To award contracts to successful applicants for the Home Care Framework as per the Procurement Evaluation Report for Home Care Services Framework Providers dated 30/09/2021.

The Framework to commence 01/11/2021 for four years with the option to extend for a further 12 months.

The council has undertaken to resettle 85 Afghan refugees from December 2021 to June 2022 under the ARAP and ACRS schemes. The Council has made a commitment to the Home Office and Armed Forces partners to support arrivals of around 53 refugees in 12 families during December 2021 and January 2022. The accommodation for the refugee families has been made available by two registered housing providers and the Diocese of Hereford. The landlords will supply unfurnished and generally without floor coverings.

The council has entered into a contract with Refugee Action to support refugee families and Spring Housing is its sub-contractor, providing tenancy support and housing management and preparing and equipping families’ accommodation. However, the costs of furniture, floor coverings and general fitting out of the housing are not included in the contract. Spring Housing recommends purchasing new items for refugee’s accommodation, for durability and pursuit of best practice.

Contracting with Spring Housing is the best and most appropriate option because;

• The arrangements must be implemented immediately to support December 2021 arrivals of refugees and the council have only recently been told that these arrangements have not been included in the contract between Refugee Action and Spring Housing. Therefore there is not sufficient time to undertake a procurement process.
• Spring Housing has niche expertise in setting up and equipping accommodation for refugees and can deliver the products/services using their existing commercial relationships at competitive rates and in the tight timescales required
• The costs of Spring Housing’s staffing and management time have already been provided for within the contract with Refugee Action and therefore using a different provider would result in these costs being repeated.
• The costs of contracting with Spring Housing are for purchase of new items and any decorating only, along with negligible travel expenses.
• There is therefore no commercial benefit to Spring Housing of the proposed supply contract as it will be delivered at cost with no overheads added.

It is proposed that under the terms of the contract, the items purchased would become the property of the council at the end of the refugee family’s occupation, but would be provided to refugee families for their use on an indefinite basis.

The government has announced two schemes in response to the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan; the afghan citizen’s resettlement scheme (ACRS) and the ARAP (Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy) scheme for Locally Employed Staff (LES) scheme. The council is committed to supporting both schemes, having previously welcomed refugees through resettlement programmes since 2016. It is working with the local armed forces community to explore targeting families under the ARAP scheme for arrivals in Herefordshire.

Local authorities were asked to send details of their offers to resettle refugees to the Home Office by 23rd September 2021. Herefordshire council has undertaken to resettle 56 Afghan refugees during November and December 2021. The 12 families will be accommodated in local social housing.

Refugees require support from those experienced in the resettlement process and understanding the needs and challenges of refugees when settling into a new life. Intensive support is required in the first few weeks after arrival and then then support is tapered off and gradually reduced, so that it concludes 12 months after arrival. This reflects good practice in resettlement and also aligns with Herefordshire’s strengths based approach, promoting independence. The service is complemented by specialist ESOL language support and input from a variety of agencies to ensure that families have appropriate access to education, benefits, health and other services. Continuing support is also provided to refugees during years two onwards of their resettlement, including English language, tenancy support and around access to employment. These continuing services are commissioned separately and are not covered by this decision

The council has commissioned refugee support and orientation services twice before, in 2016 and 2018. In each case, the level of interest from the market was limited and Refugee Action were the only specialist provider to bid and were awarded the contracts on both occasions. This reflects the specialist nature of the service and that Refugee Action is one of a very small number of specialist charitable agencies operating nationally. The speed at which the Afghan refugee programmes have been implemented and the timing of Herefordshire’s accommodation offers being available necessitate a direct award of contract.

The proposed contract will provide for two cohorts of refugees totaling up to 85; approximately 56 arriving by December 2021 and up to 30 arriving by June 2022. Each individual and family will receive 12 months’ support from their arrival and so the contract will be of 20 months’ duration altogether. This includes an initial mobilization period during November 2021.

Refugee Action can mobilise staff to support the planned arrival of refugees in 2021 and then will recruit employees and volunteers locally to support the programme over the duration of the contract.

Funding of £20,500 per person over three years will be provided to local authorities to resettle Afghan refugees and it has been confirmed that people on both schemes will be awarded refugee status and five years leave to remain. This gives families all the rights of UK citizens, including access to benefits, housing and the NHS.

The licence granted to RNC (Royal National College for the Blind) to occupy the building expired on 31st August.

Repairs are required to the air conditioning plant which are the obligation of RNC to resolve, but they were unable to procure before the licence to occupy ended.

A further short-term licence to do works is required to permit the RNC to return and to complete the works.

Providing ‘real time’ information at transport hubs is an objective of the council’s Local Transport Plan (LTP) 2016 to 2031.

4. Make journeys easier and safer – by making bus and rail tickets compatible and easier to buy and use, by providing ‘real time’ information at well-equipped transport hubs, by improving signage to walking and cycling routes and by helping people feel safe during their journeys.

Providing simple clear bus departure and arrival information promotes the use of public transport and supports the objectives identified by the Hereford Transport Strategy Review 2020:
1. Climate Emergency : Reducing carbon emissions from the transport sector to meet the 2030 target of zero emissions;
2. Economy : Creating a resilient transport system which allows reliable and efficient movement of people and goods and which supports sustainable development and a thriving local economy;
3. Environment : Reducing air pollutants to create attractive and high quality places to live, work and visit whilst also protecting, considering and enhancing the natural environment and Herefordshire’s built environment; and
4. Society : Providing an affordable, safe and secure transport system for all sectors of society which facilitates improved public health and has limited adverse impacts on communities.

Award a contract to Attenti Consulting Ltd for the provision of Children’s Advanced Social Work Practitioner Support Services from 8 November 2021 to 31 March 2022 at a maximum cost of £579,000

1 U65212 Church Road - Road Closure
2 Officer decision for cultivation licence at Ledbury for signing
3 Temporary Parking Restriction - B4260 High Street & U70710 Royal Parade, Ross-on-Wye (TTRO21-940)
4 Almeley Upcott Lane - Road Closure
5 Bircher Fibre - Road Closure
6 Road Closure - U91028, Picadilly, Kingswood
7 Road Closure - C1147, Weston Beggard Lane, Bartestree
8 U92016 Pig and Whistle Road, Lingen Deerfold (TTRO21-942)
9 Road Closure - C1097 from The Steps to Bishon Lane via Bishopstone, Bishopstone (TTRO21-953)
10 Road Closure - U73227 Brookfield Road, Thruxton (TTRO21-1048)
13 U66205 Little Tarrington - Road Closure
14 TCO BY31 MUST BE RETURNED BY 26 NOVEMBER
15 Road Closure - C1043 Yarpole Lane, Luston TTRO21-1032
17 Ross on Wye Christmas carnival parade – Saturday 18th December – 1600 – 1800
18 U72201, Rectory Road, Hampton Bishop
19 U93009 Pigmore Common - Road Closure
20 Ledbury Boxing Day hunt – Monday, 27 December 2021
21 Kington Boxing Day hunt meet – Monday, 27 December 2021 – 1030 – 1145
23 C1267 From C1266 To Rock Farm, Ballingham TTRO21-1061
24 C1261 From A49 To Moraston Farm, Bridstow TTRO21-1041
25 TCO MR20 - Please return by 10 December
26 U73006, Parks Lane, Canon Pyon TTRO21-1051
27 C1286 From B4221 To Kempley Road, Upton Bishop TTRO21-1027
29 TCO MD8

To fund up to £89,007, for the expansion of outdoor eating and recreation space at Weobley High School.

Funding to be provided from secondary Section 106 receipts from Gadbridge Road, Weobley, with the remaining funding covered by the School.

The construction phase at the North Magazine commenced in January 2021 following significant remediation, masterplanning and detailed design work which took place in previous years. Work includes the installation of the estate roads, utility trenches, SUDS, foul drainage, plot raising / earthworks, walkways / cycleways and landscaping features. The work will see the North Magazine sub-divided into a number of smaller plots in line with identified investor interest.

Owen Pell Ltd were appointed following an open tender exercise which was carried out via the pro contract system, and evaluated against both cost and quality.

The additional works are an extension of existing activities contained within the initial tender brief (e.g – extension to estate roads; foul drainage). The use of a separate contractor would be highly impractical and inevitably incur additional/duplicate preliminaries, mobilisation and site set up costs. There would also be additional health and safety / project management implications to consider, in attempting to manage / coordinate two contractors within a limited working space.

This decision will allow the continuation of security services so as to ensure continuity of safeguarding to council properties and building assets whilst a plan is put in place to complete the procurement process, TUPE undertakings and award of contract.

The additional works are an extension of existing activities contained within the initial tender brief (i.e. – purchase of material; levelling; compaction). The use of a separate contractor would be highly impractical and inevitably incur additional/duplicate preliminaries, mobilisation and site set up costs. There would also be additional health and safety / project management implications to consider, in attempting to manage / coordinate two contractors within a limited working space.
The opportunity was advertised as an open procurement exercise via pro-contract for a period of three of 3 weeks. Of the responses received, Owen Pell Ltd scored highest against both cost and quality

For Cabinet to consider the proposed capital investment budget for 2022/23 and updated capital strategy. For Cabinet to make recommendations to Council for their consideration.

Covid 19 has had a significant impact on local businesses. The Covid 19 Recovery Plan identifies a range of measures the council will undertake in 2021/22 to support the soonest possible recovery. This includes a focus on encouraging people to buy locally, particularly in the run up to and over the Christmas period. This will support local businesses to recover, and safeguard local jobs.

The council is looking to incentivise residents to spend locally on a wide range of activities, such as visiting local attractions, spending in independent retailers, trying a new activity, fitness or craft/ creative course, or eating out at local food and drink venues. We want to do this by inviting households to apply for a payment card that is pre-loaded with an amount of money which they will be able to spend at participating businesses within Herefordshire.

The principle behind this approach is that it encourages people to spend in local businesses, catalysing recovery of the economy in some of the most impacted businesses, and it supports improved health and wellbeing.

The council is looking to engage with a service provider to provide a payment card system that can deliver the council’s set of requirements and ambitions for incentivising local spend.

The scheme will invite each household in the county to apply for a payment card that is preloaded with an amount of funds. This card will then be available for use at any participating business within Herefordshire.

The council has undertaken a procurement process to secure a specialised payment card provider (allpay ltd) to administer all payment card based elements of the scheme including:

1. Receipt of verified card applications from the council and issuing of payment cards to qualifying households.

2. Ensuring spend is restricted to within Herefordshire at participating businesses and excludes certain business categories such as betting shops, off-licences, lottery and casinos.

3. Management of all queries and interactions with businesses and card holders.

4. Overall management of spend within the project financial parameters including any top up of issued cards and retrieval of unspent funds.

5. Reporting to the council on scheme and spend progress.

The payment card provider (allpay ltd) will be paid a fee (£122,850) for the management of the scheme and tasks outlined above.

A competitive process has been undertaken where the specification of requirements has been sent to four providers. Of which, two compliant bids were received. Nagels UK ltd received a score of 97% when assessed against the price and quality of service.

This was the winning score and this is considered a low value contract award in terms of the council’s procurement procedures.

The council will now enter into a contract with Nagels UK Ltd to supply all of Herefordshire Councils pay and display tickets during this contracted period of two years, in accordance with the agreed delivery schedule and costs.

To ensure that the council manages its transport services effectively whilst also meeting its statutory duties and ensures children are transported to school in line with eligibility.

Acceptance of the service level agreement between NMITE and Herefordshire Council, as a partner in the delivery of the Herefordshire Skills for the Future programme.

THAT, following the annual adult and community learning delivery competitive tendering process, open to those providers on the Adult and Community Learning Service (ACLS) provider framework 2019-2022 and undertaken within the council’s contract procurement rules, the following list of providers have been awarded contracts for the academic year 2021/2022:


Nationwide Community Learning Partnership CIC £69,523.00
ECHO for Extra Choices in Herefordshire Ltd £8,386.00
Red Spark Learning CIC £75,890.00
The Cart Shed Charity £56,194.00
The Houghton Project £31,688.00

Total value of contracts awarded £241,681.00

Acceptance of the funding agreement extension between Shropshire Council (on behalf of the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership) and Herefordshire Council, for the appointment of the Careers and Enterprise Company, Enterprise Co-ordinator and recruitment of Enterprise Advisors for the period 1 September 2021 to 31 August 2022.

The Shell Store is owned by the Council, and has been developed to operate as a business incubation, development and networking Centre to stimulate business activity, with 40 units for rent.

The Shell Store units are envisaged as being occupied through easy in, easy out terms, through licence arrangements.

We want to welcome and settle the first set of tenants into the building as soon as possible to create an income and generate a positive atmosphere to stimulate further interest.

The terms agreed reflect on market rents and the facilities on offer to tenants.

The prospective tenant has cleared appropriate checks.

The Shell Store is owned by the Council, and has been developed to operate as a business incubation, development and networking Centre to stimulate business activity, with 40 units for rent.

The Shell Store units are envisaged as being occupied through easy in, easy out terms, through licence arrangements.

We want to welcome and settle the first set of tenants into the building as soon as possible to create an income and generate a positive atmosphere to stimulate further interest.

The terms agreed reflect on market rents and the facilities on offer to tenants.

The prospective tenant has cleared appropriate checks.

The Blackfriars Rose Gardens Hereford is owned by the council and comprises a formal garden accessed and used by local people as public open space.

The site is part of a Scheduled Ancient Monument and is situated in a Conservation Area and the Friends of Blackfriars Rose Gardens have sought approval to occupy part of the site for the purposes of providing and installing new ornamental gates to enhance the amenity of the site

They have consulted widely on the design of the gates, obtained the necessary planning and Scheduled Ancient Monument consents and have appointed a local well respected contractor to carry out the works.

The licence will be on the basis that all necessary statutory and other consents are fully complied with, all works are carried out to in such a way as to ensure public health and safety and any damage arising will be fully reinstated to the satisfaction of the Council and appropriate documentation confirming has been provided

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.

October 2021
Charge Certificate – 310
Order for Recovery – 109

In the same period 84 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.

The Household Support Grant, funded by the Department for Work and Pensions, was announced to support vulnerable households with the cost of living pressures between 06.10.21 and 31.03.22.

This announcement follows the Covid Winter Grant and Local Support Grant schemes ending on 30.09.21 that were used to purchase local supermarket vouchers for households in England where residents include:-
a. Pupils in receipt of free of school meals
b. Pre-school children in receipt of pupil premium
c. Disadvantage students in college settings

The Household Support Grant funding will continue this support for the October half term, Christmas break, February half term and Easter break at the equivalent of £40 per week for each eligible household, so £240 in total for around 3,900 households.

Currently there are approximately 6,000 residents in the County in receipt of universal credit whose income is below the Free School Meal and/or Free Prescription thresholds. It is proposed that the remaining funding allocation is used to provide a £60 grant to these individuals to help with their essential bills over the winter period. Eligible applicants will be invited to complete an online form that will be verified and a one off payment will be made.

At the Full Council meeting on 14 Feb 2020 a new dedicated climate reserve was established to resource and accelerate action to address the climate emergency.

Over one-third of Herefordshire’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are estimated to be from heating homes and other buildings, the development of a new building retrofit strategy and options appraisal to scope potential action plans is needed to decarbonise buildings across Herefordshire if we are to reach the county’s zero carbon target by 2030.

As the estimated value of the works necessary to do this is likely to exceed £300 million it is essential that Herefordshire seeks innovative new solutions and leverages external funding opportunities to deliver this enormous challenge and economic opportunity.

A fully compliant tender exercise in conjunction with the council’s commercial services team has taken place, from which WSP UK Ltd were the preferred supplier to undertake the work.

To consider an application under the Highways Act 1980, Section 119, to make a public path diversion order to divert part of Public Footpath LY2 (part) in the Parish of Llancillo.

The school has requested landlord’s consent to extend the outdoor dining area to enable more students to sit outside in a socially distanced manner.

This will involve extending the tarmac area and the installation of four large canopies and outdoor seating, bins and benches.

The area will also be used by the PE department for outdoor delivery and the school proposes to install a line of metal benching on the perimeter of the new yard which will overlook the sports field.

No useful sports field areas will be lost, the site is close to the buildings and too small to fit any pitches.

To consider a proposal under the Highways Act 1980, Section 119, to make two public path diversion orders to divert parts of Public Footpaths ZC85and ZC86 in the parish of Leominster.

The Council’s decision of 2 February 2021 approved cancelling the SWTP and HTP schemes and outlined costs associated with the de-capitalisation of the projects. This decision report can be viewed using the following link:

http://councillors.herefordshire.gov.uk/documents/s50086609/Hereford%20Transport%20Strategy.pdf

Included in the de-capitalisation costs were estimates of remaining project costs for both schemes based on knowledge at that time and an approved the revenue budget for these costs. The estimates comprised:

SWTP - £50k
• Gain share contractual payment associated with works completed financial year 2018/19 £40k
• Outstanding compensation payments to landowners £10k

HTP - £350k
• Gain share contractual payment associated with works completed during 2018/19 and 2019/20 prior to decision to pause scheme £200k
• Removal of boreholes £140k
• Final payment on Peer Assessment commission £10k

SWTP
The BBLP contractual payment and land compensation costs have come in under the estimated budget, which leaves £43,206.17 available for reallocation within the project. This will fund final contractual legal fees associated with land acquisition that were not included within the February report. These costs have totaled £44,060.13 which exceeds the remaining budget.

Updated final SWTP project costs comprise:
• BBLP contractual payment for final costs associated with concluding contractual matters and final account £6,151.83
• Compensation payments which relate to landowner legal fees associated with the CPO £406.00
• Internal recharge for Property Services fees for managing compensation payments associated with land acquisition (CPO & SRO) £236.00
• Sharpe Pritchard legal fees for works associated with land acquisition (CPO & SRO) £37,512.40
• Associated interest and court fees following legal action instigated by Sharpe Pritchard in June 2021 £3,731.77
• Internal recharge of legal fees for support to concluding the Sharpe Pritchard contract £2,815.96

The total value of these costs is £50,853.96 which exceeds the estimated revenue budget set out in the February council decision by £853.96.

HTP
The BBLP gainshare and the final peer assessment costs have come in under the estimated budgets. This leaves £49k available for reallocation which will fund a legal cost of £1k which was not included within the February report and the £1k SWTP overspend detailed above. The remaining underspend will be allocated to the borehole removal and any associated compensation budget element in the event that these costs exceed the estimate.

Updated project costs comprise:
• BBLP gainshare contractual payment for works completed in previous financial years and final account £155,512.59
• Removal of boreholes and compensation payments £15,020.70
• Final payment of costs for works associated with the Peer Assessment £2,079.88
• Legal invoice £1,000.00

These costs total £173,613.17 and have been paid from the project revenue budget approved within the February Council decision report.

The Hereford City Centre Transport Package (HCCTP) was developed as an integrated programme of schemes, which included a new transport hub at Hereford railway station.

Cabinet’s decision 22 July 2021 recognised that the remaining capital budget allocated to the HCCTP is now insufficient to complete the remaining undelivered projects (transport hub and public realm) in the programme without the allocation of additional funding. The decision authorised that the remaining HCCTP programme funding be allocated to the development of the transport hub project design and consultation.

Procurement of professional services is required to develop a design for the transport hub. Stakeholder engagement and technical consultation will be undertaken as part of the commission which will inform the design. Early engagement with Network Rail has taken place which will continue as part of the development of the design.

The procurement will be undertaken directly by the council through an open market tendering process in accordance with the council’s procurement rules. An Invitation to Tender (ITT) has been developed in conjunction with Corporate Services. Corporate Services will support the project team in executing the procurement process.

The Covid Winter Grant scheme was announced to help support vulnerable children and families during the winter months.

The scheme supported those most in need across England with the cost of food, energy and water bills and other associated costs.

The council administers the scheme and provides direct assistance to vulnerable households and families with children particularly affected by the pandemic.

This scheme was initially extended to 16th April 2021, then renamed Covid 19 Local Support Grant and extended to 20th June 2021 with a further final extension to 30 September 2021 increasing the grant award by £506,335 to a total since inception of £1,357,926.

The increase in funding will be used to purchase local supermarket vouchers for households in England where residents include:-
a. Pupils in receipt of free of school meals
b. Pre-school children in receipt of pupil premium
c. Disadvantage students in college settings
To cover the cost of the school summer holidays at £130 supermarket voucher per household. This decision will also enable household funds to be redirected to pay utility bills.

The tenant of the Edgar Street Football Club has previously sub-let the club gym to a third party

The previous sub-lease to the third party has expired and a new sub-lease has been agreed

Herefordshire Council’s approval to the new sub-lease as head landlord is required (but cannot be unreasonably withheld) and to ensure that sub-lease is in correct format.