Under fire grass cutting firm gets Highland Council contract renewed

A GRASS cutting firm that let the grass to grow knee-high in some parks and cemeteries this summer has secured a year-long extension to its Highland Council contract.

ISS Facility Services Landscaping had to spend £40,000 to shape up its service after the council received thousands of complaints about the poor standard of grass cutting.

But the firm, which is understood to be only "partly to blame" for the failings, has managed to regain the confidence of the local authority after turning things around in short notice.

Dingwall and Seaforth Highland councillor Graham Mackenzie, who chairs community services, told members this week that stretching the contract by an extra 12 months to March 2016 would save money and give the authority time to decide how grass cutting services should be managed in the future.

He said: "This is the third year of a three-year contract with ISS and the first two years passed off reasonably successfully. We would like to roll that contract on one year to give our service time for a root and branch assessment and assess every aspect of the grass cutting service we provide."

Members agreed with the move but Donald Mackay, independent councillor for Thurso, urged the committee to press the council for better equipment for its in-house grass cutting team.

"Here in Caithness the guys have not got the right machines on the job," he claimed. "I hope that when we go into a new season that will be looked at because it’s not the men’s fault. It’s the machines that were bought by the council."

Council workers still cut grass in some areas. ISS covers Mid and West Ross, Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey, Lochaber and Skye.

The council out-sourced grass cutting in 2011, saving about £600,000.

The multi-million pound agreement put the onus on the council to monitor the service and provide feedback to ISS. But earlier this summer it emerged the council’s inspection methods were so muddled it was difficult to tell whether ISS was delivering a sterling or a second-rate service. And when residents complained, the council’s monitoring officers were unable to target those towns with more frequent inspections due to inadequacies with data management.

Richard Evans, the council’s new head of roads and transport, who manages the grass maintenance services, said his team was working hard but was staffed by only three individuals who were tasked to monitor the whole of the Highlands.

Councillors learned this week that steps are in place to improve monitoring.

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