In a meeting held on Tuesday, the Hertfordshire County Council Cabinet approved the launch of the Local Nature Recovery Strategy in January 2026 and endorsed a partnership approach to its delivery. They also reviewed the financial budget monitor for quarter two of the 2025/26 financial year, agreeing to a capital reprogramming of £28.4 million and a £847,000 transfer from the Adult Care Services Day Services Transformation budget to the Adult Care Services Relocation of Day Opportunities Services. Finally, the Cabinet agreed to declare the residual land at The Valley School in Stevenage as surplus to requirements and available for disposal.

Local Nature Recovery Strategy

The Cabinet approved the public launch of the Hertfordshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) in January 2026 and endorsed the partnership approach to its delivery.

The LNRS is Hertfordshire's first spatial plan for nature and biodiversity, identifying opportunities for habitat creation, species recovery, and nature-based solutions. It was developed collaboratively by the Hertfordshire Nature Recovery Partnership, led by Hertfordshire County Council as the Responsible Authority, and is presented as an interactive, web-based strategy with GIS¹ mapping and supporting resources.

Councillor Adrian England, Executive member for Sustainability, stated that the LNRS isn't intended to be a document that will sit unused, but rather an active that the kickstart for a really active approach to addressing nature recovery. He also noted that the partnership includes farmer clusters and major land managers across Hertfordshire.

Councillor England congratulated Mark and the team on the Hertfordshire consultation process, which he said had attracted more landowner nominated sites for inclusion than any other one to date. He also expressed his hope that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) would secure more funding for the project.

Councillor Sally Symington, Deputy Leader of the Council; Executive member for Adult Care Services; Chair Health & Well-being Board; Vice-Chair Employment Committee, asked whether the Chiltern Conservation Board had been involved, and was assured that they had been heavily involved on the land manager side and in providing expert opinion on species.

Councillor Steve Jarvis, Leader of the Council; Chair Employment Committee, noted the importance of implementation and the partnership role in delivering change, and emphasised the need to ensure that everyone is aware of the strategy and implementation plan.

Finance Budget Monitor

The Cabinet reviewed the Finance Budget Monitor for Quarter 2 of the 2025/26 financial year and approved a capital reprogramming of £28.4 million and a £847,000 transfer from the Adult Care Services Day Services Transformation budget to the Adult Care Services Relocation of Day Opportunities Services.

Councillor Chris Lucas, Executive member for Resources and Performance, reported that the council is forecasting a £6.2 million overspend against a net revenue budget of £1.2 billion, which he said was considerably better than where we were this time last year . He also highlighted pressures on the high needs block², with an in-year deficit of almost £11 million, which will be cumulative to £88.5 million by year end. The key drivers for this are more educational health and care plans³, higher complexity costs within the mainstream, education other than at school (EOTAS)⁴ overspend, and post-16 provision overspend.

Councillor Anthony Rowlands, Executive member for Children's Social Care, offered an explanation for the increase in spending on children looked after, stating that the council is seeing an increase in children looked after numbers this year, particularly amongst younger children, where there are significant complexities for families impacted by mental health, domestic abuse and substance use. He also noted that there has been a significant increase in children being placed in long-term kinship care arrangements, with 170 children living in kinship foster care arrangements in October 2025, a 69% increase since October 2023.

Councillor Jarvis welcomed the improvements in terms of number of adoptions and kinship care, noting that it will provide better outcomes for the children who are concerned.

The Cabinet approved the proposed capital reprogramming of £28.4 million and the proposed virement⁵ of £874,000 for adult care services day services transformation budget, and the adult care services relocation of day opportunity services.

Future of Residual Land at The Valley School, Stevenage

The Cabinet agreed that the residual land at The Valley School be declared surplus to requirements and available for disposal, and that the terms of disposal of the site be delegated to the Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director for Resources in consultation with the Executive Member for Resources and Performance.

Councillor Lucas reported that the Resources and Performance Cabinet Panel had agreed that, in line with the new administration's stated ambitions to dispose of surplus assets and reinvest the revenues back into Hertfordshire County Council (HCC), the residual land at The Valley School be declared surplus, and that the Executive Director for Resources and Performance be instructed to dispose of the land at the earliest juncture.