Agenda item

To provide information to Members on the results of the grounds maintenance options appraisal undertaken, and to consider a recommendation to Cabinet from the Joint Meeting of Environment, and Rural and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committees.

The Joint Meeting will take place on 6 February 2023, after the publication of this agenda so the results of that meeting will be reported to Cabinet at their meeting on 7 February 2023.

Note:  Councillor Adam Stokes left the Council Chamber for the duration of this item as he was a Director of EnvironmentSK Ltd.

Purpose of report

To provide information to Members on the results of the grounds maintenance options appraisal undertaken, and in consideration of the results consider recommendations from the Joint Meeting of the Environment and Rural and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committees.

Decision

That Cabinet:

1.    Approves the insourcing of the Council’s grounds maintenance service back to South Kesteven District Council as soon as possible.

2.    Is mindful that the replacement of handheld kit for Grounds Maintenance should be electric, green and does not use fossil fuels.

3.    Approves that the insourcing takes place as soon as possible in 2023/2024 following a TUPE consultation.

4.    Approves the proposed changes to the grounds maintenance specification (as detailed in Appendix Two, Amended Grounds Maintenance Specification and Associated Savings) are adopted from 1 April 2023.

5.    Approves the integration of an insourced grounds maintenance service with Street Scene and the Big Clean Team, such integration taking place as soon as possible during financial year 2023/2024.

6.    Approves the dissolution of the Council’s wholly owned companies EnvironmentSK Ltd. and EnvironmentSK Commercial Services Ltd. at the earliest opportunity.

Alternative options considered and rejected

A full explanation of the options considered was provided within the committee report.

Reason for decisions

Three options had previously been agreed to form the basis of an options appraisal, these being:

·       To retain the services of EnvironmentSK

·       To secure an external provider under a contract arrangement

·       To insource the grounds maintenance service, to include integration with wider Council services

Insourcing the grounds maintenance service would provide the Council with full operational control over how the service was delivered. The service could be increased or reduced in line with service requirements, whilst taking account of seasonal fluctuations, without incurring any contractual penalties or additional costs.

The timeline for the service to be insourced would need to be identified in line with the Council’s obligations relating to the transfer of employees under Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) regulations. In addition to the necessary TUPE consultation with the current employees of EnvironmentSK Ltd. an integration of the insourced service and Street Scene would also require consultation with the existing Council employees. In line with Council procedures, affected employees would be fully consulted on the proposed changes to their employment with support from the Council’s HR team.

TUPE Regulations provide that transferring employees transfer to a new employer on their existing terms and conditions, their length of service also being protected. However, receiving employers can propose to make changes to the employees’ terms and conditions if these represent an improvement, and if the employees are fully consulted and agree to the proposed changes.

Options were being explored to introduce charging for HRA assisted gardens and communal area maintenance. Any changes proposed to the service would require full consultation with the Council’s tenants.

The savings identified from insourcing the grounds maintenance service included harmonisation of the transferring employees onto Council terms and conditions.  This includes adopting Council pay grades, a reduction in the weekly hours worked from 40 to 37, and an increased holiday allowance. The transferring employees would also benefit for being able to join the Local Government Pension Scheme. As well as ensuring they are remunerated and rewarded appropriately for their work, this will also aid the recruitment and retention of staff which has proved difficult in the past.

A realistic timeline would be to have the service insourced by 1 May 2023 and fully integrated with Street Scene by 1 June 2023. To date efficiencies have

been identified in relation to:

·       A reduction in the number of vehicles required

·       Workforce efficiencies, a larger team would provide flexibility and avoid a reliance on temporary seasonal staff and agency workers

·       Enhanced training for the team could negate the use of tree specialists for smaller tree works

·       Opportunities around commercialisation of services

The current budget for Street Scene and Big Clean was £1.4m. Financial modelling undertaken to date had established that a prudent annual saving of £200,000 would be achieved with the integration of Street Scene and the Big Clean Team into an insourced grounds maintenance service. The exact level of savings would need to be assessed for financial year 2023/24 depending on when the insourcing and integration was completed.

EnvironmentSK Ltd. currently undertake work for Parish Councils within the District, with the contracts being renewed on an annual basis. Quotes had already been generated to customers for financial year 2023/24; the Council would engage with the Parish Councils to honour the work at the price quoted.

Together with the savings previously identified in relation to insourcing the grounds maintenance service, a total projected annual saving of £352,000 could be achieved from an integration of the services.

The Joint Meeting of the Environment and Rural and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committees, held on 6 February 2023 considered the future arrangements of the Grounds Maintenance service. This was a high-profile service, and residents would expect a high level of provision. There was healthy discussion, questioning, and good examples of scrutiny in action. The Joint Meeting proposed recommendations 1 and 2 above.