Award a contract to Central Roofing & Building Services Ltd for the Roof works at Ewyas Harold Primary School, Herefordshire, following a successful tender on the Council’s procurement portal.

Approve the expenditure of up to £76,219 for the works, which includes a contingency of up to £6,929.

Approve the expenditure of up to £9,527.38 for internal and external professional fees.

Responsibility for monitoring the programme to be carried out by the Capital Senior Project Manager within the spend budget.

The pre-school is an external provider and has been occupying a surplus mobile classroom for a number of years under a licence.

The agreement has being updated and is to be replaced with a new lease for 5 years.

Housing Solutions team identified that office space is required at Whitecross Hub for Council employed workers.

The licence was negotiated by Community Wellbeing team.

A concession contract is in place with an EV charging point provider to install and operate EV Charging points at various Herefordshire Council owned locations.

The above locations identified in the concession contract as a location for the EV charging points.

The charging point provider has requested to commence installation of the charging points.

Herefordshire Council has received an allocation of £1,329,601.78 from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) under the Household Support Fund.

Part of the funding criteria states that an open application process must be available for all residents within the county to apply. The expectation is that it should be used to support households in the most need; particularly those who may not be eligible for other support the government has made available but who are nevertheless struggling due to the increased cost of living.

The council already operates an application scheme for people requiring support in an emergency through its Local Welfare Provision (LWP) service. Utilising this funding enables the LWP service and eligibility criteria for emergency support to be enhanced, by providing additional staff resources to assess and administer applications and distribute the voucher payments.

The attached policy provides the local eligibility framework for emergency support to meet crucial needs of a person or household experiencing financial hardship resulting in them struggling to feed themselves or their family, heat their home, or pay for other essential living costs.

Herefordshire Council has received an allocation of £1,329,601.78 from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) under the Household Support Fund.

In line with DWP guidance most of the funding should be earmarked to support those most in need and affected by the recent cost of living crisis. The decision to support vulnerable people with medical conditions that are facing fuel poverty would meet the recommended guidance.
Individuals with medical equipment that typically consumes high amounts of energy are at greater risk of experiencing fuel poverty due to increased bills during the winter months.

Individuals can make a self-referral or be referred by a professional body in order to be considered for the one-off £250 payment. Payment will be made within a 14 day from the referral being received. This scheme has the potential to benefit up to 140 households. Further information on the scheme is provided within the policy (Appendix A).

Herefordshire Council has received an allocation of £1,329,601.78 from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) under the Household Support Fund. In line with DWP guidance most of the funding should be earmarked to support families with children and pensioner households who would otherwise struggle with energy, food and energy bills as well as other essential costs. The decision to support families with children between the ages of 0 to 5yrs old would meet the recommended guidance. Families will be identified via referrals through Children’s Centre, Health Visitors, Midwives, Nurseries/ Early Years settings, schools and Third Party Organisations (that are funded through the HSF). This is to ensure that the most in need are best placed to be in receipt of the funding. The support provided would be a one of payment of £75 that could potentially benefit up to 240 households. Within the £30k funding Citizens Advice would receive £12,000 to provide support and assistance to parents with their finances in order to ensure they are receiving all the benefits they are entitled to.

The free school meal system is an important component of the support that is provided to low-income families. Providing vouchers in the school holidays for children entitled to free school meals is an extension to this support and will benefit over 4,694 children. Through this proposal, primary and secondary aged school pupils who are eligible for benefits related free school meals will receive a food voucher of £90 for the Summer Holiday period.

Herefordshire Council has received an allocation of £1,329,601.78 from the Department of Works and Pensions under the Household Support Fund. The expectation is that the funding should be used primarily to support households in the most need, particularly those including children and pensioners who would otherwise struggle with energy, food and water bills as well as other essential costs.

By utilising the funding from government, this will have a positive impact on low income families and child poverty by minimising the debt burden on those that struggle to pay essential bills.

Approve the addition of a governor run nursery at Peterchurch Primary school

To approve spend for Safer Streets 5 up to a maximum value of £164,982 to install CCTV and upgrade street lighting in areas identified within Leominster and Ross-On-Wye.
Provision for the spend is related directly to the cabinet report listed above and there will be a contribution from Leominster Town Council and Ross Town Council(subject to approval) to carry out specific CCTV works in conjunction with the Safer Streets 5 project costs.

Financial Breakdown
The Police and Crime Commissioner for West Mercia Police- £149,982
Leominster Town Council- £4,500
Ross Town Council- £10,500

The completion date for the project is scheduled for 31 March 2025. A
detailed Programme plan will be shared with West Mercia Police to
confirm delivery.
Authority is delegated to the Senior Project Manager from the
Service Director – Economy & Growth to act as spend manager for the project.

To update members on the progress of internal audit work and to bring to their attention any key internal control issues arising from work recently completed.

To assure the committee that action is being taken on risk related issues identified by internal audit. This is monitored through acceptance of agreed management actions and progress updates in implementing the action plans. In addition, occasions where audit actions not accepted by management are documented if it is considered that the course of action proposed by management presents a risk in terms of the effectiveness of or compliance with the council’s control environment.

To approve a two year extension of the current expert assessor service for blue badges and disabled concessionary travel services contract with NRS Healthcare from 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2026.

To approve employment panel’s recommendations for the the salary for the new post of Director of Finance and the designation of the post as the statutory s151 officer.

To agree a programme of work for the committee.

To agree the terms for a new lease to Hereford Football Club in respect of the Edgar Street Football Ground.

To update Cabinet Member on the progress and budget for the project

- Widemarsh Pavilion’s previous tenant vacated the building at the end of April, the property was subsequently advertised on Herefordshire Council’s ‘property to let’ page and interested parties were given the opportunity to express interest.

- It is important to find a tenant for the property to ensure that it does not fall into further disrepair and is the target for vandals.

- The Lease has been offered to the tenant that accepted the draft heads of terms without amending.

- Proposed use will be of future benefit and accessible to the youth of Herefordshire.

- The prospective tenant is committing to investing in the property to ensure that the asset is bettered.

• Grant of 125 year lease (contracted out of L&T Act 1954) of the school and grounds

• Commercial Transfer Agreement (CTA) and TUPE of staff

• Tenant will be responsible for all repairs and insurance

• The council’s fees in the matter will not be met by the Trust as this is an Academy Order made further to section 4(A1) of the Academies Act 2010

• Proposed conversion date 1st November 2024

1. The tenant has negotiated a deal to take the currently vacant, Unit 42 Maylord Orchards Centre on a short term license agreement.

2. The Centre comprises multiple units, some of which have been vacant for some time and it is important that occupation levels are maximised so that the holding costs incurred by the Council are mitigated.

3. The Terms agreed leave the Tenant responsible for payment of the rent, landlord Service Charge, business rates, insurance, utilities and internal repairs.

4. The license aligns with the Management Plan January 2024 in respect of short term lettings.

1. The tenant has negotiated a deal to take the currently vacant, 49A Widemarsh Street a license agreement.

2. The property has been vacant for some time and it is important that occupation levels are maximised so that the holding costs incurred by the Council are mitigated.

3. The Terms agreed leave the Tenant responsible for payment of the rent, landlord Service Charge, business rates, insurance, utilities and internal repairs.

To report progress on the external audit of the council's 2023/24 financial statements.

To provide an update on the Families Commission report recommendations.

To provide terms of reference for a proposed working group of the committee to scrutinise a proposed future operating model for public realm services.

To agree the appointment of the Director of Finance on a secondment basis and to recommend a salary for the role to full council.