The decision has been taken to reopen the Bromyard, Kington and Ledbury Household Recycling Centres, while still continuing to protect the public from the threat of Covid-19.

The reopening of these Household Recycling Centres will:
• Ease the pressure on the council’s household waste collection service, providing an additional location for residents to dispose of their household waste;
• Provide full coverage for residents across the county;
• Require additional resource to be allocated to our contractor to appoint additional staff required to open these recycling centres;
• Better fulfill the council’s statutory obligation to provide places for residents to disposal of their household waste;
• This will complement existing additional resource at our three main facilities to protect staff and the public from the threat of Covid-19;
• Permit social distancing and improved hygiene control measures to be implemented at all sites;
• Encourage only the deposit of essential and unavoidable household waste;
• Ensure services and councils resources are not overstretched.
• Require a booking system to prevent queuing traffic and limit numbers of people on site to conform to social distancing requirements.

The council has needed to increase the use of on-line video conferencing during Covid 19 emergency as the majority to staff are required to work from home. The free licence for Webex comes to an end on 1st July 2020 and a decision was made to continue with the licence to Webex based on “active user” agreement – this means if someone is not active in using the licence this will be withdrawn. Consideration was given to other conference call tools with the pros-and-cons considered. The decision was made based on:
• The advantage of Webex having the number of participants who can be viewed at one time
• That participants are familiar with the system, and people who are not confident with IT or do not use conference call regularly may struggle to adapt to a new system
• That the licence is based on “active users” so cost may reduce (though balanced with increased demand).

The licence will run until February 2021 and this gives time for a full evaluation of what the council needs from a video conferencing function next to the available systems and their costs –this will involve both research and testing. This evaluation to be commissioned to Hoople who are the council’s ICT delivery partner - evaluation work of this nature is not included in the SLA therefore a cost of up to £4,000.

New requests for video conferencing will be asked to use Microsoft Teams as a trial of that system.

It is also expected over the next six months video conferencing providers will develop and improve their offer to be more comparable and competitive with each other.

The current licence agreement was granted in October 2020 following the advertisement of the land in the open market. The licence agreement ended 31st March 2020.

Due to covid-19, the licence was initially extended to the 30th April 2020 as the licensee was unable to sell the lambs due to the market being shut.

It will be difficult to re let the land in the current market due to the uncertainty of covid-19 and during the lockdown in April and May it would have been difficult for people to access the land to view.

The licence agreement can be determined at short notice to enable vacant possession to be obtained within four weeks and the council can still access the land for its own purposes at any time during the agreement.

The Legal Protocol (Appendix 1) brought into force due to COVID 19 is no longer necessary and services shall revert to their position prior to the implementation of the protocol, or where there is not the case, there are separate pieces of guidance in situ to deal with these areas.

Following changes from the Governments guidance that wedding of up to 30 people can now take place from 4th July 2020.
Measures have been introduced to ensure that the ceremony process can take place in a controlled way in order to both protect Council employees and the wedding party. Both risk assessment and safe system of work have been signed off by Health and Safety.
The size of the wedding party at the Town Hall will limited to 10 people due to the size of the ceremony room.

• The statutory responsibility for ensuring that suitable accommodation is available for vulnerable and homeless households rests with council. The council is reliant on housing associations’ support and cooperation to discharge these duties.
• All housing authorities should operate a nominations process in accordance with the Housing Act 1996, as amended. Government guidance indicates that council’s should have nomination agreements with each registered provider working in their area, covering a range of topics including the percentage of vacant properties available to the council, the grounds for rejecting council nominees and how disputes will be resolved.
• Housing associations have a duty under s.170 Housing Act 1996 to cooperate with housing authorities, where the authority requests it, to such extent as is reasonable in the circumstances in offering accommodation to people with priority under the authority’s allocation scheme. Similarly s.213 provides that where a housing association has been requested by the council to assist them in discharge of their homelessness functions under Part 7, it must also cooperate to the same extent
• Housing associations are expected to ensure that the properties available for council housing register nominees reflect the mix of the property type, stock and location that become vacant in their stock.

As a category 1 responder and as the delegated communication lead for the Tactical Co-ordination Group, Herefordshire Council had a key role in getting Public Health messages and government messaging to the general public. As the pandemic continues, responsibility for the outbreak response and related lockdowns will be placed on the Local Authority, and there will be an ongoing need to warn and inform the public, as well as providing updates on test and trace and recovery.

Key messages need to be delivered to audiences that do not use the internet and the council uses adverts in local newspapers, local banners and radio commercials to achieve this at a cost of £10,281. On-going promotion of local messages and advice to key vulnerable offline audience will need to continue, with an expected total advertising cost of £41,124 until April 2021 which included circulated newspapers within its emergency distribution food (whilst the council provided that).

External communications support was commissioned from Be Bold Media in April and May to support the Communications Team, when the pandemic was at its peak, and the requirement and pace of information exchange was considerable. This provided extra capacity so that staff could address media, social media, internal communication and web demands of the Covid-19 response. Additional communication support is expected to be required for Test and Trace and the total cost for emergency response communications support is expected to be £77,186 up until April 2021.

The council has also taken the decision to send correspondence direct to household with Covid-19 advice and signposting for support. This was considered helpful as direct and personalised contact particularly to people who are not on-line or/and have limited social networks (particularly during lock-down). The cost of the resident’s letter in March 2020 was £64k including postage costs. There will be an additional follow-up resident’s letter, with a cost of up to £35,000 and a letter to businesses at a cost of not more than £7,000

The decision to sign the document the document off through this route was to ensure that the governments deadline of 30.06.2020 for submission of local authority outbreak control plans can be met.

These plans will evolve and will need to be in place for the next 18months and beyond. The purpose of this Plan is to support the quick and effective management of Covid-19 outbreaks in a range of settings. The specific objectives are to:
• Reduce the spread of infection in Herefordshire, minimise the number of cases, protect our health and care system, and save lives;
• Support settings experiencing a new localised outbreak or complex single cases to mitigate the consequences of and help to keep as many services and businesses going as possible in a way that is safe and releases our economy; and
• Give the public confidence that we are able to respond appropriately to outbreaks of Covid-1 in order to minimise anxiety.

This plan will be focussed around seven themes:
• Care homes and schools;
• High risk places, locations and communities;
• Local testing capacity;
• Contact tracing in complex settings;
• Data integration;
• Vulnerable people, and
• Local boards.

To serve a section 235 notice under the Housing Act 2004 to require documents to be produced relating to a property in Widemarsh, Hereford

Element 1 - to progress initial discussion with site owners to include design works.

To prosecute for offences under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, and the Animal By-Products (Enforcement)(England) Regulations 2013

To issue the defendant with a simple caution for offences under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, Section 117.

To prosecute the director for multiple offences under Consumer Protection From Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, regulations 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11.

To prosecute for offences under Section 4, 9 and 34 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006, and the Animal By-Products (Enforcement)(England) Regulations 2013

a) To authorise spend up to the value of up to £10,200 from the two tier risk budget line for this capital project.

The budget detailed in the cabinet report relating to this decision to spend are as follow:

https://councillors.herefordshire.gov.uk/documents/s50073157/Marlbrook%20revised%20business%20case%20and%20budget%20report.pdf

The risk budget

Item Budget
Two tier risk £73,500

The risk budget was identified as two tier risk owned by the council at the time of signing the contract. The value sits outside the contract value.

To request approval of expenditure up to the value of £911,000 to complete project 1 and £937,000 to complete project 2 from the already agreed council capital budget of £1.848m for the development of Gypsy and Traveller sites within the County. Project 1 will include the approval to award a construction contract and project costs up to the value of £782,000 including contingency and professional fees and £129,000 on the implementation of CCTV once the scope of the business case is delivered. Project 2 will include planning, design and construction of 4 pitches at the Pembridge site.

Project 1 has now completed Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Stage 4 and seeks approval to award an NEC 3 contract to complete the construction phase of the project. The decision paper seeks to approve a budget of £911,000 and award a contract to SC Joseph Ltd to complete works on the two pitches at the Bromyard site and a pitch at the Grafton site and complete modernisation at 6 sites across the county. Project 2 seeks approval to enter the design stage (RIBA stage 2) and approve spend up to the full budget allocation of £937,000 to complete the construction of 4 pitches at the Pembridge site over the next 3 years. Any further underspends from contingency and project 2 may be utilised with approval to further expand the CCTV investment.

To approve and endorse the Corporate Parenting Strategy 2020 - 2023 and the Care Leavers covenant.

To review Adoption and Fostering Services performance and approve related documents 2019 - 2020

To extend the council’s subscription for Mind of My Own for up to 12 months from 1st June 2020 to 31st May 2021. This will be at a maximum cost of £7,605. During the extension period, a review of commissioning options will be undertaken to include the following options to inform a new commissioning decision:
• Risks and opportunities for making use of freely available social media platforms
• developing a bespoke on-line application in-house
• undertaking a tender exercise for a costed off-the-shelf tailored application
• decommissioning the service.

The decision was taken to make available overnight accommodation in Hereford city for key workers during Covid-19 response phase (April to July 2020).

In March 2020 during the early stages of the Covid 19 emergency response an urgent need was identified to establish temporary accommodation for key workers in Hereford. Key workers defined as NHS, social care, social workers, police/ emergency services employees.

The rationale for this was;
• A member of a key workers household may display Covid 19 symptoms which would lead to a requirement for a 14 day quarantine period. This could significantly reduce available key worker capacity at a time of emergency.

• A key worker may live with a person who was being ‘shielded’, asked by government to isolate for 3 months. This may mean a key worker in the same household would be unable to work for this period without alternative accommodation. This again would reduce available capacity during emergency.

• Additional key worker capacity may be required in Herefordshire, recruiting people from other areas of the UK who would need somewhere to live.

• Due to the lockdown accommodation such as hotels, bed and breakfasts were ordered to close, and private rental opportunities severely limited.

As such a decision was taken to make the council owned student accommodation in Gardner Hall available free of charge to key workers who needed temporary accommodation.

As lockdown measures are currently being lifted with alternative accommodation to be available again from July a subsequent decision has been taken to close Gardner Hall for key workers from the end of July 2020 and not extend this provision.
It is anticipated that between September and December 2020 Gardner Hall will be required as temporary accommodation for Hereford College of Arts students not able to be accommodated in the Station Approach development which has been delayed due to Covid 19. As such, previous negotiations with NMITE to lease the Gardner Hall accommodation have been suspended until January 2021. NMITE will continue to utilise the Gardner Hall office space on the ground floor in the interim.

To enable Balfour Beatty to carry out highway maintenance 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 provide the council with further time to assess the longer term impacts of the COVID 19 emergency including ongoing statutory and discretionary school transport service needs, a planned review of future transport needs, and the council’s financial situation.

Highways amenity licensing was suspended on 27.3.20 due to the covid-19 outbreak, see http://councillors.herefordshire.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?ID=6734
• Government advice is that the hospitality industry (restaurants) may reopen from 4 July 2020
•
• Guidance indicates that social distancing is still required, therefore whilst the defined area existing licence holders will remain unchanged, furniture density within each area will need to reduce to a level compliant with government guidance.

Following changes to Governments guidance, the registration service are now able to recommence birth registrations within the county.

A corporate risk assessment on the Town Hall risk assessment has been completed and has been sign off by the Chief Executive

Measures have been introduced to ensure that the registration process can take place in a controlled way in order to both protect Council employees and families. Both risk assessment and safe system of work have been signed off by Health and Safety team

Birth registrations taking place by appointment only.

Death registration will continue to take place over the telephone.

The Modern Slavery Act 2015 places specific responsibilities on organisations to ensure slavery and human trafficking does not exist within its supply chain or in any part of its own business. Though some people may be more vulnerable to exploitation than others, it is not restricted by age, gender or background. The term ‘modern slavery’ captures a whole range of exploitation, which may occur together to have a combined effect on people’s rights and liberty.

This statement is made in relation to Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and explains the commitments of Herefordshire Council in its efforts to ensure there is no slavery or human trafficking within the organisation, its sub-contractors, partners or supply chains.

This statement relates to actions and activities during the financial year 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021 and will be reviewed annually.

In 2019 the council made the follow commitments which are reflective of the 2020-21 statement:
Proactive – improve awareness, understanding and identification of modern slavery with council staff and members being proactive in reporting suspected incidents.
Protect – safeguard children and adults to not be at risk of modern slavery, and support victims with care and services.
Partnership – to work in partnership with other agencies, residents and businesses to address the causes and effects of modern slavery on people.
Providers – create effective systems and controls to safeguard against any form of modern slavery taking place through the contracts we hold.
Prosecute – to work with agencies to gather evidence to hold perpetrators to account.
Policies – to have in place the policies and practices that enable the reporting of modern slavery and reduces the exploitation of people in the first place.

Approval is given to increase the contract payment to the commissioned provider, Caring for Communities and People (CCP) by an additional £39k per year and £195k over the period of the 5 year contract.

To consider the recommendations made in the Hereford transport strategy review and to agree the next steps.

Award of contract to One Creative Environments Ltd to produce a Masterplan covering the design of internal roads, drainage and services in order to prepare investment ready plots at the North Magazine, Hereford Enterprise Zone for a period of up to 12 months. The cost of the lead representative is £624 per day, with a maximum of £65,000 available for this work.

The decision taken was to approve the strategic purchase of a site in the central ward within the defined budget has been approved on the basis that Heads of Terms have been agreed, due diligence has been completed and the purchase provides value for money.

The proposed purchase will be a strategic acquisition which would support the council's policies in respect of economic growth and enable the council to plan for any future demand or development opportunity that may arise in line with the cabinet's county plan objectives

On completion of the purchase of the Maylord Shopping Centre the Property Services team have confirmed there will be a knowledge gap which means they are unable to provide property, facilities and asset management services to manage the Maylord shopping centre. The complexities associated in respect of managing a multi-tenanted retail asset requires the management to be outsourced to a third party property/asset management provider

There is a general understanding that car parking charges provide for effective demand management of private car use in city and town centres, and that free car parking may create congestion of the spaces closest to the centre of town. However, the delicate economic emergency period as a result of Covid 19 is being balanced with the need to temporarily relax the need to manage demand of car journeys

The extended period of free car parking will enable the council to monitor and review the use of the car parks, and prepare a key decision for consideration by the Cabinet Member regarding the need to continue to manage demand, consider any further temporary concession and the financial and service implications. This will include a plan to recover income lost as part of this decision through implementation of revised car parking charges structure

It should be noted that income from parking is ring fenced to services, as outlined below under legal implications, and any continued budgetary shortfall would impact on the funding available to deliver such services unless alternative sources of funding are identified

All other parking restrictions, including resident permits areas, will remain in place throughout this period

If through monitoring it is identified that the free parking arrangements outlined in this decision adversely affect space turnover in desired locations, dwell time or any other associated parking/traffic management issue a further decision may be taken to re-implement charges earlier than 25 July 2020

To consider an application under the Highways Act 1980, section 119, to make a public path diversion order to divert part of Footpath AV4(part) in the parish of Avenbury.

To seek approval to release a loan of up to £0.611m to the Courtyard Centre for the Arts(Courtyard). The loan will enable the Courtyard to complete an expansion programme in order to maximise their revenue income.

Provision of meadow creation and restoration training for the River Wye and Lugg Natural Flood Management (NFM) Project Catchment Advisors will provide the advisors with the skills and confidence required to advise landowners on meadow creation/ restoration. This advice will support the delivery of the River Wye and Lugg NFM Construction Grant Scheme, which is helping to reduce flood risk to communities in Herefordshire.

Caroline Hanks, the Facilitator of Herefordshire Meadows has been selected as the provider for this service due to her expertise in meadow creation and existing links to local meadow owners. By working with Herefordshire Meadows, the landowners and NFM Project will gain access to a network of meadow managers who are able to offer support and advice.