Communal Grounds Maintenance Services

Please ensure that all documents available and information contained in the notice are read before submitting a bid. The successful supplier will be responsible for delivering both Planned Cyclical Services and Reactive Optional Services.

Planned Cyclical Services comprised of: Grass Maintenance (Amenity and Naturalised) including Cutting and Edging; Shrub and Herbaceous Bed Maintenance; Flower and Rose Bed Maintenance (including raised flower beds);Hedge Maintenance; Wildflower; Hard Surface Maintenance; Leaf Clearance; Litter and Debris Removal

which shall vary by season demand and need and could fluctuate according to environmental changes and impacts.

Reactive Optional Services which may include for example: Planting Design, Implementation and Establishment (Bedding, Shrubs, Herbaceous, Hedges, Bulbs); Grass Renovations; Habitat Feature Design, Implementation and Establishment; Demolition Site Ground Maintenance; Scrub Management; Invasive Species Management; Any other work not deemed as a Routine Planned Cyclical Service and is to be carried out on the specific instructions of the Contract Administrator.

A comprehensive review of its current Communal Grounds Maintenance Service provision has been conducted. Following assessments of Customer requirements, supply market engagement and in recognition of the Client’s emerging ESG (Environmental, Social & Governance) and Green Spaces Strategies, we wish to emphasis to potential suppliers that the scope of the Services may continually evolve and may very in requirements over the Contract Period.

The Client’s Sites are currently located in seventeen (17) Local Authority Areas. The majority are in the Borough of Walsall and has a growing portfolio of Sites in other West Midlands Local Authority areas. Whilst the Client anticipates that the Site volumes and geographical area of operation, shall remain fairly static for each financial Year of the Contract Period, the Client’s portfolio of Premises and associated green space Sites may change by individual Premise and by block as a result of:

a) decreases/increases - disposal or Premise/Site transfer; b) increase in portfolio of the Client’s Premises (new Premises/Sites being on-boarded); c) regeneration/ re-purposing, particularly the change in application/use of Sites in respect of the Client’s green space strategy

The Client, as a landlord, has a duty to maintain the communal green space areas it owns and/or manages surrounding and in close proximity to its Premises comprising of high rise and low rise blocks, well-being schemes, whg head office and bungalow sites

The Supplier will be responsible for delivery of both Routine Planned Cyclical Services and Reactive Optional Services as detailed below:

Routine Planned Cyclical Services

• Grass Maintenance (Amenity and Naturalised) Including Cutting and Edging
• Shrub and Herbaceous Bed Maintenance
• Flower and Rose Bed Maintenance (including raised flower beds)
• Hedge Maintenance
• Wildflower Meadow Maintenance
• Hard Surface Maintenance
• Leaf clearance
• Litter and Debris Removal

which shall vary by season demand and need and could fluctuate according to

environmental changes and impacts.

Reactive Optional Services, which may include for example:

• Planting Design, Implementation and Establishment (Bedding, Shrubs, Herbaceous, Hedges, Bulbs)
• Grass Renovations
• Habitat Feature Design, Implementation and Establishment
• Demolition Site Ground Maintenance
• Scrub Management
• Invasive Species Management
• Any other tasks not deemed as a Routine Planned Cyclical Service and is to be carried out on the specific instructions of the Contract Administrator.

For Communal Grounds Maintenance Services, please refer to section 5.0 in the ITT for Instructions to Potential Suppliers & Conditions of Participation'. The Authority is managing this procurement process through the whg Pro-Contract “Housing Procurement Portal” https://www.housingprocurement.com/. Technical issues should be reported to https://suppliersupport.proactisservicedesk.com/ or [email protected].

The contract is expected to commence on 1st April 2025 and will be for a period of four (4) years until 31st March 2029, with the option to extend, subject to satisfactory performance and in line with the contract conditions, for up to a further four (4) years until 31st March 2033.

The successful bidder will be expected to obtain the following insurances if not already held:

Employer’s Liability: £10m; Public Liability: £10m; Product Liability: £10m; Professional Indemnity: £2m.

The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) is likely to apply to the Contract. The incumbent supplier has advised that it does apply.

Where a potential supplier fails Part 2 of the Selection Questionnaire for Mandatory and Discretionary Exclusion Criteria, or Part 3, this shall result in their tender submission being rejected and the remainder of their submission shall not be evaluated. The Authority will advise the potential supplier that their tender has been excluded.

Section 6 in the ITT explains fully the evaluation process that will be undertaken for this procedure.