In order to effectively manage the councils highway network in respect of parking, occasionally a Penalty Charge Notice needs to be issued to a vehicle. Where payment is not made in respect of these the relevant legislation provides for debt to be pursued.

In order for the council to continue to exercise its public duty, and recover all associated costs with the enforcement of parking contraventions, and to ensure that the principles of enforcement are not undermined, it is appropriate to take all legal and necessary steps to obtain payment.

Notwithstanding a review of any correspondence received against any of these matters, and the councils underpinning duty to protect those that are vulnerable, the following documents have been served in accordance with legislation in the last period.

May 2021
Charge Certificate – 166
Order for Recovery – 41

In the same period 151 were warrants were executed for the councils contracted Enforcement Agency (Bailiffs) to, in accordance with the relevant legislation, make enquires and enforce the outstanding debt.

- Fuel Poverty affects an estimated 13,902 out of 84,028 households (16.5%). This figure is higher than the national level of 13.4% and reflects the challenges that the county faces in relation to the energy efficiency of properties including a large proportion of older, hard to treat ‘solid wall’ properties, restricted access to mains gas and the resulting prevalence of expensive heating fuel systems.

- The Warm Homes Fund is designed to support councils, registered social landlords and relevant partner organisations to address some of the issues affecting fuel poor households. This fund is administered by National Grid and the Community Interest Company, Affordable Warmth Solutions.

- The project, focused on off-gas, rural areas across Herefordshire and Shropshire will allow around 70 fuel poor households to benefit from first time central heating systems (LPG and Air Source Heat Pumps) in order to alleviate fuel poverty and improve healthy home levels.

The Annual plan decisions included the HAM budget for 19/20 and 20/21 (combined figure of £3.608 million). Of this, £358,000 is carry forward from previous financial years due to costs in year being moved to utilise the LTP grant. This has not been allocated in the 21/22 Annual Plan and therefore there is no impact on the Annual Plan as published.

It is recommended that £357,733 of this budget is used for resurfacing and drainage works to mitigate the damage caused to the surrounding road network during the closure of the B4224 near Fownhope.

The proposed works are consistent with the core highway maintenance activities of the public realm contract. Delivery of these repairs through the PRC will enable works to be programmed at pace given the deterioration of the network during the closure of the B4224 without the need for an external procurement process. The use of the PRC target cost arrangement will enable costs for the works to be provided and scrutinised in advance of works commencing on site. Costs will be based on agreed target costs which will scrutinised and monitored by the Contract Management Team and any changes will be the subject of robust change control to ensure value for money is achieved for these repairs.

Herefordshire Council has committed to develop an Independent Living Demonstration and Assessment Centre near Hereford city centre. A design is required which takes into account a range of customer needs, and requirements, from across several stakeholder groups. This requirement could not be met internally and therefore a decision was made that external expertise should be sought.
GSS Architecture have been appointed via a tender process, and will work with Herefordshire Council to gather requirements and propose suitable design options, including providing technical advice (e.g. planning and building regulation advice) as to the best design and layout option.
Once finalised, GSS Architecture will provide Herefordshire Council with all required documentation to take the design forward with a building contractor to complete the works.

The council has a statutory responsibility to publish a statement on post 16 transport policy each your and to review and update its school transport policy.

To submit a Business Case for approval to the Environment Agency in order to secure funding for the continuation of an NFM Project in Herefordshire.

To vary the public health nursing service contract to include an additional health check to all families in Herefordshire at age 4-6 months. This health check will focus on oral health and weaning in the early years.

As part of the Wave 8 bid Herefordshire Council has been awarded £60,000 towards the Programme Management to deliver the One Public Estate (OPE) Programme.

Whilst other OPE Partnerships have a dedicated full time Programme Manager, Herefordshire has disaggregated the role across part time staff which means that the grant element can be extended over a longer period. Herefordshire Council has been awarded funding from Waves 5, 6 and 7 and as the programme has to be reported on 10 years after any grant offer it is important that the Programme Manager role is supported by the funding.

Further funding rounds with Wave 9 have already been announced for which Herefordshire Council is preparing to identify sites eligible for the funding in advance.

On 15 March 2021 the Department for Transport (DFT) published Bus back better: National bus strategy for England.

The National Bus Strategy (NBS) sets out government’s vision for improving bus services across the country covering both recovery from Covid-19 and longer terms aspirations to reverse the trend in decreasing patronage. The NBS provides clear direction that government expects local transport authorities to work in partnership with their local bus operators to develop plans for service improvement and longer term investment. It has identified the need for a Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) to be published by the end of October 2021 and the establishment of Enhanced Partnership agreements with bus operators from April 2022.
The NBS makes it clear that future central government funding for local bus services will be dependent on Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) committing to establishing an EP and government funding provided directly to operators will be dependent on each of them signing up to an EP.

The development of a BSIP and establishment of an EP is consistent with Cabinet’s recent decision confirming its preferred transport strategy.
DfT has provided £100k to the council in the form of a capacity grant to progress the work required to deliver a BSIP and EP. This funding will be used to cover the full costs of contract NBSHC211 with the 10 month extension being dependent on further funding being received from DfT.

The installation of gas to Plot N4a forms an essential part of preparing the land for sale and development.

TUC Limited have been identified as the preferred supplier to carry out the work. The opportunity was advertised via open tender on pro-contract for a period of three weeks. Only one response was received from TUC Limited. The response has been evaluated by SMS plc (Enterprise Zone Utility Consultants) and the Council and is considered to provide value for money.

Brindley Asphalt Ltd have been identified as the bidder representing best value for money following a competitive tender via the SouthWest Portal
and assessment process in accordance with Council procurement
procedures. Four tenders were invited but only one valid tender was
received prior to the tender close time. The work is to be awarded to
Brindley Asphalt Ltd with a tender value of £55,272.00.

The failings of the roof coverings were highlighted in the condition survey
and phase 1 of the works was carried out in 2020. This is phase 2 of the
works addressing the balcony area. The works will prevent further
deterioration of the asset, improve insulation and reduce heat loss and enable business continuity.

An open call was put out to all English councils and Adult Social Care (ASC) solution providers/developers in April 2020 as to what the biggest challenges in ASC were and how digital could assist:
• 50+ responses from local authorities
• 200+ responses from solution providers/developers

The provider Maldaba, supported by CC2i, were appointed as the preferred supplier for D2A software platforms by the Local Government Association (LGA).

Discharge to Assess was submitted by numerous councils as a challenge where digital could help - seen as a priority for all local authorities. The process therefore began of aligning the proposed project with technical providers, and in ensuring the project had achievable outcomes in light of funding and timescales. A project to develop a new system to manage the Discharge to Assess process began in July 2020 and has been managed by the public sector co-funding platform ‘Co-fund & Collaborate to Innovate’ (known as ‘CC2i’). The project was co-funded by the five councils involved, of which Herefordshire was one, and match-funded by NHS Digital. The system has been developed by the software developer ‘Maldaba’.

The key requirements identified were as follows:
• One version of the truth
• Real-time data
• A responsive system
• Ability to understand available capacity and manage demand

All the involved councils have invested in the process, providing funding as well as staff resource to ensure the development of a successful solution to meet the minimum requirements. A roadmap and further developments have been captured throughout the process.

The project to support the development of the Discharge to Assess system is due to end on 31st March 2021. The software provider has developed the ‘Hospital2Home’ system which is available to implement as a live system from 1st April 2021.

Discharge to Assess (D2A) is a dedicated process, encompassing a range of pathways, for people admitted to a ward in an acute hospital who require additional care following hospital discharge. The D2A process profile and the requirement to safely move people along the pathway as quickly as possible (and so reduce delays) has raised significantly due to COVID-19. Most stakeholders cannot currently access the same IT systems as one another. Currently, many regions are using spreadsheets, emails and phone calls (or paper-written notes) to communicate between the different stakeholders in the D2A process. Whilst Herefordshire does not have high numbers of delayed transfers of care, as a result of work which has been previously undertaken to improve processes, we do share the experiences of other Local Authorities that information is shared in a variety of formats, listed above.

Stakeholders include (but are not limited to): local authorities, acute hospital, community NHS Trusts, CCGs, transport providers, formal care providers and family.

There is a need for a system to provide a “single version of the truth” regarding a person’s journey along the D2A process. This is to improve/maintain high quality care, provide a clear line accountability, reduce miscommunications, alleviate work for frontline staff, provide oversight for managers and commissioners, and to facilitate the reduction of “blockages” along the pathway.

The project aim is to provide a supplier agnostic, cloud based case management system which allows users (with appropriate permissions) to capture, update, track and report on information about a person’s journey through the Discharge to Assess process. The system should facilitate more efficient communication, collaboration and data sharing between the different organisations involved in the D2A process, whilst enabling effective hand offs between the various touch points in the D2A process. At this stage, the system will be simple and will capture the minimum information required to facilitate the process and improve upon the current labour-intensive process which relies on emails, phone calls and spreadsheets. The system will provide a single, generic pathway management capability that will be used by all stakeholders and partners, despite differences in their D2A implementations. Future versions of the system are anticipated to further improve on this, and additional requirements are captured within a future development roadmap.

The system needs to enable users to create, manage, view, update and complete the D2A process for the four pathways: Pathway 1; Pathway 2; Pathway 3; End of Life. Note that people on the Pathway 0 pathway who do not need additional care post-discharge will not be added to this system.

Users will be able to create new discharge cases, adding the essential person information required for the pathway, and attaching files in the system in order to share more detailed clinical/pathway decision/assessment information where appropriate.

The Fastershire Broadband Strategy 2019-22 vision is that all residents and businesses in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire will be enabled to access the connectivity they need and encourage people to use faster broadband to do more online, boost business growth and achieve their potential.

The Strategy includes a number of Objectives to increase the infrastructure but also to increase the awareness and demand for superfast broadband and its exploitation once it is available. This is particularly the case with the counties’ businesses.

The need to encourage the adoption and exploitation of the digital economy is significant both to maximise the economic impact of the council’s investment in broadband infrastructure and to increase the degree of financial clawback that the council receives from its broadband contracts.

While the Fastershire project itself and council staff are well placed to deliver demand stimulation activity among local business and communities, it recognises where other partners could achieve greater impact by devolving activity. Engaging directly with the land based sector is one such instance.

The Herefordshire Rural Hub was established in 2004 to promote economic, social and environmental improvements in farming and rural businesses in Herefordshire. They are recognised locally for the quality, impartiality and honesty of the advice, information and support they provide. The Hub is funded through sponsorship and by subcontracting their services to other rural organisations. It has the most expansive network of rural businesses than any other organisation which offers their sponsors and commissioners the ability to reach parts of the economy that can be difficult to access.

Fastershire has a limited budget with which to undertake its demand stimulation activities and achieve what are extremely challenging engagement targets. £5,000 has been notionally allocated to run the Faster Farmers programme which consists of online training and webinars, and training sessions delivered across Herefordshire and Gloucestershire on subjects such as cloud based accounting, farm carbon calculating, and on-line livestock management, to extol the benefits of superfast broadband for the land based sector.

Were Fastershire to attempt to run this element of the programme themselves or tender the opportunity among generic training providers it would take a significant amount of time to generate the contacts that the Hub have and could prove impossible to replicate the credibility the hub holds among a difficult to reach group. This could significantly inhibit the council’s ability to target participants.

To make the Garway neighbourhood plan as part of the statutory development plan for Herefordshire and approve the consequential updates to the countywide policies maps.
To fulfil the legal duty to make /adopt the Garway neighbourhood plan as part of the statutory development plan for Herefordshire

To recommend the implementation of No Waiting at Any Time Restrictions on C1227 Grafton Lane and C1228 Portway to Haywood, Herefordshire.

The extents of the proposed restrictions are set out in detail in Recommendations below and shown on drawing 3409-82 in Appendix A.

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 enable the committee to monitor performance of the internal audit team against the approved plan.

For the committee to note and consider the effectiveness of the updated Counter Fraud and Corruption Strategy.

To consider an application under the Highways Act 1980, Section 119, to make a public path diversion order to divert part of Footpath BZ27(part) in the parish of Bosbury.

- Fuel Poverty affects an estimated 13,902 out of 84,028 Herefordshire households (16.5%). This figure is higher than the national level of 13.4% and reflects the challenges that the county faces in relation to the energy efficiency of properties including a large proportion of older, hard to treat ‘solid wall’ properties, restricted access to mains gas and the resulting prevalence of expensive heating fuel systems.

- The fund, administered by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is allocating funding to be used to improve the energy efficiency of low-income houses living in Herefordshire and Shropshire as well as supporting the green recovery in response to Covid-19.
- The project will allow an estimated 50 Herefordshire and Shropshire households to access fully funded renewable Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP) systems/Solid Wall Insulation (SWI) and/or energy efficient glazing and doors.

Following the cabinet decision above (23 July 2020) to allocate funding for Storm Dennis priority flood repairs a decision was taken on the 22 of September 2020 by the Director of Economy and Place for the remedial works for these sites to be delivered through a new framework contract aimed at providing a ‘post’ COVID opportunity directly to local SMEs.

http://councillors.herefordshire.gov.uk/mgIssueHistoryHome.aspx?IId=50035291&Opt=0

A separate governance report will confirm the analysis of this procurement shortly. In the meantime it is recommended that two of the sites (Browns Lane and Tresseck Mill) receive remedial works through the Public Realm Contract given that these roads have had to be closed due to significant deterioration over the course of last in winter and the extended closure of the two routes is having a significant impact on local communities and presents a significant risk for affected residents.
U75235 Browns Lane is a no-through road, there are 2 properties plus access to agricultural land, the road deterioration is such that service vehicles are unable to access the properties and there is a concern that any further deterioration will prevent emergency blue light access if required.

U71000 Tresseck Mill has access onto the C1261 which is currently closed. The closure was put in place due to an accelerated deterioration following storm Dennis after initial damage which was identified earlier and required signing and barriers to keep safe, the closure requirement was following an inspection which identified the safety concerns requiring the full closure post Storm Dennis.

The access onto the C1262 is essential for local businesses (such as camping and horse dressage competitors) that need large vehicle access. This is not available at present due to the closure, these businesses are now unable to have unfettered access, which is compromising the businesses. There is a similar concern that further deterioration will prevent emergency blue light access if required.

Delivery of these two repairs through the PRC will enable works to be carried out at a pace in advance of the remaining flood repair works. The repairs are consistent with the core highway maintenance activities of the public realm contract. Works costs will be based on agreed target costs which will scrutinised and monitored by the Contract Management Team and any changes will be the subject of robust change control to ensure value for money is achieved for these repairs.

A decision was taken on 6 July 2020 by the Director of Economy and
Place to approve the proposed approach to delivering the Property Flood
Resilience Recovery Support Scheme 2020. See paragraphs 10-24 http://councillors.herefordshire.gov.uk/documents/d6987/Printed%20decision%20Property%20Flood%20Resilience%20Recovery%20Support%20Scheme%202020.pdf?T=5

A further decision was taken on 17 March 2021 by the Acting Assistant Director Highways and Transport Place to approve tendering for and appointing a specialist contractor to undertake surveys. See http://councillors.herefordshire.gov.uk/documents/s50088160/To%20tender%20and%20appoint%20a%20specialist%20contractor%20to%20undertake%20surveys%20to%20support%20delivery%20of%20the%20Proper.pdf

This procurement process was overseen by the council’s commercial services team. Lot 1 of the Environment Agency’s Framework was used. There were two suppliers on this Lot, and both returned compliant quotes which were evaluated on 100% price. JBA Consulting have been appointed as they offered the best price.

To consider an application under the Highways Act 1980, Section 119, to make a public path diversion order to divert part of footpath LOH4A and to consider an application to create a new footpath in the parish of Lower Harpton

To enable Welsh Water to carry out new service connection installation works within the highway, for which purpose the Council, as highway authority, consider the closure of the road is required due to the likelihood of danger to highway users while the said works are being carried out.

To enable Welsh Water to carry out new service installation works within the highway, for which purpose the Council, as highway authority, consider the closure of the road is required due to the likelihood of danger to highway users while the said works are being carried out.