1 | P a g e

Appendix A

Hertfordshire’s Annual Report 2013-14

Foreword from Robert Gordon, Leader of the County Council and John Wood, Chief Executive and

Director of Environment

To follow

2 | P a g e

Significant development and achievements

Despite the continuing difficult economic climate, Hertfordshire County Council froze council tax

for a fourth year in a row in 2013-14. Residents continue to pay the same amount as in 2009-10

for the wide range of services provided by the council.

Over the last four years, the County Council has delivered annual savings amounting to £149

million; eighty-five per cent of the savings have come from doing things more cost effectively,

while largely protecting the range and quality of the front-line services the county council

provides.

76% of residents asked in our regular surveys say they are satisfied or very satisfied with the way

the County Council run things. This compares favourably with a national average of 70%. 89% of

residents surveyed said that they were satisfied with Hertfordshire as a place to live, compared

to 83% nationally. Despite the challenging financial situation and the savings that every local

council has to find, 81% of residents surveyed said that they thought that council services had

stayed the same or got better.

In 2013, 66.3% of young people in the county achieved 5 A* - C grades at GCSE; an improvement

on the previous year placing Hertfordshire 21st in the country. As at 28th February 2014 Ofsted

had judged 79.4% of all Hertfordshire’s schools as ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ at their latest

inspection; an improvement of 7.4 percentage points from August 2012.

To address the demographic pressures in the county, the council increased the number of

primary school places by 665 in 2013. This includes 230 permanent places and 435 temporary

places with work ongoing to further increase the number of places over the coming year. As a

result of school place planning during 2013, it was possible to offer 94% of children a place in a

school of their choice, with more than 81% being offered their first choice.

In March, the Council’s Children’s Services became the first Children’s Social Work department in

the country to develop and launch its own internal Leadership Academy. Building on the awards

and the national recognition of the NQSW (Newly Qualified Social Worker) Academy the creation

of the Leadership Academy will identify, develop and support a pipeline of future social work

leaders.

As one of 20 of the country’s pathfinder areas tasked with developing support services for

families affected by special education needs and disabilities (SEND), Hertfordshire was also

awarded pathfinder champion status for the east of England this year. This accolade gave the

county council the opportunity to share their expertise and best practice in supporting other

local areas with their pathfinder developments and implementing the new SEND reforms under

the Children and Families Bill.

3 | P a g e

The Highways Service Term contract, awarded in April 2012 to Ringway, started on 1 October

2013. Although some areas of the contract have worked well from day 1, a county council

motion in November 2013 noted that the new and revised highways term contracts as well as

the Call Centre were not fully functioning and working to the best effect for the residents of

Hertfordshire. The serious issues raised in the motion resulted in a variety of workshops and

improvement plans. These have focused on ensuring service delivery, customer outcomes and

ongoing development.

The libraries Summer Reading Challenge was the most successful ever in 2013, with 18,472

children taking part, an 18 percent increase on the year before. Of these 1,070 children joined

their local library to take part in the challenge. More than half a million children's books were

issued between July and September 2013 and young volunteers gave nearly 3,000 hours of their

time to support the challenge.

The quality of Hertfordshire County Council services was recognised through a number of

accolades in 2013/14. This included:

o The Countryside Management Service (CMS) was awarded the National Investing in

Volunteers Standard

o The Community Protection Directorate’s Joint Protective Services team were awarded

the prestigious Customer Service Excellence award. The Customer Service Excellence

standard tests in great depth those areas that research has indicated are a priority for

customers, with particular focus on delivery, timelines, information, professionalism and

staff attitude.

o The work of Hertfordshire Music Service through schools, further education and

community groups was recognised with the awarding of a diploma from the National

Music Council.

o The Trading Standards Community Volunteer Scheme, which is believed to be the first

Trading Standards volunteer team of its kind in the country, was nominated for the

prestigious Municipal Journal Awards 2013.

o Hertfordshire County Council was named Transport County of the Year at the prestigious

National Transport Awards 2013.

4 | P a g e

Our Finances

The following section summarises Hertfordshire County Council's full statement of accounts for the

financial year from 1st April 2013 to 31st March 2014, which is, at the time of publication, is subject

to external audit opinion. The unaudited accounts, and previous years audited accounts, are

available here

Income and expenditure account:

The income and expenditure account includes spending during the financial year on day to day items,

such as salaries, premises costs and supplies & services and charges for future pension costs and

depreciation charges. It also shows income from government grants, council tax and other sources

received during the year. The table below sets out the net cost (i.e. expenditure less income) of

providing services in Hertfordshire and how this was financed.

From 1 April 2013 there were significant changes in the way local authorities are financed. The

county’s share of national business rates, previously received via central government, is now

received partly from local collection and partly as government grant. Similarly, the reduction in

Council Tax income is due to a change in the way council tax benefit for those households on the

lowest income is funded. This means that the figures for government grant, council tax and business

rate income in the table below are not directly comparable between years.

*Adjustment for entries not impacting council tax includes costs which are required by

accounting regulations to be shown in the cost of services, but which are not a cost against

council tax or business rate income. Examples are depreciation charges, changes in the

valuation of future pension liabilities and pension benefits earned but not paid in year, and

any losses on property revaluations. The adjustment also includes for spend that has been

funded from, or contributions made to, reserves.

2013/14 Net

£'000 2012/13 Net

£'000

Adult Social Care 321,427 324,928

Central Services 4,181 2,253

Children's & Education services 167,732 206,229

Corporate & Democratic core 5,377 5,137

Cultural, Environmental, Regulatory & Planning Services 74,800 73,347

Fire & Rescue 46,423 44,972

Highways & Transport 93,116 92,608

5 | P a g e

Public Health 30,932

Housing Services 6,353 3,777

non distributed costs (1,976) (12,044)

Cost of Services 748,365 741,207

Financing and Investment 58,902 42,837

Reversal of entries not impacting Council Tax 2,435 13,091

less Government Grants (excluding capital grants)

(235,960) (101,563)

Total 573,742 695,572

This was paid for by

Local Council Tax Payers 466,928 508,793

Business Rates 106,969 186,650

(Increase) / Decrease in General Fund (155) 129

573,742 695,572

Balance Sheet:

The balance sheet shows the end of year financial position for the council as a whole. This

includes the financial value of the land, buildings, highways and other assets the council owns,

as well as money owed to us and by us.

£m 2013/14 Net £m £m

2012/13 Net £m

Assets and (Liabilities)

Capital assets (inc Heritage Assets) 2,776.2

2,742.8

Cash at Bank and Investments

166.9

142.1

Stock

4.5

4.7

Money owed to the Council

100.2

99.0

Money owed by the Council

(227.9)

(232.0)

Long Term Borrowing

(260.7)

(260.6)

Capital Receipts in Advance

(49.1)

(55.8)

Pension Liabilities

(907.9)

(1,002.7)

Provisions

(20.2)

(23.0)

Total assets less liabilities

1,581.8 1,414.6

Reserves and Balances

Usable Reserves

293.9

300.7

Specific Reserves 155.6

166.9

Capital Receipts Reserve 38.5

22.5

General Fund 25.2

25.0

Capital Grants unapplied 74.7

86.3

Unusable Reserves

1,287.9

1,113.8

Net worth 1,581.8 1,414.6

6 | P a g e

This balance sheet includes investment in, and any amounts owed to and from, the

companies Herts Catering Limited and Herts for Learning, both established during

2013/14. Separate group accounts consolidating the council’s share of these companies

are included in the full accounts.

Key Terms for Balance Sheet Items

Capital Assets - includes land, buildings, highways infrastructure, heritage assets, plant

equipment and vehicles. The value of our schools represents the major part of the

balance sheet value. The decrease in value represents the number of schools converting

to academies and therefore conversion of school land and buildings to leases.

Pension Liabilities - represents our commitment to pay pensions to both retired staff

and current employees upon retirement net of the value of the pension fund

investments. The reported liability has increased as a result of an adverse change in the

financial assumptions used in the actuarial variation. The liability is large, but our

financial position remains sound due to both its long term nature and statutory

arrangements for funding it.

Unusable Reserves - capital accounts, financial instruments and property revaluations

which are shown in the income and expenditure account, and generally do not have an

impact on the council's general fund balance or council tax.

Specific Reserves - funds the council holds for specified purposes. These include unspent

allocations of £65.9 million held in relation to schools, as well as money for future capital

investment.

General Fund Balance - provides adequate funds to meet any unforeseen calls on

resources.

Capital Grants Unapplied - grants held for capital purposes where the conditions of the

grant have not yet been met.

7 | P a g e

Capital Investment:

Capital Investment

2013/14

£m 2012/13

£m

Adult Social Care 3.9 6.1

Central Services 6.2 5.3

Children's & Education Services 83.5 109.3

Building Schools for the Future 43.2

Cultural & Related Services 0.8 2.9

Environmental & Regulatory Service 0.4

Fire & Rescue 2.8 1.8

Highways & Transport 67.5 49.2

Cost of Services 164.8 218.1

Funded by

Grants (105.9) (106.3)

Revenue contributions (46.6) (57.6)

Capital reserves (12.3) (11.1)

Building Schools for the Future (43.2)

(164.8) (218.1)

In addition to the spend above, a loan of £6m was made to Watford Borough Council to fund

infrastructure spend for economic development.

8 | P a g e

Council Priorities

In 2013, Hertfordshire County Council launched its new Corporate Plan for 2013-17 – Hertfordshire –

County of Opportunity. This set out the following vision for the county:

“We want Hertfordshire to remain a county where people have the opportunity to live healthy,

fulfilling lives in thriving, prosperous communities”.

The plan sets out the council’s key priorities and how we intend to deliver this our vision across four

key themes:

Opportunity to Thrive

Opportunity to Prosper

Opportunity to be Healthy and Safe

Opportunity to Take Part

9 | P a g e

Opportunity to Thrive

The County Council’s Corporate Plan states:

“We want every Hertfordshire resident to have the opportunity to maximise their potential and live

full lives as confident citizens. We also want everyone to have the opportunity to live in communities

where the value of Hertfordshire’s clean and green environment is respected”.

Notable developments in 2013/14 include:

Over the past year, education standards have continued to improve. In 2013 80% of children

achieved level 4 or above in reading, writing and mathematics at Key Stage 2, placing

Hertfordshire at 16th in the country and 66.3% of young people achieved 5 A* - C grades at GCSE

- 21st in the country.

As at 28th February 2014, Ofsted had judged 79.4% of all Hertfordshire’s schools as ‘good’ or

‘outstanding’ at their latest inspection, an improvement of 7.4 percentage points from August

2012.

One of the key strands to the Council’s School Improvement Strategy has been reducing the

attainment gap between vulnerable groups and the rest of the school population. Hertfordshire

is in the top 20% performing authorities nationally for the gap between the lowest attaining 20%

and the mean for Early Years Foundation Stage, and was one of the fastest improving authorities

in 2013 for narrowing the gap for pupils on free school meals at Key Stage 2 - this will continue

to be a major focus across all vulnerable groups at all Key Stages.

Through its Portfolio of Services to Education traded offer, Youth Connexions has provided

around 3,000 days of careers guidance into mainstream schools, academies and colleges

providing 15,000 career guidance sessions. In addition, during the 2013 -14 academic year, 7500

young people received work experience in a wide variety of occupational areas. In order to

highlight the importance of independent and impartial careers guidance an annual conference

attracts around 170 attendees from school, colleges, training providers, practitioners and

decision makers.

The Thriving Families partnership works across Hertfordshire to support families with multiple

and complex needs, helping them to turn their lives around and achieve sustainable

improvements. . By the end of March 2014 the service had worked with 1128 families, 522 of

which were actively working with the service at that time. Outcome claims have been

successfully submitted to the Department for Communities and Local Government for a total of

502 families that have been ‘turned around’.

The county council continues to help those who require ongoing care to live as independently as

possible. When younger adults with disabilities need supported accommodation, Hertfordshire

provides supported living tenancies in partnership with housing providers rather than residential

10 | P a g e

care. In 2013-14, 95% of adults aged 18-64 who needed supported accommodation were found

their own tenancy.

81% of people in the county who need on-going social care support have a personal budget. This

means they know how much their care costs and that they have a choice over how it is spent.

Over 1,000 people chose to use ‘advocacy services’ last year - this is independent support from a

trained person to find the best possible care for them.

During 2013-14 the Hertfordshire Waste Partnership implemented a series of service

improvements which resulted in over 19,000 tonnes of additional recycling and composting by

Hertfordshire residents by March 2014, resulting in a provisional recycling rate of 48.7%. Taken

together with the HWP's use of existing energy from waste facilities for processing residual

wastes the HWP is now diverting approximately two thirds of the household waste arising in

Hertfordshire each year from landfill.

In excess of £805,000 has been invested in improvements to green spaces, including more than

£460,000 of non-local authority funds recruited through grants and in kind contributions. The

number of nationally awarded Green Flag Parks across the county is up to 40 from just 5 in

2006.On aviation the county council has made submission to the Davies Commission which is

examining the future airport provision for the South East. In addition, the county council has

made submission to Luton Borough Council regarding the proposals for expansion of Luton

airport, and have ensured that additional safeguards to protect Hertfordshire residents from

noise and pollution are included in any planning consent.

11 | P a g e

Opportunity to Prosper

The County Council’s Corporate Plan states: “We want Hertfordshire’s economy to be strong, with

resilient and successful businesses that offer employment opportunities to residents, helping them to

maintain a high standard of living”.

Notable developments in 2013/14 include:

Hertfordshire’s economy continues to show robust signs of recovery. The number of people in

employment in Hertfordshire increased by more than 20,000 in the last year and unemployment

remains at a comparatively low level with 1.9% of the working age population claiming job

seekers allowance. Average property prices increased by 6.4% to £256,000 in the last year,

although this has been hampered by the lack of homes coming on to the market.

The county council has continued to work closely with the Hertfordshire Local Enterprise

Partnership (LEP) to promote steady and sustained economic growth in the county. The LEP has

published its growth strategy – Perfectly Placed for Business – A Strategy for Smart Economic

Growth in Hertfordshire 2013-2030 and the underlying Strategic Economic Plan (SEP) which sets

out the key projects and activities to support economic growth in Hertfordshire over the next

three to five years. The plan was received by Government on 31st March 2014.

The contract to improve Broadband for residents and businesses in Hertfordshire and

Buckinghamshire was signed in June 2013. As part of the Central Government’s Broadband

Delivery UK programme, Hertfordshire received a £1.1 million grant, which the council has

match funded, along with additional funds from the Local Enterprise Partnership to address the

lack of broadband in the business parks at Maylands, Gunnelswood and Centennial Park. Overall,

this contract will see broadband coverage in Hertfordshire increase to around 92% of premises.

The main delivery phases start from April 2014 and run to March 2016 and will see around

14,000 premises in the county upgraded. As of 31 March 2013, 792 premises have been rolled

out to ahead of schedule.

A successful bid was also made for a Rural Communities Broadband Fund grant which, with a

contribution from BT, gives £326,000 to address another 1000+ Hertfordshire premises.

The completion of the 2013-14 Integrated Works Programme has helped to maintain the overall

condition of the county’s highways. At the same time a number of improvement schemes have

been delivered which have contributed to improvements in journey time reliability and

congestion. Operations delivered from the Integrated Transport Control Centre have enabled

real time information to be provided to road users on planned works and incidents.

Almost all of Hertfordshire’s young people benefit from a secure path into adulthood. NEET

rates (young people not in education, employment or training) remain one of the lowest of any

local authority in England. However NEET rates are still high for those in vulnerable groups

12 | P a g e

(Children Looked After/Care Leavers, Young Offenders, those with a Special Educational Need or

Disability).

Work is currently underway to look at what early intervention work needs to be in place for

those who disengage with secondary school and Hertfordshire has also embarked on a new

partnership with JobCentre Plus to ensure that our Care Leavers receive extra support to enter

the job market. A sign of encouragement has been the reducing NEET rate for areas with higher

deprivation levels.

During 2013-14, 39 young people aged between 17-25 years of age started an apprenticeship

with the council in business administration, IT, finance and social care and of those starts 12

were care leavers. The council provides support and mentoring to all the apprentices and

additional support for care leavers through the application process. In addition, the council’s

Work Solutions Team helped over 400 young disabled people to find and sustain employment

over the last 12 months.

In 2013, Hertfordshire Fire & Rescue Service facilitated a trailblazing volunteer ‘job club’ at its

headquarters in Hertford which is proving very popular in providing people who are unemployed

with regular support to help them back into work.

On 30 January 2014, Hertfordshire County Council’s Filming on the Highways Act 2014 was made

into law. Promoted by the County Council, in partnership with the county’s district and borough

councils and Elstree Studios, the Act means location filming will now be easier in the county.

Hertfordshire is already a popular choice for filming and it is hoped that this new law will attract

even more production companies to the county. Hertfordshire is only the second local authority

in the country to have these road closure powers.

13 | P a g e

Opportunity to be Healthy and Safe

The County Council’s Corporate Plan states: “We want Hertfordshire residents to have the

opportunity to live as healthy lives as possible and to live safely in their communities. With

responsibility for public health returning to local government, we want all services to work together

to improve the overall health and wellbeing of people in Hertfordshire”.

Notable developments in 2013/14 include:

All crime reduced by 3.3% in 2013-14 compared to the previous year from 53,103 reported

offences in 2012-13 to 51,359. Reported domestic abuse crimes increased by 13.7% over the

same period from 3,532 in 2012-13 to 4016 last year. This rise was expected as the services

managed by the county council, Hertfordshire Police and partner agencies have focused on

increasing the confidence in victims to come forward and report abuse.

The total number of people killed and seriously injured casualties is 5% down on last year, with

falls in both the number of fatalities and the number of serious injuries. The number of children

killed and seriously injured remains at low levels and the outturn figure for 2013 is only one

higher than 2012's record low. There were no child fatalities in 2013. The number of deaths from

primary fire in 2013-14 is 3, even lower than the previous year.

The Hertfordshire Health and Wellbeing Board was formally established in April 2013, acting as

the place where the county council and the National Health Service agree how to improve the

health of Hertfordshire’s population. It is also tasked with exploring how health and social

services can be integrated to keep people at home and out of hospital. Relationships between

Hertfordshire’s hospital and social services have never been stronger, working together to

ensure the 3,000 people who leave hospital every year in need of social care have the right

support to leave quickly and safely and remain as independent as possible.

Hertfordshire’s Safeguarding Adults Board protected 2,100 disabled or vulnerable people last

year – by investigating possible abuse and taking action to make sure people are safe where they

live.

The county council has worked with Hertfordshire Partnership Foundation NHS Trust to create

an early dementia diagnosis service, with support for people and their families living with

dementia.

This year, Hertfordshire has continued to increase recognition for carers. After a successful pilot

scheme in Stevenage the Carer’s Passport will be rolled out to all other areas of Hertfordshire,

ensuring family members who care for a loved one are supported and able to lead a fulfilling life

of their choice. With its partners the county council identified over 5,000 new carers last year.

3,800 older people in Hertfordshire were provided with new Telecare packages last year.

Telecare equipment can detect when something has gone wrong in the home, with a 24 hour

14 | P a g e

response service to assist people, helping them to stay confident at home. At the end of

December there were 693 systems installed, approximately 50% of the total new referrals. The

Hertfordshire Home Safety Service, managed by the county council, visited 2346 homes in 2013-

14 where they undertook crime prevention work, fire safety checks and falls prevention work

free of charge to Hertfordshire residents who are over 60 or have a registered disability.

The county’s Public Health team officially transferred over to Hertfordshire County Council on 1

April 2013. Hertfordshire was the first county to publish its new Public Health Strategy in

December 2013, which outlined the county’s priorities around working for and with residents to

enable them to live longer, healthier lives; start healthy and stay healthy; improve the health of

all - especially the least healthy and to protect communities from harm. Examples of work to

deliver the Public Health strategy include Sexual Health services, Health Checks, stop smoking

services, weight management services and drug and alcohol treatment services.

Designed to identify and reduce health risks in people aged 40-74 years, the Health Checks

programme in Hertfordshire is showing an increase in the number of health checks completed. A

total of 27,096 people have taken up the offer of having a health check in 2013-14 - a significant

improvement on the 12,715 delivered in 2012-13.

The number of people quitting smoking in Hertfordshire is 6,293. This is below the target of

7,672 and less than was achieved in the previous year. This reduced demand is a national trend

and is a result of fewer people signing up to quit smoking. The percentage of the population

smoking in Hertfordshire has however fallen from 20.0% in 2011 to 17.7% in 2012 and is below

the England average of 19.5%.

In 2013-14 a total of 3,967 people accessed drug and alcohol treatment services which an

increase of 20% is compared to the year before. Of this number 2,583 (60%) accessed drug

treatment services and 1,590 (40%) accessed alcohol treatment services. A new weight

management service was launched midway through 2013-14 and in the first eight months was

accessed by over 2,100 people.

Over 21,000 appointments for contraception and 43,000 genito-urinary medicine appointments

were provided. Over 20,000 women were seen for Long Acting Contraceptives such as coils:

over 17,000 of these were delivered in the community by GPs. Hertfordshire’s school nurses

delivered over 35,000 contacts with schools, children and families.

This year has seen a slight increase in referrals to children’s’ social care and a considerable

increase (97%) in the numbers of children subject to a child protection plan compared with the

previous year. There are currently 1,041 children who are looked after in Hertfordshire (as at

31/03/14), equivalent to a rate of 40.7 per 10,000 of the 0-18 year old population. The Joint

Child Protection Investigation Team continues to be successful in achieving faster response

times to allegations of child abuse allowing children to be removed from risk as quickly as

possible. The council is also working in partnership with the police on Operation Halo to raise

awareness of, identify and prevent child sexual exploitation within the county.

15 | P a g e

The percentage of children looked after who become adopted or subject to a special

guardianship continues to rise and now stands at 22.9% at March 2014 (this equates to 85

adoptions and 28 special guardianship orders). The percentage of Children Looked After who

were adopted during the year placed within 12 months of the decision continues to improve and

is 74.3%.

Hertfordshire has been working in partnership with ImPower to improve recruitment and

retention of Foster Carers this has resulted in a net gain of 45 foster carers providing safe and

supportive homes for our children who are looked after.

In Hertfordshire 84.3% of all children aged 0-4 years old are currently registered with a children’s

centre and of these 76.7% of children and their families have accessed children’s centre services

in the past twelve months.

The Hertfordshire Lifestyle and Legacy Partnership Board came into being in January 2014 to

build upon the work of the county’s Olympic Legacy Board whilst broadening its horizons to a

wider set of shared objectives in the areas of health and wellbeing, physical activity and sport,

arts and culture and volunteering. Partners involved include district, health, private and

voluntary and community sector organisations.

16 | P a g e

Opportunity to Take Part

The County Council’s Corporate Plan states:

“We want to enable all Hertfordshire residents to make a more active contribution to their local

areas, working with elected representatives and other community activists to tackle local issues and

ensure that council services are more responsive to their priorities and ambitions”.

Notable developments in 2013/14 include:

In Hertfordshire the election of Members of the Youth Parliament (MYP) takes place annually in

January, with young people aged 11-17 being given the opportunity to stand to represent their

peers in each of the ten districts. The role of the MYP is to consult with young people to ensure

that they effectively represent the voice of young people in Herts at local, regional and national

levels.

Youth Connexions Hertfordshire offered 16 and 17 year olds the opportunity to participate in

the National Citizen Service (NCS) in 2013. This spring nearly 300 young people undertook varied

and exciting activities, putting their enthusiasm into almost 9,000 hours of community action

projects that matter to them.

Hertfordshire County Council spends over £11 million a year with community and voluntary

sector organisations, which in turn use over 8,000 volunteers to deliver their services. These

range from lunch clubs to social activities, exercise sessions, peer support and groups to support

people with specific needs. Many of these volunteers are older people themselves.

The county council asks people who use services and their carers to assist with designing new

services – and giving feedback on what is already provided. 3,000 people completed

questionnaires in 2013-14, 120 people and carers attended a conference on the new Care Act

and dozens have been involved in meetings throughout the year ensuring the council only buys

what people want.

In 2013-14 a total of 1,213 grants totalling over £766,000 were approved by County Councillors

through the locality budget scheme. These grants benefitted the community in many ways, from

local parents groups, to community celebrations, and even supporting a community internet TV

station. County Councillors were also provided with £90,000 each to fund highways works in

their electoral divisions.

Members of the award winning Community Protection Volunteer team launched an innovative

scheme for vulnerable people who have experienced a traumatic event in their home such as a

fire, flood or damage from severe weather. Hertfordshire’s Volunteer Incident Support Team

(VIST) is only the second of its kind in the country, providing a post-incident clear-up service to

those in the community who are most in need.

17 | P a g e

The County Council launched a new directory of community and voluntary organisations. With

over 9,000 entries in the Hertfordshire Directory, a wide range of information is available to help

residents find out what is happening locally. There are also links to a wide range of national

organisations.

More information on how Hertfordshire works with volunteers and engages with the local

community can be found in the sections “Have your Say” and “Working with Communities”.

18 | P a g e

Have Your Say

The County Council provides services for the public, on behalf of the public and using public money.

Engaging the public in what we do and how we do it is essential, and the information the public gives

us about what they need and how we can improve our services is vital. This work helps us to spend

public money wisely and to ensure we are tailoring our services to the needs of each community.

The County Council is also committed to engaging with local people directly about key issues and

decisions to be made.

Between April 2013 and March 2014 the County Council undertook a number of initiatives to inform

its budget and key priorities:

Around 3,000 residents were asked for their opinions on the Council and their local area

through the Residents’ Survey, which asks for a representative cross-section of residents for their

thoughts.

Residents were invited take part in an online questionnaire to feed back what is important

to them and the priorities they consider the Council should be focusing on and where savings could

be made. A specific invitation was sent to 1,700 members of the Hertfordshire Citizens Panel inviting

them to take part in the questionnaire.

The Citizens Panel also took part in a number of other consultations, including reviewing the

Council’s online Highways services. If you are interested in becoming a member of the Citizens Panel,

you can find more information here: http://www.hertsdirect.org/your-

community/havesay/hccitpanel/ and sign up here: http://www.ors.org.uk/HCC/GetInvolved/

A "Meeting Hertfordshire’s Challenges" event for community leaders was held on the 27th

November 2013 to discuss the financial challenges ahead and opportunities for future collaboration.

Over 45 representatives of the voluntary and community sector and parish councils attended the

event.

The Executive Member for Children’s Services met with members of the United Kingdom

Youth Parliament (UKYP) on the 23rd January 2014 to discuss the council's priorities and budget and

their priorities for young people in Hertfordshire.

All Council consultations are logged on the council’s consultation finder enabling members

of the public to more easily find and participate in council consultations.

The Council undertook a number of public consultations throughout the year, including a

wide-ranging consultation on “The Future of Hertfordshire Library Service” between October and

December 2013.This included questionnaires, public meetings, informal drop-in sessions in libraries,

focus groups and engagement with partners and stakeholders. A total of 15,487 people engaged

with the consultation process. The results of the consultation will be used to inform the

19 | P a g e

development of a new ten year strategy for Hertfordshire Libraries during the spring and early

summer of 2014.

Members of the public can submit and present petitions to the council. Details of how to do

so can be found here. The Council’s e-petition system enables residents to collect signatures for

petitions on the internet, rather than just on paper. This allows petitions to made available to a

wider audience and potentially provide the opportunity to gather more support for the issue

covered.

Residents can also contact their local county councillor to give their views on any aspect of

the Council’s services. Contact details for their local councillor can be found here.

To find out more about how the County Council consults with the community and how you can give

your views and comments about the services you receive, please click here

20 | P a g e

Working with Communities in Hertfordshire Hertfordshire County Council has made a commitment to giving local people more say and control

over local services.

Through the Hertfordshire Local programme, the Hertfordshire County Council is seeking to ‘shift

power from the state to individuals, families and communities. It seeks to position councillors as an

indispensable resource within active communities. It aims to ensure that residents are suitably

informed to allow them to influence and shape local services and take a more active part in assisting

them to help themselves’.

The council’s Residents’ Survey, Hertfordshire residents are happier than average with the areas in

which they live, and with the services they receive from their County Council. However, currently

only 34% of residents say that they feel they can influence decisions in their local area. Whilst this

figure is in line with the national picture, a key aim of our Hertfordshire Local work programme is to

get more people more involved in their local areas and support communities who want to play a

more active role.

Here are some of the key projects that have contributed to the Hertfordshire Local programme over

the past year

Supporting democratic leadership and participation

Locality Budgets

Each County Councillor has £10,000 per year to spend on worthwhile community projects in their

division. From local parents groups, to community celebrations, and even supporting a community

internet TV station, members’ locality budgets have provided financial support to a wide range of

worthwhile causes. For more information see here

Highways Locality Budget Scheme

This year, County Councillors were provided with £90,000 each to fund highways works in their

electoral divisions. Residents are encouraged to contact their councillor to influence how this money

is spent. More information on the scheme can be found here.

Hertfordshire Localism Network

A network of localism representatives from each of the county district and borough councils along

with the Hertfordshire Association of Parish and Town Council continues to meet. This network

enables representatives to discuss how localism is being delivered across the county and what

opportunities there might be for joint working.

Community Celebrations

21 | P a g e

The County Council has continued to support communities wishing to organise community events

such as street parties. To encourage residents to take part in street parties and events such as The

Big Lunch, HCC waives the fee for applying for a street party licence and the associated road closures

(providing it is not a major road affecting bus routes). Further information for anyone interested in

organising an event that requires a street closure can be found here.

Improving how we work with partners and communities to tackle problems early and deliver

efficient local services

Volunteering with Hertfordshire County Council

Over 500 people already volunteer with the County Council, in a wide range of roles which help

improve life in our local communities. Further information on how to volunteer with the County

Council can be found here and here.

Using the latest technology to make volunteering more accessible

There are currently three Timebanks in Hertfordshire covering Watford & Three Rivers, North Herts,

Stevenage, Royston and Buntingford and Hertsmere. In 2013/14 the Timebanks have seen over 2500

exchanges between volunteers. Volunteers have steadily increased to over 500 active members

across the services. Each Timebank has evolved to meet the needs of their local community. They do

have some activities in common such as Garden Teams, where groups of volunteers provide

gardening/clearing gardens etc. for vulnerable people; this is a highly valued service.

Exciting work has begun with one of the Timebanks receiving HCC funds for a Digital Inclusion

project that helps people to access and successfully use Tablets.

National Citizenship Service (NCS) and Make a Difference

The National Citizen Service (NCS) and the Make a Difference programme delivered by Youth

Connexions Hertfordshire during summer 2013 are once-in-a-lifetime experiences that support

young people aged 13 to 19 to build skills for work and life by taking on new challenges and getting

involved with their local community.

Youth Connexions Hertfordshire will be offering the National Citizen Service to over a thousand

young people aged 16 to 17 during 2014. The programme involves team building and leadership

activities and opportunities for young people to undertake social action projects within their local

communities.

Being an open, transparent and accessible organisation

Information about local county councillors

We have dedicated webpages for each county councillor. The pages include individual profiles,

22 | P a g e

contact details and information on what grants local councillors have given to community groups as

part of the locality budget scheme.

Community Directory

The County Council has launched a new directory of community and voluntary organisations. With

over 9,000 entries in the Hertfordshire Directory, there is a wide range of information to help

residents find out what is happening locally. There are also links to a wide range of national

organisations. We will continue to develop the site, including adding different ways you can search

for information to make it even easier to get the results you want.

23 | P a g e

Council Transformation

2013-14 was the fourth of the council’s transformation programme, Council for the Future. Over the

last four years, Council for the Future has delivered annual savings amounting to £149 million, while

largely protecting the range and quality of the front-line services we provide.

This was achieved mainly through doing things more efficiently behind the scenes - such as providing

human resources, finance and facilities management services jointly with other public sector

organisations, and encouraging more residents to use the web to get in touch and apply for services.

There have also been some more difficult changes to services such as the introduction of part-night

lighting, home to school transport changes and reductions in library opening hours which have had a

direct impact on the public.

However, central government’s priority of cutting the national deficit in public spending means that

the council’s total income continues to fall whilst the pressure to spend increases due to inflation,

the county’s growing population and the cost of meeting the many needs of Hertfordshire’s

residents, including older people and people with a learning disability. It is therefore calculated

that, over the next four years, the council will have to find further savings growing to £145 million a

year by 2017/18 in order to respond to rising demographic and service demands.

Given the scale of the challenge, in addition to further work by service departments and cabinet

panels, a more fundamental approach is being taken forward across the council and with partners in

a number of areas, with the intention of improving outcomes and driving efficiencies. The view is to

build on existing partnership work and to look at whether outcomes can be improved and/or costs

reduced by working together to make best use of the public pound in Hertfordshire.

The key areas which are being explored are:

•Health and social care integration

•Family focused working

•Adults with complex needs

•Asset rationalisation/shared accommodation

•Hertfordshire civil service

•Skills, jobs and work opportunities

•Enabling the citizen and communities

•Enabling the worker

•Selective extension of trading activity

24 | P a g e

The Year Ahead

Some of the potential challenges and opportunities we face in the coming year are:

Despite having saved £149 million already through its Transformation programme, it is

calculated that, over the next four years, the county council will have to find further savings

growing to £145 million a year by 2017/18 .Further difficult decisions will therefore need to

be made to identify the remaining savings.

Continuing to work closely with the Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership, supporting

economic growth and promoting Hertfordshire's prosperity and economic future through

inward investment.

Recognising the impact that increased prosperity and job opportunities will have on the

growth of the county’s population, and continuing to plan for increases in primary pupil

numbers and the subsequent increase in secondary pupil numbers.

Embedding the changes brought about by the Children and Families Act 2014, including

SEND reforms, and adoption and contact procedures.

Continuing to prepare for the introduction of the Better Care Fund through implementing

the council’s Better Care Fund Plan (submitted to Government in April 2014) and therefore

integrating health and social care services.

Coping with the demographic pressures that an ageing population will place on the council's

adult social care services.

The continuing integration of Public Health services into the county council, whilst also

responding to the wider reforms to the National Health Service.

Continuing to 'narrow the gap' in educational outcomes, achievement and wellbeing for

those pupils from the poorest families and from vulnerable groups. For instance, the

percentage of Children Looked After achieving five A*-C grades at GCSE (including English

and maths) is 16.9%, which despite being higher than the national average, still needs

improvement.

Continuing to adjust to the new education landscape, with an increasing number of

academies and free schools, and greater school autonomy.

Investing in Hertfordshire’s transport networks in order to ease the traffic congestion on the

council’s highways.

25 | P a g e

Ensuring that the public has an increasing amount of accurate information about the county

council, its services and how to access them efficiently.

26 | P a g e

Our Values and Behaviours

The county council is ambitious for its residents and communities and is demanding of itself as an

organisation. It seeks to demonstrate that it is a leading council through the quality of services it

provides and the way they are delivered, reflecting the following values and behaviours:

Citizen focused – making a positive difference in Hertfordshire

Every penny counts – responding to the need to restrain public spending

Acting with integrity – commitment to acting in an open, honest and ethical way

Getting things right – continuing to improve and learn from experience

Continuing to innovate – we embrace change through being creative

27 | P a g e

Our Commitment to Equalities

We are committed to achieving diversity and equality of opportunity both as a large employer and as

a provider of services. We demonstrate our commitment to tackling inequality and promoting

diversity in everything we do. In line with the Public Sector Equality Duty, we have published

evidence of the impact of our policies and practices on people with protected characteristics as well

as the objectives we have set to continue this work. Our full commitment to equality and diversity is

detailed on our website at www.hertsdirect.org/equalities .

We recognise, respect and celebrate the fact that our staff and the people we serve are all very

different, whether this is in our ethnic background, family setting, gender, religion and belief or

other factors. We believe that diversity drives innovation, a culture of fairness and respect and

equality of opportunity for all. This work has once again been recognised by Stonewall as

Hertfordshire County Council has been named as one of the top gay-friendly employers in the

country.

We have a public duty to promote equality and to combat the unfair discrimination that still exists in

society. We also believe that this helps us do our job better. For more information on how we

promote equality and diversity across our services, visit: www.hertsdirect.org/equalities .