by-case breakdown.

    A high-level overview is fine. If you're withholding any part of this response under an exemption, please let me know which exemption applies and provide the rest of the information.

    Published: 23 April 2026

  6. Housing Benefit claims for exempt accommodation

    I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

    Please provide the following information: The number of Housing Benefit claims for exempt accommodation made between 1st January 2020 and 31st December 2025, broken down by year.

    The total expenditure on Housing Benefit for exempt accommodation between 1st January 2020 and 31st December 2025, broken down by year.

    The number of distinct landlords OR providers receiving Housing Benefit payments for exempt accommodation between 1st January 2020 and 31st December 2025, broken down by year.

    For clarity, “exempt accommodation” refers to accommodation where Housing Benefit is paid under the exempt accommodation provisions of the Housing Benefit Regulations.

    If your authority records this under a different but equivalent category (e.g. specified accommodation), please provide the closest available data and specify the definition used. Please provide the information in either a PDF OR word OR excel document.

    If this request exceeds the cost limit under Section 12, please provide advice and assistance under Section 16 as to how it may be refined. If you require any clarification, please do not hesitate to contact me.

    Published: 23 April 2026

  7. Enforcement of Standards in Private Rented Homes, 2024-25

    I would like to request the following information about the council's private rented sector enforcement, under the Freedom of Information Act.

    1. How many homes currently have a selective licence, if applicable?

    2. How many homes currently have an additional licence, if applicable?

    3. How many full-time equivalent officers did the council employ to enforce the Housing Act 2004 on 31 March 2025?

    For the 2024-25 financial year:

    4. How many complaints did the council receive from private renters regarding hazards in their home?

    5. How many private rented homes did the council inspect under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System?

    6. In how many private rented homes did the council find Category 1 hazards?

    7. How many improvement notices did the council serve on private rented homes? Please do not include hazard awareness notices or other informal notices in this figure.

    8. How many enforcement notices relating to Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards did the council serve?

    9. How many final civil penalty notices did the council issue to private landlords?

    10. What was the total value of civil penalties that the council collected? (We note that some of this value may relate to penalty notices issued in the previous financial year.)

    11. How many private rented homes were subject to a successful prosecution?

    Published: 22 April 2026

  8. Paper and Cardboard Recycling

    Under the Freedom of Information Act, I would like to request the following information regarding paper and cardboard recycling in your borough:

    1) What are the contractual performance KPI's for this contract?

    2) Suppliers who applied for inclusion on each framework/contract and were successful & not successful at the PQQ & ITT stages.

    3) Who is the current supplier?

    4) Actual spend on this contract/framework (and any sub lots), from the start of the contract to the current date?

    5) Are there any processing facilities or MRFs utilised within the contract if so what the names and addresses?

    6) How is your fibre processed (baled or loose)?

    7) Where is the end destination of the fibre?

    8) What is your current collection method (dual stream, single source, kerbside sort or comingled)

    9) What tonnage per year do you produce by fibre grade?

    10) Start date & duration of framework/contract?

    11) Could you please provide a copy of the service/product specification given to all bidders for when this contract was last advertised?

    12) Is there an extension clause in the framework(s)/contract(s) and, if so, the duration of the extension?

    13) Has a decision been made yet on whether the framework(s)/contract(s) are being either extended or renewed?

    14) Who is the senior officer (outside of procurement) responsible for this contract?

    15) Are there any plans to change the existing service?

    Published: 22 April 2026

  9. Details of all upcoming housing developments in Herefordshire

    Details of all upcoming housing developments in Herefordshire - not those that have already begun building.

    Solely those that have had planning approved - the application ID and location, when that planning was approved and when building needs to begin by.

    Ideally if possible, I'd like to also know the developer, if that information is known.

    Published: 22 April 2026

  10. Building Control Activity Data

    I am writing to request data held by Herefordshire Council on building control activities in your area under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Please could you provide the following data for each financial year from 2015/16 to 2025/26:

    1. Initial Notices from Approved Inspectors / Registered Building Control Approvers The number of Initial Notices received and accepted by the council in each year, broken down by: * Building type, using whatever categorisation is held in your case management system * New build vs alteration/extension/refurbishment * The identity of the Approved Inspector/RBCA named on each notice, where held

    2. Lapsed Initial Notices The number of Initial Notices that lapsed or were cancelled in each year, and where held, the identity of the Approved Inspector/RBCA named on the original notice.

    3. Local Authority Building Control Applications The number of building control applications received by the council in each year, broken down by: * Application type: Full Plans (FP), Building Notice (BN), Regularisation * Building type, using whatever categorisation is held in your case management system * New build vs alteration/extension/refurbishment

    4. Performance Any performance data held by the council relating to the Building Control Service, including but not limited to average application processing times, time to first site inspection, or any metrics reported internally or to committee. Please provide the data in whatever format is most convenient for you. If providing the full dataset from 2015/16 would exceed the cost limit under Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act, please provide data from 2019/20 onwards as a minimum, prioritising sections 1 and 3 above. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require any clarification on this request.

    Published: 21 April 2026