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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2,955 disclosures

  1. Language Services

    Under Freedom of Information Act 2000, please can you provide the following information regarding language services.

    1. Please confirm your overall spend on interpreting, translation and transcription services for the following financial years: * 2021-22 * 2022-23

    2. Who is your incumbent supplier(s) for language services? If you have more than one supplier, which services does each one provide to you?

    3. If you have a separate British Sign Language/non-spoken supplier, who is this?

    4. If you have a separate transcription supplier, who is this?

    5. Do you have any in-house interpreters/translators?

    6. When is your current language services contract(s) due to expire, a) without extensions and b) with all possible extensions?

    7. Could you please provide the name, phone number and email address of the contract manager responsible for language services?

    8. Could you please provide the name, phone number and email address of the person responsible for your language services budget?

    9. Could you please provide the following data for 2023: * Total number of face-to-face interpreting assignments (spoken language) and hours completed * Total number of face-to-face interpreting assignments (non-spoken language) and hours completed * Total number of telephone interpreting calls and minutes completed * Total number of video interpreting calls (spoken language) and minutes completed * Total number of video interpreting calls (non-spoken language) and minutes completed * Total number of document translations and words translated * Total number of audio transcriptions and total audio duration

    10. What were your top 20 highest-volume languages for interpreting/translation requests in 2023?

    11. Can you please provide the fill rate % you received for the following services in 2023: * Face-to-face interpreting * Telephone interpreting * Video interpreting * Document translation * Audio transcription

    12. What languages has your provider been unable to source in the last 12 months?

    13. Have service credits been applied on your language services contract in the last 12 months? If so, what performance failure was this linked to?

    14. What social value has been delivered as part of this contract in the last 12 months?

    15. If your contract was awarded through a tender process, can you please provide a copy of the winning bidder's tender?

    16. What are your contracted rates for each of the following services? * Spoken face-to-face interpreting: hourly rate * Non-spoken face-to-face interpreting: hourly rate * Telephone interpreting: per minute rate * Spoken video interpreting: per minute rate * Non-spoken video interpreting: * Document translation: per word rate * Audio transcription: per audio minute rate

    17. Has your provider of language services increased their charge rate to you in the last 12 months?

    18. What is the Authority's typical route to market?

    19. Does the Authority currently have any interpreter on wheel devices as part of their current contract? If yes please advise how many and if these are provided free of charge or paid for by the Authority.

    20. Could you please provide the name, phone number and email address of the person responsible for the language services budget?

    21. Could you please provide the name, phone number and email address of the person in charge of procurement for the Authority? Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you.

    Published: 11 March 2024

  2. Pupil exclusions from 2019 - 2023

    Can I please request the following information:

    - How many pupil exclusion requests have been made to the local authority from primary schools in 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020 and 2019?

    - How many pupil exclusion requests have been made to the local authority from secondary schools in 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020 and 2019?

    For both school types, can you please tell me:

    - If the request was granted or denied by the local authority?

    - If the request was denied by the local authority, what reason was given why?

    - If the school was local authority run (maintained) or in a trust?

    If answering this request will go over budget, can you please answer the first four bullet points (exclude the query about trust or maintained school).

    Published: 11 March 2024

  3. Money generated from council-owned car parks

    Could you please give me the recent data for how much money is made from each of your car parks in Herefordshire. Providing the data in an Excel spreadsheet, can you state how much was money was generated from each of your car parks in Hereford, Leominster, Bromyard, Ledbury, Ross-on-Wye and Kington, with each individual car park listed. Can this be collated for the year 2023, or if not the last financial year please? UPDATE: Please can you provide information regarding both the income and profit generated?

    Published: 8 March 2024

  4. Council management of Pupil Referral Units

    This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. I would like to request the following information:

    1) In the academic years 2021/22, 2022/23, and 2023/24 (so far), how much money was spent by the council on teaching and teaching assistant/support staff at pupil referral units within the council's remit that were hired via agencies on temporary contracts? Please separate these figures by school year, PRU and supplier.

    2) Does the council have a written policy (or policies) that details an approach to mental and physical wellbeing for staff at pupil referral units? If the answer to this question is yes, please share the relevant documentation.

    3) In the academic years 2021/22, 2022/23, and 2023/24 (so far), how many times were there incidences of violence towards staff at PRUs under the council's remit? Please separate these figures by school year.

    4) What counselling and psychological staff is available to teaching and support staff in the PRUs under your remit? Please detail their qualifications and how many days a week they work.

    Published: 8 March 2024

  5. Number of complaints for potholes on Tillington Road in the last 5 years

    I would like to know, in the last 5 years:

    How many times you have received complaints about potholes on Tillington road, starting from A4110 to A4103?

    How many times you had that patch of road inspected for potholes?

    How many times repairs was carried out, if any?

    Published: 8 March 2024

  6. Management systems

    Corporate website

    1. What Content Management Platform is used to manage the Local Authority's corporate website?

    2. Is this developed in house or by an external provider?

    3. If an external provider, please provide: a. Name of the provider b. Renewal date for the contract c. Annual support cost

    4. Are there plans to review provision of your content management system in the next 12 months?

    5. Please provide the name, email and phone of the individual responsible for the content management system within your organisation.

    School closures

    1. What School Closures system is used by the Local Authority's to report and manage school closures?

    2. Is this developed in house or by an external provider?

    3. If an external provider, please provide: a. Name of the provider b. Renewal date for the contract c. Annual support cost

    4. Are there plans to review provision of your school closures system in the next 12 months?

    5. Please provide the name(s), email(s) and telephone number(s) of the individual responsible for school closures within your organisation.

    Fostering

    1. What system is used by the Local Authority's to promote fostering through the Local Authority?

    2. Is this developed in house or by an external provider?

    3. If an external provider, please provide: a. Name of the provider b. Renewal date for the contract c. Annual support cost

    4. Are there plans to review provision of your fostering site in the next 12 months?

    5. Please provide the contact details of the individual responsible for promoting fostering within your organisation.

    6. Does the Local Authority use software to make fostering placements?

    7. If so, is this developed in house or by an external provider?

    8. If an external provider, please provide: a. Name of the provider b. Renewal date for the contract c. Annual support cost

    9. Are there plans to review provision of your fostering solution in the next 12 months?

    10. Please provide the contact details of the individual responsible for making fostering placements within your organisation.

    Published: 8 March 2024

  7. Paranormal activity in council houses 2023

    1) If your council has a social housing stock, please tell me how many complaints you received from tenants in the calendar year 2023 relating to alleged paranormal activity at council house properties.

    Note: I would request, if practicable, that a search of logged complaints be carried out using the following keywords: ghost, poltergeist, haunted/haunting, supernatural, and paranormal. The results would need to be manually reviewed to eliminate any false positives.

    2) Finally, please supply me with a summary or (if available) the verbatim wording of the complaint for the TEN most recent cases identified. Please redact any details that could identify an individual.

    Published: 6 March 2024

  8. Household Support Fund

    I would like to request the following information on support provided through the Household Support Fund, under the Freedom of Information Act.

    1. How much funding from the Household Support Fund for the 2023/24 financial year has been spent so far in your council? If all the funding has already been spent, please can you provide the date by which it was spent by.

    2. How many applications for a) vouchers and b) grants under the HSF scheme have been rejected so far in the 2023/24 financial year? If possible, please can you provide a breakdown of the reasons why these applications were rejected, e.g. incomplete application, deemed ineligible.

    3. What is the longest time in days it has taken to process an application for a) a grant b) a voucher under the HSF scheme in the 2023/24 financial year so far

    Published: 6 March 2024

  9. Standard hourly rate paid for a direct payment for personal care to disabled children

    1. What is the standard hourly rate paid by your local authority for a direct payment for disabled child assessed as requiring personal care support under the Children Act 1989 Part 3?

    2. Is the figure stated in answer to question 1 a net figure or a gross figure? A net figure means that the council will make additional payments to cover the costs of employing the personal care worker (ie Employers National Insurance liability, employers' liability insurance costs, holiday and sickness pay etc). A gross figure means that the recipient of the direct payment must pay all the costs of employing the personal care worker from the figure stated in answer to question 1.

    3. What is the number of disabled children currently receiving direct payments as a result of being assessed as requiring support under the Children Act 1989 Part 3?

    4. Does your council have a policy for increasing the sum specified in answer 1 above in cases where the cost of meeting the disabled child's assessed needs cannot reasonably be met by a payment at the hourly rate specified in answer to question 1?

    5. If the answer to question 4 is yes, please provide a copy of that policy or explain why providing a copy of the policy is not possible.

    6. How many of the disabled children referenced in question 3 currently receive an increased hourly rate of direct payment as per question 4, ie how often is an increased rate felt to be required?

    Published: 6 March 2024

  10. Balance of unspent and uncommitted monies during the period 01/01/2019- 31/01/2023 relating to s106

    I am researching the consequences of planning, including making financial payments as per the agreed and signed S106 document.

    I am particularly interested in the balance of unspent and uncommitted monies during the period 1st January 2019 and 31st December 2023.

    Published: 6 March 2024