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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2,962 disclosures

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

    Please could you provide the following information for your local authority for the 2024/25 Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme:

    1. The total number of children eligible for HAF provision in your local authority area in 2024/25.

    2. The total number of HAF places funded and delivered in 2024/25.

    3. The number (or percentage, if held in that format) of eligible children who accessed at least one HAF session during 2024/25.

    4. The method(s) of booking access to HAF provision in your area (for example: school referral, online booking system, mixed access routes).

    5. Whether waiting lists or caps on places were applied during any part of the 2024/25 HAF programme delivery period (yes/no). If yes, please provide a brief description.

    Published: 15 May 2026

  2. I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in relation to your authority's children's placements, placement sufficiency, use of unregistered provision, and workforce supply into any in-house residential children's homes operated by the authority.

    This request concerns policy, resourcing, performance, decision-making and procurement within children's social care and does not seek personal data.

    This information is sought in the public interest to ensure transparency and accountability in the delivery of statutory duties to looked-after children, children in need of care and support, and care leavers — and to inform market engagement by commissioning, placement and workforce providers seeking to address identified sufficiency and staffing gaps.

    Where data is held against a financial year, please provide figures for the most recent three complete financial years (2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25) and the current year to date. Where monthly snapshots are held, please provide the most recent 12-month period.

    1. Placement Numbers by Category

    1.1 For each of the following placement types, please provide the number of children/young people placed as at the most recent available snapshot date, and confirm the snapshot date used:

    • Ofsted-registered children's homes (under 18s)

    • Ofsted-registered supported accommodation (16–17 year olds, post-April 2023 regulation)

    • Unregistered provision — children under 18 placed in settings that are not Ofsted-registered (including any placement not registered with Ofsted as a children's home or as regulated supported accommodation at the time of placement, and including emergency/short-notice placements)

    • Unregulated supported accommodation — care leavers aged 18+ not subject to Ofsted registration

    • Independent Fostering Agency (IFA) placements

    • In-house foster placements

    • Residential schools / 52-week placements

    • Secure children's homes / secure welfare

    • Out-of-area placements (placed 20+ miles from home address, or outside the LA boundary — please state which definition applies)

    1.2 Please provide the equivalent figures for each of the following years, where held:

    • 2022/23

    • 2023/24

    • 2024/25

    • 2025/26 (year to date)

    2. Unregistered Placements – Detail

    For children under 18 placed in unregistered provision at any point during the last 12 months, please provide:

    2.1 The total number of such placements made.

    2.2 The average duration of those placements (in days).

    2.3 The longest single placement duration (in days).

    2.4 The number of Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) or High Court inherent jurisdiction authorisations associated with such placements.

    2.5 The average weekly cost paid to unregistered providers, and the highest single weekly cost.

    2.6 The number of Ofsted and/or DfE notifications made by the authority regarding use of unregistered provision.

    3. Sufficiency and Placement Searches

    Over the most recent 12-month period for which data is held:

    3.1 The total number of placement referrals or searches issued to external providers.

    3.2 The number of searches that resulted in no suitable Ofsted-registered offer being identified — including where no regulated provider accepted the placement on the authority's required terms (for example, due to complexity, cost or location).

    3.3 The number of placement offers declined by providers after an initial expression of interest, where recorded.

    3.4 The average time (in days) taken to secure a placement following initial referral or search, where data is held.

    3.5 The number of placements that ended prematurely due to provider notice (provider-initiated termination).

    3.6 The number of emergency (same-day or next-day) placement requests, and the proportion that were matched to a regulated setting.

    3.7 Whether the authority is currently meeting the placement targets set out in its most recent Sufficiency Strategy. If not, please state the scale of the shortfall by placement type.

    3.8 Any internal or external reports or summaries the authority has produced in the last 12 months regarding placement sufficiency challenges. Titles or links will suffice where full disclosure is not possible.

    Where exact figures for any of the above are not held, please provide any available estimates, ranges or narrative explanation of current practice.

    4. Commissioning Arrangements

    4.1 Which frameworks, Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS) or consortium arrangements does the authority use for children's residential placements, supported accommodation (16+), and IFA placements? Please name each.

    4.2 Does the authority spot-purchase outside of these frameworks? If yes, in approximately what proportion of placements?

    4.3 What is the process for a new Ofsted-registered provider to be added to the authority's approved or preferred provider list, or to its referral distribution list?

    4.4 What is the typical timeframe for onboarding a new provider onto the authority's approved or preferred list, from initial enquiry to inclusion?

    4.5 Please provide contact details (named officer where possible, otherwise relevant team inbox) for the function(s) responsible for:

    (a) children's residential placements commissioning

    (b) supported accommodation commissioning

    (c) IFA commissioning

    4.6 Please provide the generic team inbox(es) used to receive placement referral responses and expressions of interest from providers.

    5. Fee Benchmarking

    For the most recent financial year, please provide:

    5.1 Highest, lowest and mean weekly fee paid for an Ofsted-registered residential children's home placement.

    5.2 Highest, lowest and mean weekly fee paid for Ofsted-registered 16+ supported accommodation.

    5.3 Highest, lowest and mean weekly fee paid for solo or bespoke placements, where used.

    6. In-House Residential Provision & Workforce Supply

    6.1 Does the authority operate any in-house Ofsted-registered children's homes? If yes, please state the number of homes and total registered bed capacity as at the most recent available date.

    6.2 Total annual spend on temporary / agency staff deployed into the authority's in-house children's homes in the most recent complete financial year.

    6.3 Names of the staffing agencies or employment businesses currently used to supply temporary workers into the authority's in-house children's homes, including any framework or neutral-vendor arrangements in place.

    6.4 Please provide contact details (named officer where possible, otherwise relevant team inbox) for the function(s) responsible for engaging agency/temporary staff into the authority's in-house children's homes.

    Published: 15 May 2026

  3. Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I would like to request information relating to penalties issued to light commercial vehicles (vans) across the UK.

    For the purposes of this request, “van” refers to light goods vehicles (LGVs) or light commercial vehicles (LCVs), where this classification is recorded.

    Please provide the data separately for 2024 and 2025 (to date or the most recent available period).

    1. Parking Enforcement (PCNs)

    - Total number of Penalty Charge Notices issued to vans.

    - Breakdown of PCNs issued to vans by contravention type, where recorded, including, but not limited to:

    - parking on restricted roads or areas

    - yellow line violations

    - overstaying permitted parking

    - pay-and-display or permit breaches

    2. Loading & Unloading Violations

    - Total number of PCNs issued to vans for loading/unloading related offences.

    - Where recorded, breakdown of reasons, including, but not limited to:

    - loading restrictions

    - unloading in prohibited zones

    - misuse of loading bays

    - time-restricted loading violations

    3. Permit & Access Zone Violations

    - Total number of PCNs issued to vans relating to permit or access restrictions.

    - Where recorded, breakdown of reasons, including, but not limited to:

    - resident or business permit breaches

    - restricted zone entry without authorisation

    - failure to display valid exemptions

    4. Moving Traffic Offences

    - Total number of Penalty Charge Notices issued to vans for moving traffic offences.

    - Where recorded, breakdown by offence type, including, but not limited to:

    - bus lane violations

    - yellow box junction offences

    - banned turns or restricted manoeuvres

    - no entry or restricted road access breaches

    5. Summary Totals (if available)

    - Total number of PCNs issued to vans overall.

    - Total revenue generated from PCNs issued to vans (if held).

    If any part of this request exceeds the cost limit under Section 12 of the FOI Act, please advise how it may be refined so that it can be processed within the appropriate limit.

    I would appreciate it if the information could be provided in Excel format, where possible.

    Published: 15 May 2026

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

    Please provide the following top-line figures held by your Trading Standards service for the period 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2025:

    1. The total number of incidents, investigations, seizures, or enforcement actions involving nasal tanning sprays, including products described as Melanotan, Melanotan II, or MT2.

    2. The total number of nasal tanning spray products seized, detained, or removed from sale.

    3. The total number of complaints, reports, or referrals received about nasal tanning sprays.

    4. If held, please provide the yearly breakdown for questions 1–3. To help keep this request within the cost limit, I am only asking for top-line figures. Please do not provide case-level details. Please provide the information in a simple table or spreadsheet format if possible.

    Published: 15 May 2026

  5. Freedom of Information Request I am conducting comparative research on local authority performance in relation to statutory SEND functions across England. The same request is being submitted to all local authorities with SEND responsibilities, so that responses can be compared on a consistent basis. The questions have been drafted to be proportionate, to minimise the need for clarification, and to avoid asking for any information that would require the creation of new data. Headline EHCP timeliness statistics, and the total numbers of EHC needs assessment requests and refusals, are already published by the Department for Education via the Explore Education Statistics platform. I do not seek those figures. The questions below relate only to information that is not available through the published DfE dataset. Definitions used in this request "Your authority" means the local authority to which this request has been submitted. "Each of the past six years" means the academic years 2019/20, 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24, and 2024/25. Where your authority holds the data only by calendar year or financial year, please provide the nearest equivalent periods and specify which periods have been used. "EHCP" means an Education, Health and Care Plan issued under section 37 of the Children and Families Act 2014. "Young person" means a person over compulsory school age but under 25, as defined in section 83(2) of the Children and Families Act 2014. References to "children and young people" in this request include all individuals for whom your authority maintains an EHCP. "Statutory 20-week timescale" means the period of 20 weeks specified in Regulation 13(2) of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014. For the purposes of this request, an EHCP should be treated as issued within the statutory timescale only if the final plan was actually issued within 20 weeks of the date the request for an EHC needs assessment was received by your authority, regardless of whether any permitted exception under Regulation 13(3) might otherwise have applied. "EP" means Educational Psychologist or Educational Psychology. "Statutory EP advice" means psychological advice and information from an educational psychologist provided under Regulation 6(1)(d) of the SEND Regulations 2014 as part of an EHC needs assessment. "Statutory mediation" means the formal mediation process available under section 55 of the Children and Families Act 2014, and not informal resolution discussions or pre-decision correspondence. "In-house EP service" means Educational Psychologists directly employed by your authority. "External EP" means any Educational Psychologist not directly employed by your authority, whether commissioned via framework, contract, panel, spot-purchase, agency, independent sector provider, or any similar arrangement. "Conceded", in relation to a Tribunal appeal, means any case where your authority changed its position such that the appeal did not proceed to a contested final hearing. This includes cases where the contested decision was withdrawn by your authority, where settlement was reached, where the matter was resolved by any other form of pre-hearing agreement, and where the appeal was withdrawn by the parent or young person following a change in your authority's position that addressed the matters under appeal. "EOTAS" means Education Otherwise Than At School, being provision arranged by your authority under section 61 of the Children and Families Act 2014 for a child or young person with an EHCP for whom education in a school or post-16 institution would be inappropriate. "Non-maintained independent placement" or "NMI" means any placement funded wholly or partly by your authority at an independent school, non-maintained special school, or independent specialist provider that is not maintained by your authority, where the placement was made to meet the special educational provision specified in an EHCP. "Reduced timetable" means any arrangement where a child or young person with an EHCP attends their named school or setting for fewer hours than the standard full-time timetable, whether described as a reduced timetable, part-time timetable, phased return, or similar arrangement. "Alternative provision" means education arranged by your authority for a child or young person with an EHCP who is not attending their named school, including pupil referral units, hospital education, and other alternative provision settings, but excluding EOTAS packages reported under Question 8. Questions 1. Compliance with phase transfer deadlines Regulation 18 of the SEND Regulations 2014 requires local authorities to review and, where necessary, amend a child or young person's EHCP before specific dates in the calendar year of their transfer between phases of education: 31 March in the case of transfer from secondary school to a post-16 institution, and 15 February in any other case. For each of the past six years: (a) the total number of EHCPs your authority was required to review under Regulation 18 in respect of phase transfer to a post-16 institution by the 31 March deadline, and the number for which the review was completed and the final plan was issued or confirmed by that deadline; (b) the total number of EHCPs your authority was required to review under Regulation 18 in respect of phase transfer at all other phase boundaries by the 15 February deadline, and the number for which the review was completed and the final plan was issued or confirmed by that deadline. 2. Outcomes of challenges to refusal-to-assess decisions For each of the past six years: (a) the number of refusal-to-assess decisions subsequently challenged by parents through statutory mediation; (b) the number of refusal-to-assess decisions subsequently challenged by parents through appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability); (c) of the challenges at (a) and (b), the number where your authority subsequently agreed to conduct the assessment, whether by agreement at mediation, by conceding the appeal before hearing, or by Tribunal order; (d) where available, the average time in weeks between the original refusal decision and the decision to proceed with the assessment following a successful challenge. 3. Educational Psychology advice — timeliness and provenance For each of the past six years: (a) the total number of requests for statutory EP advice made by your authority as part of EHC needs assessments; (b) the number of those requests returned within six weeks, in accordance with Regulation 8(1) of the SEND Regulations 2014; (c) of EHCPs issued within the statutory 20-week timescale, the number where the statutory EP advice was produced by your authority's in-house EP service, and the number where it was produced by an external EP commissioned by your authority; (d) the number of statutory EP advice requests referred to external EPs in each year, and whether your authority has a standing arrangement for commissioning external EP advice when in-house capacity is insufficient. 4. Annual review completion rates For each of the past six years: (a) the total number of EHCPs due for annual review within the year; (b) the number of those reviews completed within 12 months of the previous review, in accordance with section 44(1) of the Children and Families Act 2014; (c) the number of annual reviews that resulted in an amendment to the EHCP; (d) the number of annual reviews that resulted in a decision to cease to maintain the EHCP. 5. SEND Tribunal appeals and concessions For each of the past six years: (a) the total number of appeals registered against decisions of your authority at the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability); (b) the number of those appeals conceded by your authority before final hearing; (c) the categories of decision appealed, if recorded — specifically, the number of appeals relating to: (i) refusal to assess; (ii) refusal to issue a plan; (iii) content of a plan; (iv) school or institution named in a plan; (v) decision to cease to maintain a plan. 6. SEND complaints and Ombudsman outcomes For each of the past six years: (a) the total number of formal corporate complaints received by your authority classified as relating to SEND services; (b) the number upheld or partially upheld at any stage of your complaints procedure; (c) the number of decisions issued by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman against your authority in relation to SEND matters; (d) the total value of financial remedies recommended by the LGSCO in those decisions. 7. SEND team staffing and caseloads As at the most recent date for which data is available: (a) the total number of SEND caseworkers or EHCP coordinators employed by your authority (full-time equivalent), excluding administrative support staff; (b) the total number of EHCPs maintained by your authority at that date; (c) the resulting caseload ratio (EHCPs per caseworker FTE); (d) the number of SEND caseworker vacancies at that date, if recorded; (e) the total number of Educational Psychologists employed by your authority (full-time equivalent) in your in-house EP service. 8. Education Otherwise Than At School (EOTAS) provision For each of the past six years: (a) the total number of children and young people with EHCPs for whom your authority arranged Education Otherwise Than At School provision under section 61 of the Children and Families Act 2014; (b) the total number of EOTAS packages active at the end of each year; (c) the total annual expenditure by your authority on EOTAS provision; (d) the number of requests received by your authority for an EOTAS personal budget, the number agreed, and the total value of EOTAS personal budgets agreed in each year. 9. Non-maintained and independent placement expenditure, monitoring, and terminations For each of the past six years: (a) the total number of children and young people with EHCPs placed by your authority at non-maintained independent schools or independent specialist providers; (b) the total annual expenditure on those placements; (c) the average annual cost per non-maintained independent placement; (d) the number of those placements made following a SEND Tribunal order or conceded during Tribunal proceedings, as distinct from placements made by your authority's own decision; (e) whether your authority has a formal process for monitoring the delivery of provision specified in Section F of EHCPs at non-maintained independent placements, and if so, the frequency and method of that monitoring; (f) the number of non-maintained independent placements terminated at the provider's initiative in each year, and the average time taken to secure an alternative placement following such a termination. 10. Non-maintained independent placement refusals For each of the past six years: (a) the number of cases where your authority approached a non-maintained independent school or independent specialist provider to request a placement for a child or young person with an EHCP, and the provider declined to offer a place; (b) where recorded, the primary category of special educational need of the child or young person in each case where a placement was declined, using the DfE SEN2 categories (for example, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Social Emotional and Mental Health, Severe Learning Difficulty); (c) the number of cases where a non-maintained independent placement was named in a final EHCP or ordered by the SEND Tribunal, and the provider subsequently declined to admit the child or young person; (d) in cases where a placement was declined, the average time in weeks taken to identify and secure an alternative placement. 11. Reduced timetables and alternative provision for children and young people with EHCPs For each of the past six years: (a) the total number of children and young people with EHCPs known to your authority who were on a reduced timetable at any point during the year; (b) the total number of children and young people with EHCPs known to your authority who were placed in alternative provision at any point during the year; (c) of the children and young people at (a), the number for whom the reduced timetable was in place for more than one school term; (d) of the children and young people at (a) and (b), the number for whom the arrangement was recorded as agreed with the parent or young person in writing. Format and handling The response should be provided in electronic format. Structured data formats such as Excel or CSV are preferred where the information is held in that form. If structured data is not available, tabular data within the body of an email or in a Word document is acceptable, provided the data is clearly attributed to each question. Where a specific question cannot be answered because the data is not held, a clear confirmation of that fact is requested rather than the question being left without response. A "not held" answer is valuable for the comparative exercise. Where the data is held but withheld under an exemption, please identify the specific exemption applied and the part of the request affected, so that the comparative dataset can correctly distinguish between data not held and data withheld. If the cost of compliance for this request as a whole would exceed the limit under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, please treat this as a request for advice and assistance under section 16 of the Act. In doing so, please process whichever questions can be answered within the cost limit, prioritising them in numerical order, and omit only the specific questions that trigger the exemption. This request forms part of a comparative analysis of SEND statutory performance, workforce capacity, and provision costs across English local authorities.

    Published: 14 May 2026

  6. Please find attached a Freedom of Information request relating to your back-office systems for planning/building control and environmental services.

    Published: 14 May 2026

  7. In accordance with the FOI act, please can you answer the following question below:

    * What was the lowest rate (£ per week) you paid for placing a person in your area for 2025/26 and 2026/27.

    Please disregard Funding Nursing Care (FNC) from these calculations. Fee Rates

    - Working Aged Adults (18-64) FY2025/26 FY2026/27 Residential Nursing (excl. FNC) Fee Rates

    - Older People (65+) FY2025/26 FY2026/27 Residential Residential Dementia Nursing (excl. FNC) Nursing Dementia (excl. FNC) If you do not have all the data for all this, please send what you can

    Published: 14 May 2026

  8. I am conducting comparative research on the financial costs associated with local authority statutory SEND functions across England. The same request is being submitted to all local authorities with SEND responsibilities, so that responses can be compared on a consistent basis. The questions have been drafted to be proportionate, to minimise the need for clarification, and to avoid asking for any information that would require the creation of new data.

    Definitions used in this request:

    - "Your authority" means the local authority to which this request has been submitted.

    - "2023", "2024" and "2025" mean the calendar years 1 January to 31 December in each case. Where your authority holds the data only by academic or financial year, please provide the nearest equivalent period and specify which period has been used.

    - "EHCP" means an Education, Health and Care Plan issued under section 37 of the Children and Families Act 2014.

    - "SEND Tribunal" means the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability).

    - "Independent or non-maintained special school placement" means any placement funded wholly or partly by your authority under section 40 of the Children and Families Act 2014 at a school that is not maintained by your authority, including independent special schools, non-maintained special schools, and independent mainstream schools where the placement was made to meet special educational needs.

    - "Conceded", in relation to a Tribunal appeal, means any case where your authority changed its position such that the appeal did not proceed to a contested final hearing. This includes cases where the contested decision was withdrawn by your authority, where settlement was reached, where the matter was resolved by any other form of pre-hearing agreement, and where the appeal was withdrawn by the parent or young person following a change in your authority's position that addressed the matters under appeal.

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

    Requests:

    Request 1. SEND Tribunal legal costs.

    For each of the financial years 2022/23, 2023/24, and 2024/25:

    (a) the total amount spent by your authority on external legal representation in connection with SEND Tribunal appeals, including solicitors' fees, counsel's fees, and fees for expert witnesses instructed by your authority;

    (b) the total amount spent on any in-house legal resource allocated to SEND Tribunal work, if recorded separately;

    (c) if the total legal cost per case is recorded or calculable, the average cost per appeal.

    Request 2. Independent and non-maintained placement costs

    For each of the financial years 2022/23, 2023/24, and 2024/25:

    (a) the total number of children and young people with EHCPs placed by your authority in independent or non-maintained special schools;

    (b) the total annual expenditure on those placements;

    (c) the average annual cost per placement;

    (d) the number of those placements that were made following a SEND Tribunal order or were conceded during Tribunal proceedings, as distinct from placements made by your authority's own decision.

    Request 3. Average cost of maintaining an EHCP

    For the most recent financial year for which data is available:

    (a) the total expenditure by your authority on provision specified in EHCPs, including direct payments, top-up funding to schools, and commissioned services, but excluding independent placement costs reported under Question 2;

    (b) the total number of EHCPs maintained by your authority at the end of that financial year;

    (c) if calculated or calculable, the average annual cost per EHCP.

    Request 4. Cease to maintain decisions and outcomes

    For each of 2023, 2024, and 2025:

    (a) the total number of decisions by your authority to cease to maintain an EHCP;

    (b) the number of those decisions subsequently challenged by parents or young persons through appeal to the SEND Tribunal;

    (c) of the appeals at (b), the number conceded by your authority before hearing;

    (d) of the appeals at (b), the number where the Tribunal ordered the EHCP to be maintained.

    Request 5. Personal budgets

    For each of 2023, 2024, and 2025:

    (a) the total number of requests received by your authority for a personal budget under section 49 of the Children and Families Act 2014;

    (b) the number of those requests that were agreed;

    (c) the number that were refused;

    (d) the total value of personal budgets agreed in each year.

    Request 6. Named school and parental preference outcomes

    For each of 2024 and 2025:

    (a) the total number of cases in which a parent or young person expressed a preference for a particular school or institution to be named in section I of an EHCP under section 38(2) of the Children and Families Act 2014;

    (b) the number of those cases where the parental preference was agreed and the preferred school was named;

    (c) the number of those cases where the parental preference was refused.

    Request 7. Annual review completion rates

    For each of 2024 and 2025:

    (a) the total number of EHCPs due for annual review within the calendar year;

    (b) the number of those reviews completed within 12 months of the previous review, in accordance with section 44(1) of the Children and Families Act 2014;

    (c) the number of annual reviews that resulted in an amendment to the EHCP.

    Published: 13 May 2026

  9. I am writing under the Freedom of Information Act to kindly request information relating to your Local Welfare Assistance Scheme.

    Please see our list of questions attached, and thank you in advance for your assistance.

    Published: 13 May 2026

  10. I am requesting this information under the Freedom of Information Act.

    Could you please provide data in response to the following questions:

    1. What is the total number of personal injury claims recorded against your council for the last three tax years (2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25), broken down by year?

    2. How many of those claims outlined in question 1 were submitted:

    - By employees

    - By members of the public

    3. What was the total amount paid out by your council as the result of personal injury claims against your council for the last three tax years (2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25), broken down by year?

    4. What were the most common types of claim recorded against your council during the last three tax years (2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25), including but not limited to the following examples:

    - Road Traffic Accidents (RTAs)

    - Accidents at Work

    - Public Liability Claims

    - Industrial Disease

    - Animal Accidents

    - Criminal Injuries

    - Travel Accidents

    - Negligence

    Published: 13 May 2026