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Hertfordshire County Council

Taken from our Annual Report, we've highlighted some of the key things we've achieved throughout the year.

Read the full Annual Report (PDF 5MB)

 

Our Corporate Plan sets out our ambition for a cleaner, greener, healthier Hertfordshire. Below are some highlights of our key achievements throughout 2023 – 2024, outlining the progress against our key priorities. Please see the full report for further detail.

 

A cleaner and green environment

  • We opened a new recycling centre in Welwyn Garden City in May 2023, which has received positive feedback. We have seen an estimated 1.6 million visits to our recycling centres across the county over the year. 
  • We have now planted or enabled the planting of 324,647 trees since our Climate Emergency Declaration in 2019, with 115,983 trees planted between 2023-2024. This includes 4.25km of hedgerow.
  • Throughout the year, we improved 108 green spaces.
  • We have introduced new cycling and walking facilities in Stevenage. Since November 2020, we have secured £13.6m for similar projects across Hertfordshire towns to enhance health, air quality, road safety, and reduce traffic jams.
  • Hertfordshire County Council Property has won three awards in the building and construction sector. These awards recognise our commitment to sustainability, social value, and high-quality design in collaboration with Ashe Construction and Morgan Sindall.

 

Healthy and fulfilling lives for our residents

  • 15,827 people have accessed Healthy Hubs in the last year
  • Our Fire and Rescue Service has conducted 9,903 Safe and Well Visits to households in Hertfordshire
  • We provided adult social care services to over 47,000 adults in Hertfordshire
  • We launched Data Inspired Living in November 2023 to help residents live independently at home using sensors and an online dashboard to monitor routines and raise alerts for changes in behaviour. This has improved health and wellbeing, supported families and carers, and the scheme received an award for innovation at the Local Government Chronicle Awards 2024.
  • In May 2024, we signed the Care Leaver Covenant, committing to support care leavers aged 16-25 to live successful lives through supporting housing, employment, and training opportunities. We also introduced Council Tax support for care leavers aged 18-21 and expanded services to improve outcomes and provide stability for care leavers.
  • We have supported 38,700 children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in 2023-24 and have made significant improvements in our SEND services in response to the Ofsted and Care Quality Commission inspection that took place in July 2023. This includes investing in new staff, training programs, and special school places. We have seen progress in assessment timeliness, reduced waiting times for services, and improved quality of Education and Health Care Plans. 

 

Sustainable, responsible growth in our county

  • We spent £91 million on new school buildings, land and modifications in 2023 - 2024.
  • We have reduced our carbon emissions by an estimated 27% since 2019.
  • We are committed to working in partnership to achieve sustainable and responsible growth in Hertfordshire. We work with over 110 strategic partners to achieve the best outcomes for communities.
  • The Hertfordshire Development Quality Charter was launched in September 2023 and aims to set a new standard for sustainable and high-quality development. The Charter has been signed by nine councils and several developers and focuses on improving construction practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve high standards of design and sustainability measures in new buildings.
  • We are working with key partners and landowners to deliver the Hemel Garden Communities programme, which will provide a variety of benefits to Hemel Hempstead. The project is aiming to create 11,000 new homes and 10,000 new jobs in Hemel Hempstead by 2050, focusing on sustainable living with affordable housing, vibrant local centres, green spaces, and improved transport links.

 

Excellent council services for all

  • We supported 80,501 households via the Household Support Fund
  • There have been 2.7 million visits to our libraries in the past year
  • We have delivered more than 1,000 highways improvement and maintenance schemes and have been using innovative solutions to tackle potholes across the county, with 74,000 potholes repaired by our Highways Team in the past year.  We have partnered with the University of Liverpool to trial a road repair robot that uses artificial intelligence to identify and automatically fill road cracks and potholes. We are also using a new product made from recycled tyres to repair holes in a quicker and more environmentally friendly way.
  • Our Adult Care Services received a “Good” rating from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) at the beginning of 2024.
  • Our Hertfordshire School Improvement Strategy 2021 – 2026 focuses on increasing the number of good and outstanding schools and closing the attainment gap for vulnerable groups. 91.9% of our schools are rated as good or outstanding, as of May 2024.
  • In 2023 – 2024, we supported 18,085 young people with education, employment and training through our Services for Young People. 

 

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