Decision details

Proposed decision:

To procure and delegate authority to the Corporate Director for Growth, Environment and Transport to award and enter into appropriate contractual arrangements for the provision of Emergency Tree Works including any potential extension periods, and to take any further decisions or actions necessary to deliver the contract

Reason for the decision

The Council has a legal duty to keep roads and pavements clear of vegetation for safe passage of highway users. The main service areas within this contract comprise of clearing felled trees, most notably in adverse weather conditions.

The existing contract (SC21010) is currently operating under an 18-month extension period, which commenced in November 2024 and will conclude on the 31st March 2026.

The services will need to be commissioned externally to ensure the Council meets its statutory obligations.

Background

The proposed Highway Emergency Tree Works Contract enables the procurement and delivery of emergency response specialist tree surgery teams to attend at short notice on a 24/7 basis. Emergency type response times will include 2 hour and 24-hour requirement. Suppliers will be required to provide suitably qualified staff and have access to the necessary specialised equipment to be able to remove fallen trees and branches from causing an obstruction to the highway.

There is no programmed works included, and work volumes are dictated by the weather and where emergency situations occur. This varies from year to year and is largely dependent on the prevailing weather and storm events.

Lotting

To enable delivery across the County the following lots are being sought:

-      Lot 1 (West) - Dartford, Gravesham, Maidstone, Sevenoaks, Tonbridge & Malling and Tunbridge Wells  

-      Lot 2 (East) - Ashford, Canterbury, Dover, Folkestone & Hythe, Swale and Thanet

-      There will be provision in the Contract to allow Medway to be added subject to future Local Government Reorganisation (LGR).

How the proposed decision supports the KCC Strategic Statement

This proposal is aligned with the council’s strategic statement and direction of the emerging 'Reforming Kent' agenda

-      This contract will focus on collecting data through a Tree Failure Database which will allow measures to be taken to reduce costs through recharging private owners and informing tree owners of their responsibilities to regularly inspect trees. This will reduce the occurrence of tree failures and limit the Councils liabilities.

Financial Implications

Contracts have been linked to the GM87 indices over the course of the contract, so prices have been maintained in line with the prevailing inflation rate. A competitive procurement process will appoint the best value contractor from the tenders submitted.

The overall spend for this contract is gradually rising as a result of an increase in severe weather events and diseases such as Ash Die back becoming more prevalent but also because of inflation. These factors have contributed to the average spend on the Contract going from £338k/pa in 2021 to £544k/pa in 2024.This is currently funded through the highway’s emergency budget with major named storm events being funded through one off corporate reserves.

There are no programmed works included, and work volumes are dictated by the weather and where emergency situations occur. This varies from year to year and is largely dependent on the prevailing weather and major storm events.

Due to the unknown nature of the service the published value of works will be set to £1.5m per year to provide contractual headroom. This will allow for inflation, unpredictable major weather events and the contracts use by other Council teams.

As Cabinet Member for Highways & Transport, I agree to give: 

1. APPROVAL to procure and award a new Emergency Tree Works contract for up to five years with an opportunity to extend this for up to three further years,

2. DELEGATE authority to the Director of Highways and Transport to take relevant actions to facilitate the required procurement activity,

3. DELEGATE authority to the Corporate Director of Growth, Economy and Transport, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport to take relevant actions including but not limited to awarding, finalising the terms of and entering into the relevant contracts or other legal agreements, as necessary, to implement the decision and

4. DELEGATE authority to the Corporate Director of Growth, Economy and Transport, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, to award extensions of the contract in accordance with the relevant clauses within the contract.