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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2,094 disclosures

  1. Number of Rejected Public Questions for Council Meetings.

    FOI question 1.

    (a). How many public questions were submitted in 2021?

    (b)  How many of these were accepted by Councillor/Democratic Services and answered?

    (c). How many of these were rejected by Councillor/Democratic Services?

    (d). For the accepted and answered questions, how many supplementary questions were submitted?

    (e). How many of these SQ’s were accepted by Councillor/Democratic Services and answered?

    (f). How many of these SQ’s were rejected by Councillor/Democratic Services?

    FOI question 2.

    (a). How many public questions were submitted in 2022?

    (b)  How many of these were accepted by Councillor/Democratic Services and answered?

    (c). How many of these were rejected by Councillor/Democratic Services?

    (d). For the accepted and answered questions, how many supplementary questions were submitted?

    (e). How many of these SQ’s were accepted by Councillor/Democratic Services and answered?

    (f). How many of these SQ’s were rejected by Councillor/Democratic Services?

    FOI question 3.

    (a). How many public questions were submitted in 2023?

    (b)  How many of these were accepted by Councillor/Democratic Services and answered?

    (c). How many of these were rejected by Councillor/Democratic Services?

    (d). For the accepted and answered questions, how many supplementary questions were submitted?

    (e). How many of these SQ’s were accepted by Councillor/Democratic Services and answered?

    (f). How many of these SQ’s were rejected by Councillor/Democratic Services?

    FOI question 4.

    (a). How many public questions were submitted in 2024 to date?

    (b)  How many of these were accepted by Councillor/Democratic Services and answered?

    (c). How many of these were rejected by Councillor/Democratic Services?

    (d). For the accepted and answered questions, how many supplementary questions were submitted?

    (e). How many of these SQ’s were accepted by Councillor/Democratic Services and answered?

    (f). How many of these SQ’s were rejected by Councillor/Democratic Services?

     

    Published: 20 December 2024

  2. Registered marriages between 1st Cousins

    I would like to request under the Freedom of Information Act data I believe to be held by your authority concerning marriages.

    In particular, I would like to request information on what documentation prospective couples have to present to prove they are not related.

     

    I would like to know the number of marriages which were blocked or prevented from proceeding because of a lack of this proof.

     

    In addition, I would like to know the number of marriages in your area for the past five years. Can you break down this figure to show marriages between First Cousins?

     

    Could this figure be broken down to include the ethnicity of both parties and their gender.

     

    Also, I would like to know any policy or guidance you may have concerning the marriage of first or second cousins.

     

    Published: 20 December 2024

  3. Social Work and Educational Psychology staff positions within Children’s and Adult's Services

    I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. I would like to know the following information regarding Social Work and Educational Psychology positions within Children’s Services:

    1. The total number of agency social workers currently engaged within Children’s Services.

    2. The total number of vacant permanent social worker positions within Children’s Services.

    3. The total number of agency workers engaged within Children’s Services in social-work qualified roles, not including social worker positions.

    4. The total number of vacant permanent social-work qualified roles within Children’s services, not including social worker positions.

    5. The total number of agency social workers currently engaged within Adult’s Services.

    6. The total number of vacant permanent social worker positions within Adult’s Services.

    7. The total number of agency workers engaged within Adult’s Services in social-work qualified roles, not including social worker positions.

    8. The total number of vacant permanent social-work qualified roles within Adult’s Services, not including social worker positions.

    9. The total number of agency and/or freelance Educational Psychologists currently engaged by the local authority.

    10. The total number of vacant permanent Educational Psychologist positions within the local authority.

    11. The total number of agency and/or Assistant Educational Psychologists (Educational Psychologist Assistants) currently engaged by the local authority.

    12. The total number of vacant permanent Assistant Educational Psychologist positions within the local authority.

    13. The total number of agency and/or Educational Psychologist Assistants (however described) currently engaged within the local authority.

    14. The total number of vacant permanent Educational Psychologist Assistants (however described) positions within the local authority.

    Published: 20 December 2024

  4. Youth provision and expenditure in the 2023/24 financial year

    1) What are the counts for the below items during the 2023/24 financial year?

    • Overall number of council-ran youth centres in local authority

    • Overall number of youth centres in local authority run by other organisations

    • Overall number of directly employed youth workers and youth support workers (Head count)

    • Overall number of directly employed youth workers and youth support workers (FTE)

    2) As part of the Section 251 Outturn submitted to Department for Education for the 2023/24 financial year, which budget line did your local authority include expenditure on Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme? (e.g., 2.4.1 (Other specific grants); 3.5.2 Targeted services for young people)

    3) How much did your local authority spend on the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme in the 2023/24 financial year?

    4) Did your local authority receive any of the Youth Investment Fund from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport in the 2023/24 financial year?

    a. Yes / No

    If yes,

    b. How much money was received?

    c. What project(s) was YIF used for in your local authority?

    d. Was this a new-build or refurbishment/renovation of existing space?

    e. What was the split of funding between capital (e.g., building, renovations) and revenue (service delivery)?

    f. Was this funding included as part of your Section 251 Outturn statement to DfE? If so, which budget line was this attributed to, and in which financial year?

    5) In the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s Statutory guidance for local authorities on services to improve young people’s wellbeing (published 27 September 2023), it states that “Local authorities must determine what activities and associated facilities should be available to young people in their area”, and “should start by establishing what the needs of the young people in their area are, both in terms of activities and facilities, through a needs assessment.”

    Has your local authority conducted a needs based assessment in the last three years?

    a. Yes / No

    If Yes,

    b. When was this conducted?

    c. How was this achieved? (E.g., analysing available data, taking views from providers, bench-marking approaches, regular audits of provision)

    If No,

    d. Does your local authority plan to conduct a needs based assessment on youth provision within the next four years? If so, when will this be?

    6) Under Section 507B of the Education Act 1996, “local authorities must consult, and take into account the views of young people in their area on: current provision; the need for additional activities and facilities; access to those activities and facilities”

    Has your local authority consulted young people on youth provision in the last four years?

    a. Yes / No

    If Yes,

    b. When was this conducted?

    c. How was this achieved? (E.g., surveys, visits to youth groups, feedback sessions in schools, youth councils, youth-led peer reviews)

    If No,

    d. Does your local authority plan to consult with young people on youth provision within the next four years? If so, when will this be?

    Published: 20 December 2024

  5. Alleged planning breaches reported in the last 12 months

    Thank you for your response to my original FOI Request, FOI2024/01814.

    See attached, my amended FOI request, which recognises the limitations of the Council's reporting system.

    On the assumption that the Council is unable to quickly code a report that matches my original request (?), please accept my reduced information request, as follows:

    1) In the last 12 months, how many alleged planning breaches have been reported by:

    a) members of the public?

    b) and how many planning breaches have separately been reported by planning authority staff?

    2) Split between reports from the public and reports from planning authority staff, how many were investigated?

    3) Split between reports from the public and reports from planning authority staff, in how many cases did the planning authority take enforcement action, e.g. the issue of an enforcement notice, a requirement to submit a planning application etc.?

    In addition, please provide an answer to my original question 4, as follows:

    4) In a previous disclosure, the planning authority confirmed that its total annual budget for planning enforcement work comprised "Only staff salary within wider Development Management team; there is no dedicated budget for direct action/legal fees, etc."

    a) In circumstances where the planning authority wishes to take enforcement action, how is that action funded?

    b) Is a lack of dedicated funding effectively preventing the planning authority from fulfilling its enforcement responsibilities?

    c) Over the last ten years, split by year, what was the cost of the Council's enforcement action, over and above "staff salary within wider Development Management team"?

    Published: 19 December 2024

  6. Data on Vacant Council Properties

    I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The main purpose of this request is to gather data on vacant council properties in the United Kingdom.

    For clarification, this includes all forms of social housing in the ward of the council, including Housing Association. Specifically, I am seeking information on the following: Number of vacant homes: -

    The number of vacant council properties

    -The number of vacant Housing Association properties Reasons for vacancy:

    -Breakdown of reasons why said social housing properties are vacant [E.g. awaiting repairs, legal issues, not meeting the Decent Homes Standard, etc.] Waiting list size:

    -How many residents are currently on the waiting list for social housing Waiting list length:

    -The average length of the waiting list for a council property

    The average length of the waiting list for a Housing Association property

    Published: 18 December 2024

  7. Households with children in temporary accommodation September 2023 - September 2024.

    This FOI is similar to one filed earlier this year, but refers to a different time period.

    Please provide all of the data for two (2) time periods: end of September 2024; and end of September 2023

    1a. Number of households with children aged under 5 in temporary accommodation

    1b. Number of households with children (under 5) in temporary accommodation for more than 6 weeks

    1c. Number of households with children (under 5) in temporary accommodation for more than 6 months

    1d. Total number of children aged under 5 in temporary accommodation (not number of households)

    2a. Number of households with children aged under 5 in b&b temporary accommodation

    2b. Number of households with children (under 5) in b&b temporary accommodation for more than 6 weeks

    2c. Number of households with children (under 5) in b&b temporary accommodation for more than 6 months

    2d. Total number of children aged under 5 in b&b temporary accommodation (not number of households)

    3a. Number of households with children aged under 12 in temporary accommodation (This will include the numbers from part 1, don't worry I will make sure nothing is double-counted)

    3b. Number of households with children (under 12) in temporary accommodation for more than 6 weeks

    3c. Number of households with children (under 12) in temporary accommodation for more than 6 months

    3d. Total number of children aged under 12 in temporary accommodation (not number of households)

    4a. Number of households with children aged under 12 in b&b temporary accommodation

    4b. Number of households with children (under 12) in b&b temporary accommodation for more than 6 weeks

    4c. Number of households with children (under 12) in b&b temporary accommodation for more than 6 months

    4d. Total number of children aged under 12 in b&b temporary accommodation (not number of households)

    Published: 17 December 2024

  8. Translation and Interpretation Services 2023/2024

    I am writing in hopes of acquiring information to as part of research into LAs spending trends in different sectors. Spending on interpretation and translation services is one of those sectors.

    I have already referred to the FOI Act and understand that the information requested below are not exempt from the public domain. As such, under the FOI Act, can we please ask for the following information at your earliest convenience to enable me conclude my project:

    In the past 12 months, please confirm

    1) The number of written translation requests and how many were met (e.g. January 2023 – 2 requests / 2 met)

    2) The number of pre-booked telephone interpretation requests and how many were met?

    3) The number of on-demand telephone interpretation requests and how many were met?

    4) The number of face-to-face interpretation requests and how many were met?

    5) A breakdown of the number of Face to Face Interpreter requests by language (e.g. January 2023: Polish 80 / Romanian 62 / Bulgarian 50 / Urdu 22 etc for each language each moth)

    6) What % of Face to Face Interpreter requests were met?

    7) How many Interpreters Did Not Attend their appointments?

    8) How many end-users did not attend their appointment?

    9) How many patients who did not attend appointments needed an interpreter?

    10) How many bookings were cancelled by patients last minute?

    11) What was the total spending for the year across all interpretation and translation services?

    12) Who is the incumbent provider for the Council?

    13) When did the current contract come into effect?

    Published: 17 December 2024

  9. Veterans on a social housing waiting list since the start of the financial year 2018/19

    Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, please can you provide me with the following information on veterans and social housing in your local authority:

    1. The number of veterans that were on a social housing waiting list in your local authority, in each month since the start of the financial year 2018/19;

    2. The average length of time spent by a veteran on a social housing waiting list in your local authority, since the start of the financial year 2018/19;

    3. The longest time a veteran has spent on a social housing waiting list in your local authority since the start of the financial year 2018/19;

    4. The number of complaints made by veterans in social housing about their social housing provision to your local authority, in each month since the start of the financial year 2018/19;

    5. The number of veterans that contacted your local authority asking for financial support of any kind in each month since the start of the financial year 2018/19.

    Published: 17 December 2024

  10. Modern slavery training at Herefordshire council

    Please provide the following information on the modern slavery training you offer to staff:

    • Do you provide modern slavery training to your staff, or cover modern slavery as part of a wider training (eg. Adult safeguarding, children’s safeguarding etc)? Please answer 'yes, standalone training', 'no', or 'yes, covered as part of other training'

    • If you provide modern slavery training, is it limited to one 'type' of modern slavery or is it general? (e.g. 'modern slavery', or on a specific type like ‘child’ or ‘criminal’ exploitation?)

    • Is your modern slavery training open to all staff?

    • Which of the following training formats do you offer?: e-learning / on-demand module, classroom learning (remote or in-person), or webinar/guest talk. If webinar/guest talk or classroom learning, please share when these trainings have taken place within the past two years.

    • What is the duration of the training (if you have access to this information)?

    • Does the training contain any of the following themes? Please highlight which are covered:

    - Survivors’ immigration status

    - Changes under the Nationality and Borders Act 2022

    - How to secure legal representation or emergency accommodation/support for potential victims

    - How to complete a National Referral Mechanism (NRM) referral form -How people with protected characteristics (for example, people of different genders, ages, sexualities, nationalities, and those who are disabled) may experience exploitation

    - The need for cultural awareness and sensitivity (a case study/image does not inherently count, unless there is a specific mention or exploration of relevant cultural issues or barriers)

    Published: 17 December 2024