Scrutiny review - Grounds maintenance

We’re pleased to say that our customer-led Scrutiny Team has now completed its second review of our services.

The focus of this review was grounds maintenance, which is a vital aspect of our operations.

To start the review process, the Scrutiny Team had a presentation from Paul Veni, Head of Planned Works, and Chris Scott, Estate Contracts Manager. Following this, the team requested information from us, including contract specifications, a colleague job description, team structure charts and complaints information to help them gain a better understanding of our service.

The team was also keen to meet with an officer in the Estates Team to ask some questions to help them gain a deeper understanding of the service.

Armed with all the information, the Scrutiny Team quickly picked up on some suggested improvements for the service and completed the report of recommendations, which was sent to our Customer Forum for review. This has also been provided to Paul and Chris, who’ll confirm which recommendations can be implemented and advise on the likely timescales for this.

We’re pleased to be able to share the recommendations made by the Scrutiny Team. You can find these in the below news story.

We’re now monitoring the implementation of these recommendations, and we’ll update the page with the progress being made following this review.

We take our customer-led Scrutiny Team’s feedback very seriously and are continuously striving to improve our services to better meet our customers’ needs. We thank all members of the Scrutiny Team for their valuable insights, and we’re committed to implementing the recommendations as quickly as possible to enhance our grounds maintenance services.

If you’re interested in helping to improve our grounds maintenance service, another way of doing this is by signing up to be a green inspector. You can do so by clicking here.

We’re pleased to say that our customer-led Scrutiny Team has now completed its second review of our services.

The focus of this review was grounds maintenance, which is a vital aspect of our operations.

To start the review process, the Scrutiny Team had a presentation from Paul Veni, Head of Planned Works, and Chris Scott, Estate Contracts Manager. Following this, the team requested information from us, including contract specifications, a colleague job description, team structure charts and complaints information to help them gain a better understanding of our service.

The team was also keen to meet with an officer in the Estates Team to ask some questions to help them gain a deeper understanding of the service.

Armed with all the information, the Scrutiny Team quickly picked up on some suggested improvements for the service and completed the report of recommendations, which was sent to our Customer Forum for review. This has also been provided to Paul and Chris, who’ll confirm which recommendations can be implemented and advise on the likely timescales for this.

We’re pleased to be able to share the recommendations made by the Scrutiny Team. You can find these in the below news story.

We’re now monitoring the implementation of these recommendations, and we’ll update the page with the progress being made following this review.

We take our customer-led Scrutiny Team’s feedback very seriously and are continuously striving to improve our services to better meet our customers’ needs. We thank all members of the Scrutiny Team for their valuable insights, and we’re committed to implementing the recommendations as quickly as possible to enhance our grounds maintenance services.

If you’re interested in helping to improve our grounds maintenance service, another way of doing this is by signing up to be a green inspector. You can do so by clicking here.

  • Scrutiny review recommendations

    Our Scrutiny Team have now completed their review and recommendations on how the feel we can improve the service. The below table shows their recommendations and the progress made so far. This will be updated regularly so keep checking in to see how we're getting on.

    Recommendation Progress Update
    Longhurst Group determines as to whether future contracts should be performance or frequency based.
    Complete

    The new contract confirms the frequency and performance level that’s expected of the new contractors.

    The new contract will provide two visits per month between March and October and one a month between November and February.
    Best parts of contracts to be used to formulate a model contract for all Longhurst Group regions.
    Complete

    The new contracts take into account what worked well from previous contracts and customer feedback on the service.

    The new contract is far more expansive than any previous service provision and also adopts new environmental processes.
    Task frequencies between regional contracts should be aligned.
    Complete
    		 This has been brought in line in the new contracts and now the same service provision and specification is offered across all regions and tenures.
    Consideration to be given to incorporating financial penalties into contracts.
    Complete
    		 Each month the contractor will be required to provide an application for payment. This is backed up by evidence of attendance and what work has been completed. The application will be reviewed by the Estates Team. Once reviewed and approved, the invoice will be submitted. If a site isn’t attended to then payment won’t be made.
    Additional monitoring facilities required.
    Complete
    		 The Estates Team will have access to a live portal so we can see photographic evidence of the work completed. The contractors’ supervisors and members of the Estates Team will also complete audits both jointly and independently, which will be recorded.
    Provide an up to date database of grounds maintenance plots and measurements. Determine procedures for updating this as changes occur and affect variations to the contract.
    Complete
    		 Site maps are stored centrally. They’re continually reviewed and updated by the Estates Team following site inspections and visits.
    Active customer involvement be given to the procurement process and awarding of future grounds maintenance contracts.
    Complete
    		 The procurement exercise has now been completed and customers have been involved in various ways including using Scrutiny Team recommendations, surveying customers to feed into the specification, creating a customer Evaluation Panel to score bidding contractors and attend the interview stage. More information on this can be found here.
Page last updated: 23 Jul 2024, 10:37 AM