Decision details

Resolved

That:

i)             The current grounds maintenance contract be extended for a period of 13 months, to end on 31 January 2022.

Reasons for Recommendations

The current arboriculture contract is due to end on 31 March 2022 and there is no option for extension. There is therefore an opportunity to combine the grounds maintenance contract with the arboriculture contract, through one tender process, in order to achieve the council’s sustainability ambitions and gain efficiencies.

For operational reasons it is less risky to start a new grounds maintenance contract in February 2022 rather than April 2022. Therefore although there will be one procurement process and one resulting contract, the grounds maintenance element will start under the new contract in February 2022, whilst the arboriculture element will start under the same new contract in April 2022. Both elements will finish and will be reviewed again in the future on the same date.