Council to take grass cutting service in-house
3rd November 2016
Amenity Services including Grass cutting for The Highland Council will be provided by an in-house service from the beginning of the financial year 2017/18.
Members of the Council's Community Services Committee have agreed to establish an in-house operation with a revised management structure and new performance management system.
The current cost of providing grass cutting services throughout the Highlands is £2.393 million, included in an overall Grounds Maintenance budget of £4.2 million.
An options analysis considered by Members identified that grass cutting can be delivered in-house at a similar cost and level of service as outsourcing - with improvements in productivity, and working practices using improved and efficient plant and technology.
Chair of the Community Services Committee, Cllr Allan Henderson said: "Members have unanimously welcomed the decision to re-establish our grass cutting service in-house. I would like to thank staff for the speed with which this report has been brought back to committee for Members' consideration.
"The decision to provide an in-house service will allow the Council to respond with more flexibility to changing local, national, and council priorities. The new performance management system that will be put in place will also allow better scrutiny and decision making of Amenity Services throughout our region.
“Members also welcomed the potential benefits to local economies from in-house winter services as research has shown that for every £1 spent by the Council can generate £1.64 through employment and supply chains."
Related Businesses
Related Articles
Today, Morrison Construction introduced some of their local apprentices who are working on the UK Governments' Levelling Up Funded refurbishment project at the Northern Meeting Park in Inverness. All these apprentices have been recruited from the Highland area.
The by-election to elect a councillor to represent Ward 19 - Inverness South on The Highland Council has been won by Duncan Cameron McDonald - Independent who was one of the eight candidates who contested the vacancy. Voters in the ward went to the poll yesterday (Thursday 11 April) and the by-election count was held this morning in The Highland Council Headquarters in Inverness.
The Technology Placement Programme offers funding to businesses in the Highland Council area to cover up to 70% of the cost of employing a student or graduate. The Technology Placement Programme offers funding to businesses in the Highland Council area to cover up to 70% of the cost of employing a student or graduate.
Following the success of its Business Digital Grant scheme launched last year, The Highland Council is delighted to announce further funding. This is to help Highland companies access digital support alongside other business growth support.
The Highland Council is delighted to confirm a highly successful second year for Public Service Obligation (PSO) flights between Wick and Aberdeen. The period from April 2023 to March 2024 has seen a substantial increase in passenger numbers, with several months seeing over 1,000 passengers using the service, and overall the service has seen year on year growth of 25%.
Members of Highland Council, who met on Thursday 14 March 2024, approved a corporate Digital Ambition, which has been designed to deliver significant organisational change across Council services, recognising the current priorities within the organisation. The Strategy, which is embedded within the wider Council Delivery Plan, has been developed to focus attention and resources on areas of change which will deliver the greatest benefit to the Council.
The Council remains committed to supporting mentoring in our schools, including the support that is currently delivered through the MCR Pathways programme. Highland Council is currently undertaking a review of Employability Support provided by a number of different council services and how these relate to the work carried out by external partners and in our schools.
Highland Council members have considered and agreed a revised draft Highland Outcome Improvement Plan. The partnership plan has been reviewed and updated by the Community Planning Partnership.
Members at today's (14 March 2024) meeting of The Highland Council agreed the local authority's new draft Community Wealth Building Strategy. They were also asked to note that a period of public engagement on the draft will now begin, with a final strategy returning to full Council for consideration in September.
Plans to invest up to £60m new Capital in Highland roads and infrastructure have been approved by Members at the Council meeting on 14 March 2024. The decision will see an additional £40m Capital investment in roads and transport infrastructure.