The Council’s current arboriculture services contract (a joint contract with Hastings Borough Council (HBC)) was due to expire on 5 November 2022 and the current contractor had declined a two year extension due to increasing costs and profit margins. 

Arboriculture was a specialist field and the current contract incorporated a specification and a schedule of rates per operation plus day works rates.  It was noted that the Council’s responsibility for tree works and tree management was generally limited to trees on land owned by or under control of RDC and included a range of statutory and non-statutory responsibilities.

The existing contract specification of works was considered satisfactory and would require limited modification and updating to ensure that it met the current British Standards for tree works and other current guidance on environmental management.  The current contract also allowed the use of other arboriculture contractors as and when required and this flexibility would be sought in the new contract.  Operational improvements to support the Council’s climate change target of carbon neutrality by 2030 would also be required.

The report set out four options for the future provision of these services, summarised as follows:

i.          Work with HBC and the Procurement Hub to procure and appoint a new contractor based on a similar specification;

ii.         Devolve service to parish and town councils;

iii.         Have informal arrangements with a range of local arboriculture contractors;

iv.        Include arboriculture works within the next grounds maintenance contract due to expire in November 2023 or November 2024, if extended. 

Members were asked to agree that officers pursue Option i. above and continue to work with HBC to appoint a single contractor to provide arboriculture services within the Rother and Hastings local authority areas.  This would provide a focused and unified approach, give the contractor a greater certainty regarding their investment in the services and potentially result in economies of scale and an efficient service to meet the needs of the community.  However, it was anticipated that the cost of a new contract would be 20% higher than the existing costs but these additional costs had been allowed for in the 2022/2023 revenue budget.

RESOLVED: That:

1)         officers work with Hastings Borough Council to jointly procure and appoint an arboriculture services contractor with an estimated annual cost to Rother District Council of £46,000 and as a separate contract to Hastings Borough Council for a term of three years with an option to extend for a further two years; and

2)         delegated authority be granted to the Director – Place and Climate Change, in consultation with the Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Communities, Culture and Tourism, to undertake all necessary actions to appoint an arboriculture services contractor.