Grounds maintenance services

Description

Horsham District Council (HDC) and Mid Sussex District Council (MSDC) invites grounds maintenance and public realm service providers to contribute to a pre-procurement engagement exercise to help shape the future of how these services are delivered. The Councils currently have a number of outsourced contracts in place covering grounds maintenance and arboricultural services and wish to explore options on how best to deliver these in the future. This pre-market engagement event will assist HDC and MSDC in preparing for a procurement exercise during 2021 with the contract commencing in February 2022 (HDC) and June 2022 (MSDC). The pre-market engagement event will take place virtually on 20 January 2021. This will be an opportunity for prospective suppliers to have a one-to-one meeting with Council representatives, which will be focussed on understanding from the supplier’s perspective, the optimum contracting approach the Council could consider. Those organisations who express their interest to procurement@horsham.gov.uk by Tuesday 22 December will be provided with further information and a questionnaire to be completed and submitted by 5 January 2021. The Councils currently have a number of outsourced contracts in place covering grounds maintenance and arboricultural services and wish to explore options on how best to deliver these in the future. This pre-market engagement event will assist HDC and MSDC in preparing for a procurement exercise during 2021 with the contract commencing in February 2022 (HDC) and June 2022 (MSDC). The pre-market engagement event will take place virtually on 20 January 2021. This will be an opportunity for prospective suppliers to have a one-to-one meeting with Council representatives, which will be focussed on understanding from the supplier’s perspective, the optimum contracting approach the Council could consider. Those organisations who express their interest to procurement@horsham.gov.uk by Tuesday 22 December will be provided with further information and a questionnaire to be completed and submitted by 5 January 2021. Contract Background: Mid Sussex District Council are currently exploring models for a new grounds maintenance ‘plus’ contract for all Council-owned green spaces across our district and are exploring the feasibility of combing the following services in on contract; grounds maintenance, play area inspections and maintenance, countryside management, tree inspections and maintenance. At present, the Council have separate contractual arrangements for each service outlined above, operated by several different providers. MSDC aims to procure a single performance-based contract with a provider that shares the visions of the Council, with a view to moving towards a larger public realm contract over the next 10 years However, we are open to reviewing this model in order to achieve efficiencies and high standards. The current average annual expenditure for the works outlined above is c.GBP 800 000. MSDC has a significant public realm asset of around 500 areas of green space (made up of formal recreation grounds, small ‘pocket parks’, five local nature reserves and smaller verge areas), in excess of 50,000 trees and over 120 play areas. Horsham District Council currently has two separate contracts, one for its Grounds Maintenance and another for its Arboriculture works. The Council is reviewing this model and are seeking to achieve efficiencies, sustainable outcomes along with high standards of work. The Council is aiming to be carbon neutral by 2030 and has a partnership with Sussex Wildlife Trust to enhance biodiversity across the District, so we would be keen to reflect these practices within the new contract. The Council has a diverse property portfolio of over 130 separate sites, ranging from a green flag award winning town centre park, to multiple suburban and rural greenspaces, 51 playgrounds, and one active and several closed cemetery (currently managed in-house). The current annual grounds maintenance expenditure is in the region of GBP 245 000 per annum. The Council’s arboricultural service needs to cover planned works as well as a 24/7 emergency capability for the tree works with a budget in the region of GBP 120 000 per annum with a further c.GBP 100 000 allowance for Ash Dieback works, annually for the next 5 years. The current contractual arrangements at both authorities do not facilitate the management of these assets in the most efficient way and we seek to achieve a balance between scheduled works, reactive maintenance and proactive, preventative maintenance and we are open to suggestions from the market on how we may achieve this. Both authorities would expect contractors to manage works in a transparent and open way, using an online, cloud-based system to which we have access. Please note: MSDC and HDC are part of a shared procurement service covering neighbouring Districts and Boroughs and have decided to undertake market engagement in collaboration. It is anticipated that the procurement exercise will be done separately.