Mail and Printing
Case reference FOI2026/00451
Received 20 February 2026
Published 11 March 2026
Request
Please answer the following questions:
Print Room
1. Do you have a print room equipped with one/more high-speed production device/s to handle large volume printing?
2. Is this run by your own staff or outsourced to a third-party provider?
3. If run internally, how many full-time equivalent (FTE) run this facility?
4. Number of devices & model type/s?
5. Name of incumbent supplier?
6. Contract start / end date and length of any option to extend?
7. If outsourced, please advise contract start / end date and length of any option to extend?
8. Was this contract awarded through a framework? If yes, which one used?
9. Annual spend (ex VAT) covering non-pay and staff costs or total outlay if this service is outsourced?
External Print
1. Do you outsource any print requirements to external suppliers - for example to print forms, booklets, leaflets, manuals, posters, banners etc?
2. Name of incumbent supplier/s?
3. If this arrangement is provided under contract, please advise start / end date and length of any option to extend?
4. Was this contract awarded through a framework? If yes, which one used?
5. Alternatively, was this awarded through a DPS arrangement?
6. Annual spend (ex VAT) for this service over the past 12 months?
Mail Room (Inbound and/or Outbound)
1. Do you have your own in-house Mail Room operation?
2. If yes, how is the service run - physical or digital mail distribution?
3. Is this run by your own staff or outsourced to a third-party provider?
4. If run by your own staff, how many full-time equivalent (FTE) staff run this facility?
5. If outsourced, please advise name of current provider, contract start / end date and length of any option to extend?
6. Was this contract awarded through a framework? If yes, which one used?
7. Annual spend (ex VAT) covering non-pay and staff costs or total outlay if this service outsourced?
8. Do you use a Hybrid Mail service / solution?
9. If yes, please (a) name supplier (b) contract start / end date (c) framework through which this awarded?
Finally, who is responsible for these arrangements at the Council?
Response
Please answer the following questions:
Print Room
1. Do you have a print room equipped with one/more high-speed production device/s to handle large volume printing?
A: No
2. Is this run by your own staff or outsourced to a third-party provider?
A: N/A
3. If run internally, how many full-time equivalent (FTE) run this facility?
A: N/A
4. Number of devices & model type/s?
A: This information is publically available on Herefordshire Council’s Disclosure Log and can be viewed via the following link:
Current contract covering reprographics/print arrangements - Disclosure log
As such we consider this information to be exempt under Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 because it is reasonably accessible to you via other means. Please take this letter as a refusal notice under S17 of the Act.
5. Name of incumbent supplier?
A: This information is publically available on Herefordshire Council’s Disclosure Log and can be viewed via the following link:
Current contract covering reprographics/print arrangements - Disclosure log
As such we consider this information to be exempt under Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 because it is reasonably accessible to you via other means. Please take this letter as a refusal notice under S17 of the Act.
6. Contract start / end date and length of any option to extend?
A: This information is publically available on Herefordshire Council’s Disclosure Log and can be viewed via the following link:
Current contract covering reprographics/print arrangements - Disclosure log
As such we consider this information to be exempt under Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 because it is reasonably accessible to you via other means. Please take this letter as a refusal notice under S17 of the Act.
7. If outsourced, please advise contract start / end date and length of any option to extend?
A: N/A
8. Was this contract awarded through a framework? If yes, which one used?
A: Framework - CCS RM6174
9. Annual spend (ex VAT) covering non-pay and staff costs or total outlay if this service is outsourced?
A: Approx £46,680
External Print
1. Do you outsource any print requirements to external suppliers - for example to print forms, booklets, leaflets, manuals, posters, banners etc?
A: Yes
2. Name of incumbent supplier/s?
A: Signworx, PIP Printing Hereford, Barrington Print, Print Plus, JSM Brand Exposure, Calendar Lady Promotions, Something Different, Orphans Press Ltd, Warners Group Publications, R S Signs and Engraving, One Stop Print Shop, Signature signs and Print, The Sign Shop, SCI Print, Shaw and Sons, and Gov.Notifier.
3. If this arrangement is provided under contract, please advise start / end date and length of any option to extend?
A: Therefore there is no contract in place currently for external printing.
4. Was this contract awarded through a framework? If yes, which one used?
A: N/a
5. Alternatively, was this awarded through a DPS arrangement?
A: n/a
6. Annual spend (ex VAT) for this service over the past 12 months?
A: This information is not held centrally. However, I have contacted the teams most likely to hold relevant data.
Our Elections team has confirmed that their printing spend over the last 12 months was £46,237.48. They have also noted that annual printing costs can vary significantly depending on the number and type of elections taking place within a given year.
Our Communications team has advised that most services request printing quotes through their department. The total spend managed by Communications last year was £16,816.32. Please note that this figure does not include any teams that may have independently sourced and commissioned their own external printing suppliers (such as the elections team).
To identify all such spending across every team, I would need to approach each service individually. Completing this work would exceed the 18‑hour appropriate limit under Section 12 of the FOIA, and the request would therefore be refused on the grounds of cost.
Mail Room (Inbound and/or Outbound)
1. Do you have your own in-house Mail Room operation?
A: Yes
2. If yes, how is the service run - physical or digital mail distribution?
A: Physical
3. Is this run by your own staff or outsourced to a third-party provider?
A: Own staff
4. If run by your own staff, how many full-time equivalent (FTE) staff run this facility?
A: 2.77 FTE staff support mail processing, alongside their wider facilities management duties.
5. If outsourced, please advise name of current provider, contract start / end date and length of any option to extend?
A: N/A
6. Was this contract awarded through a framework? If yes, which one used?
A: N/A
7. Annual spend (ex VAT) covering non-pay and staff costs or total outlay if this service outsourced?
A: Approximately £132,000. Staff costs are not included, as the personnel involved in mail duties also undertake a range of other responsibilities. Their time is not recorded or costed separately for mail room activities, so it is not possible to provide an isolated staff cost for this function.
8. Do you use a Hybrid Mail service / solution?
A: No
9. If yes, please (a) name supplier (b) contract start / end date (c) framework through which this awarded?
A: N/A
Finally, who is responsible for these arrangements at the Council?
A: The Facilities & Resource Manager
Documents
This is Herefordshire Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
You can browse our other responses or make a new FOI request.