On 17 September 2020 the Director for Economy and Place under the delegation from the Council of 6 August 2020 confirmed the addition of £7.674m pothole and challenge fund works to be delivered through the public realm annual plan 2020/2021 as follows:

Carriageway Works
£ 2,604,000
Structures and Stability
£ 3,160, 000
Footways & Cycleway
£ 400,000
Countywide Drainage Improvements
£ 760,000
Signal, Roadmaking,
£ 750,000
Signs & Safety Barriers

Total
£ 7,674,000

That record of officer decision can be seen on the council’s
website by using the URL below:

http://councillors.herefordshire.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?ID=7176

Part of the footways and cycleway budget above was assigned delivery of street furniture (benches and bins) and was s £150,000.00


This Rood confirms this programme for that element of works as follows:

Bin Replacement £90k
Street Furniture £40k
Benches £20k

The detailed programme is contained in Appendix A to this decision, but is summarised as from an asset base of approximately 800 items, approximately 200 are being replaced

The programme detailed is derived from known asset data. The provider will discuss with parishes to ensure local knowledge and Parish input can be incorporated where feasible.

To that end the programme may change slightly after these local discussions, any changes will be accommodated through the CMT team change control process.

To recommend the implementation a reduction in the current National Speed Limit on A4103 east of Newtown crossroads, to 50mph.
The extents of the proposed restrictions are set out in detail in Recommendations below and shown on drawing 3409-84 in Appendix A.

HARC and the museum sites have been closed since 5 November 2020 in line with regulations enforcing the 2nd national lockdown in England.

Under the government’s new tiered system for managing Covid-19, coming into effect from 2 December 2020, Herefordshire has been placed in tier 2. The Department of Health and Social Care published guidance on 23 November 2020 outlining what activities are permissible in each tier. A link is below

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/local-restriction-tiers-what-you-need-to-know#high-alert

These state ‘businesses and venues can continue to operate, in a COVID-19 secure manner, other than those which remain closed by law’, meaning HARC and the Museum sites can re-open.

The sites covered by this decision have been signed off as COVID-19 secure for the service that they are delivering. The sites were operating according to those guidelines before this lockdown and will return to doing so from 2 December.

Opening hours for each site for the coming weeks will be advertised accordingly.

To appoint PCG Ltd to provide the web hosting and support functions for an initial two year period until the end of May 2022 at a cost of £58,918 with the option to extend by a further two years at 12 month intervals until May 2024 at a total cost of £58050.

This contract includes; web hosting, maintenance, higher level customer support, development and a design refresh, plus the development of a booklet function and 4.5 days of site development in year 1 and 2 with a further 3 days of development time if the contract extends beyond the initial two year period.

The procurement was undertaken using the Crown Commercial Service Data and Application Solutions (DAS) framework RM3821 and following the relevant procurement process as outlined in the framework documentation.

To consider the comments and objections received from two residents, in relation to the advertisement of the Council’s proposal to introduce the following Traffic Regulation Order: (U93600, BRIERLEY) (30 MPH SPEED LIMIT) ORDER 2020.
The extents of the proposed restrictions as advertised are shown on drawing 3409-79 in Appendix A.

On 17 September 2020 the Director for Economy and Place under the delegation from the Council of 6 August 2020 confirmed the addition of £7.674m pothole and challenge fund works to he delivered through the public realm annual plan 2020/2021 as follows:

Carriageway Works
£ 2,604,000
Structures and Stability
£ 3,160, 000
Footways & Cycleway
£ 400,000
Countywide Drainage Improvements
£ 760,000
Signal, Roadmaking,
£ 750,000
Signs & Safety Barriers

Total
£ 7,674,000

That record of officer decision can be seen on the councils website by following the link below:

http://councillors.herefordshire.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?ID=7176

£300,000 of the signal, roadmarking signs and safety barriers elements was assigned to Road Markings and Studs Defects.

This Rood confirms the programme for that element of works as 165 lining schemes with stud marks to follow as applicable following further night inspections.

The detailed programme is contained in the Appendix to this decision, this is summarised as 163 lining schemes listed in the appendix, and an additional 2 lining schemes being undertaken outside of schools. Stud work will follow night inspections

The programme detailed is derived from known asset data.

The programme may change slightly after full measurements are taken, any changes will be accommodated through the CMT team change control process.

On 17 September 2020 the Director for Economy and Place under the delegation from the Council of 6 August 2020 confirmed the addition of £7.674m pothole and challenge fund works to he delivered through the public realm annual plan 2020/2021 as follows:

Carriageway Works
£ 2,604,000
Structures and Stability
£ 3,160, 000
Footways & Cycleway
£ 400,000
Countywide Drainage Improvements
£ 760,000
Signal, Roadmaking,
£ 750,000
Signs & Safety Barriers

Total
£ 7,674,000

That record of officer decision can be seen on the council’s website by following the link below

http://councillors.herefordshire.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?ID=7176

£330,000 of the countywide drainage improvements elements was to Visala
identified drainage works.



This Rood confirms the programme for that element of works as follows:

C1094 Outside Weobley High School £50,000
C1120 The God Almighty, Litmarsh £40,000
C1125 C1129 to C1124, Marden £40,000
C1031 A4111 to Upper Spond £80,000
C1261 Railway Bridge to U71616, Dinedor £120,00

The programme detailed is derived from known Visala survey data.

The programme may change slightly after full measurements are taken, any changes will be accommodated through the CMT team change control process.

To consider the councils corporate risk register

To review the forecast financial outturns at the end of December, as well as delivery against the council's delivery plan priorities

To award a contract to Elia International Ltd, for the delivery of six practice led workshops with follow-up support and 130 knowledge-bank licences at a maximum cost of £14,000, for 10 months from January 2021.

Agreement to:
1. Approve the spend of up to £1,060 to authorise the awarded contractor for this scheme (Balfour Beatty LP) to appoint a sub-contractor required to complete the scheme of works.

2. Approve this expenditure from the Capital Maintenance School’s contingency allocation for the gas works at St Peters School, Bromyard.

3. The initial Record of Officer Decision includes a contingency value of up to £1,000 for this scheme of works.

4. For the Capital Project Manager to manage and ensure the delivery of this Capital scheme within the spend budget.

To recommission services for the provision of independent advocacy for adults.

Talk Community is the strategic delivery vehicle for the community ambition of the Herefordshire County Plan 2020-2024 to improve the sustainability, connectivity and wellbeing of our county by strengthening our communities. It is the Council’s strategic approach to prevention, enabling people to get the assistance they need and managing demand for more specialist services. It conveys an aspiration and culture which prioritises prevention, innovates and intervenes at the earliest possible point to make independence and wellbeing inevitable. The key message and vision of Talk Community articulates an ambition and culture which innovates “to make independence and wellbeing inevitable”. Appointing a competent consultant to develop a complete brand awareness process for Talk Community and define Talk Community's identity, will ensure its success in delivering these messages in order to best reach its target audiences and achieve its strategic goals and outcomes.
In compliance with Herefordshire Council’s CPR’s, a tendering process was undertaken to seek an appropriate supplier that specialises in brand awareness and engagement. Invitations to Tender were invited through the council’s tender portal and following assessment through a tender evaluation panel IE Brand

By entering into licence agreements with relevant landowners, the River Wye and Lugg Natural Flood Management Project will be able to install and access soil moisture testing equipment on several private properties within Herefordshire. This equipment is required to deliver Work Package 3B soil research, which has been designed to meet Defra’s funding requirements for research.

To confirm progressing the Hereford City Centre Improvements and acceptance of associated Marches LEP grant.

New national restrictions introduced by Government, that weddings and civil partnerships will not be permitted to take place from 5th November 2020

Government advice is that the hospitality venues must close from 5 November 2020 unless operating as a takeaway/delivery operation.

Therefore any businesses that remain open under that capacity should do so without seating areas.

For a number of years the council has made changes to services to reduce cash payments. There is several reasons for this:
• More secure as card and digital payment create a record and less risk of money being misplaced
• Handling cash is more expensive for the council as needs collecting, banking and counting
• Customer demand as more people use cards and on-line payments.

However it is recognised that there are some individuals in the community that are not digitally connected so cash is still acceptable for small items e.g. paying library fines.

This decision is concerned with withdrawing the option of cash payments by businesses. This decision is based on recognising that businesses have the wherewithal to make card or on-line payments. Two specific areas is within Waste Management and Licencing.

The transition to operating cashless has been escalated due to Covid-19 so there should be low impact, however a four week notice period is communicated via the services to those who will be affected.

Government advice has stated that from 5 November 2020 that markets could continue if they were offering essential items.

The Herefordshire visitor economy has been severely impacted by Covid 19 and the resulting lockdown. Tourism accommodation and attractions, cultural venues, hospitality businesses, non-essential retailers were instructed by government to close for circa 3 months during the start of their usual peak season period. Many of these businesses have then faced a second period of lockdown in November 2020 This has significantly threatened the viability of these businesses, and put at risk of redundancy the large numbers of people they employ.

In May the Marches LEP allocated £444,220 to Herefordshire to support Covid 19 economic recovery, subject to the development of a business case. Herefordshire Council in partnership with the Herefordshire Business Board established and submitted a business case focussed on supporting the soonest possible recovery of the visitor economy. Shropshire Council (as the accountable body) on behalf of the Marches LEP issued a funding offer letter to Herefordshire Council on the 17 June, and the Cabinet Member for Environment Economy and Skills took a decision to accept the grant and implement the project on the 20 June.

Recognising the need to engage with visitor economy businesses to co-ordinate delivery and to seek relevant expertise, a project steering group was formed in June 2020.

Recognising the need to seek appropriate expertise to deliver the Media Buying, Creative and Promotional Activities the procurement will be taken in accordance with the council’s contract procedure rules. In accordance with the grant funding business case, the appointment will enable the implementation of a marketing campaign at the start of 2021 encouraging visitors to visit next year supporting the soonest possible recovery of trade.

The Herefordshire visitor economy has been severely impacted by Covid 19 and the resulting lockdown. Tourism accommodation and attractions, cultural venues, hospitality businesses, non-essential retailers were instructed by government to close for circa 3 months during the start of their usual peak season period. This has significantly threatened the viability of these businesses, and put at risk of redundancy the large numbers of people they employ.

In May the Marches LEP allocated £444,220 to Herefordshire to support Covid 19 economic recovery, subject to the development of a business case. Herefordshire Council in partnership with the Herefordshire Business Board established and submitted a business case focussed on supporting the soonest possible recovery of the visitor economy. Shropshire Council (as the accountable body) on behalf of the Marches LEP issued a funding offer letter to Herefordshire Council on the 17 June, and the Cabinet Member for Environment Economy and Skills took a decision to accept the grant and implement the project on the 20 June.

Recognising the need to engage with visitor economy businesses to co-ordinate delivery and to seek relevant expertise, a project steering group was formed in June 2020.

The development of a modern visitor website, with a range of new content and functionality in order to compete with similar destinations has been identified as a critical by the project steering group and in the marketing plan. Recognising the need to seek appropriate expertise to deliver the visitor website the procurement will be taken in accordance with the council’s contract procedure rules.

To minimise the risk to staff and the public in light of Covid-19, as the door-knock aspect to the personal canvass would require staff to engage directly with electors in order to enable updates to the register as part of that visit.

To approve the empty property strategy for Hereford to bring properties back into use in the County.

To refurbish 4 & 5 Blackfriars Street to provide 4 1 bedroom self contained flats, accessible on the ground floor, also to include 1 -2 pods as additions to the side of the buildings, to also provide self contained accommodation. Accommodation is to be provided to homeless applicants- under project Brave

To approve the business case for investment in marketing and engagement services to strengthen the council’s in-house fostering service, increase the number of general and specialist foster carers and reduce the reliance on the more costly IFA (independent fostering agency) sector.

To set out a project plan for the preparation of an updated Herefordshire Local Plan

To appoint DJS Research Ltd to undertake a representative community wellbeing survey across Herefordshire by the end of June 2021 for those aged 18 and over with the option for the council to instruct the provider to undertake a second impact survey in 2023, to monitor change.
The cost of the first survey will be £29,450 and the second survey cost will be £19,900.
Talk Community has been developed over the last two years in Herefordshire as an innovative approach to strengthen independence and wellbeing of our residents, focused in local communities.
The strategic approach was approved at the Cabinet meeting on 24 September 2020 and operational decisions were delegated to the Director of Adults and Communities in relation to implementation of the agreed approach.
This survey is to assess the community wellbeing of the residents of Herefordshire linked to the development and achievement of the County Plan, assess the impact of the 2020 flooding and covid-19 pandemic and to act as baseline data for the roll out of the Talk Community approach.

Endorsement of the Hereford Towns Fund town investment plan submission and approval to act as accountable body for any subsequent Town Deal agreed with government.

The decision to introduce the permit was made by the Cabinet Member on the 29th October 2020 and becomes effective on the 5th November 2020.

The benefits of the permit scheme is outlined in the Cabinet Members report, the scheme will aim is to improve the strategic and operational management of the highway network through enabling better planning, scheduling and management of activities to minimise disruption to highway network users. The scheme will enable better coordination of activities throughout the highway network.

To agree the Hoople SLA 20/21 allows effective ongoing management of the services delivered and a mechanism to monitor these services against.

To consider the comments and objections received from two residents, in relation to the advertisement of the council’s proposal to introduce the following Traffic Regulation Order; (LOWER BULLINGHAM LANE AND WINDSOR ROAD, HEREFORD) (PROHIBITION OF WAITING AT ANY TIME) ORDER 2020.

The objections received related to the waiting restrictions on Windsor Road and concerns as to where the displaced parking would migrate to.

The proposals as advertised are detailed on drawing 3409 72 in Appendix A.

To recommend the implementation of waiting restrictions on The Rose Garden and Ledbury Court, Hereford.

The extents of the proposed restrictions are set out in detail in Recommendations below and shown on drawing 3409-87 in Appendix A.

Herefordshire Council are seeking approval to enter into a short term block contract for 10 in- county Discharge to Assess (D2A) residential care home beds required to meet our obligations as set out in the national COVID-19 guidance.
The additional beds will support the health and care system’s D2A provisions to ensure timely discharge from acute settings for people that are medically fit for discharge but who might otherwise be delayed in hospital whilst an assessment is completed to determine their longer term needs. The provision will also help to reduce the impact of COVID-19 and seasonal winter pressures on the health and social care system.

The Hoople Services Contract provides the contractual mechanisms that are required to manage the client provider relationship, including payment for the services that the council commissions from Hoople Ltd each year. These services are described in an annual plan, which is known as the Hoople Service Level Agreement or the ‘Hoople SLA’

To enable the accountable body, Shropshire Council, to delegate responsibility for the managing of the Get Building Funding grant and the relationship with the successful grant applicant (NMiTE) to the council. The full grant amount of £1.6m for project will be transferred from the accountable body to the council in advance of project delivery. The grant funding will be utilised to accelerate development of NMITE’s Centre for Automated Manufacturing on the Herefordshire Enterprise Zone

To provide an update on programme and budget for the HCCTP project and to agree next steps to progress the remaining elements of the project.