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Agenda item

Pest Control Contract

Minutes:

The Interim Chief Officer – Finance, Performance and Change presented a report which provided the background, current position and options to determine the preferred way forward in terms of a pest control service.

 

She explained that BCBC currently had a contract in place which provided a free of charge service for domestic pest control, which covered rats, mice, bed bugs and cockroaches. BCBC currently only charged for services to remove flees and wasps.

 

The Interim Chief Officer – Finance, Performance and Change stated that the current contract, which commenced in 2017 provided by the company Rentokil, was due to expire in April 2021.

 

The Interim Chief Officer – Finance, Performance and Change explained that the current contract was somewhat unpopular with residents as had been indicated from surveys that had been conducted. She explained that when the contractor was called out, they aimed to arrive within 3 days. This had resulted in 40% aborted calls.

 

The Interim Chief Officer – Finance, Performance and Change provided figures relating to the Local Authorities in Wales and what pest control services they provided, with details of these shown at paragraph 3.4 of the report.

 

She also provided figures on the public consultation that took place in 2019 which obtained views on budget reduction proposals. These were detailed at paragraph 3.5 of the report.

 

The Interim Chief Officer – Finance, Performance and Change explained that there had been increased requests for pest control provision particularly since Covid-19 lockdown on 23rd March 2020. These had increased by around 47%, which could be expected with more residents working from home.

 

The Interim Chief Officer – Finance, Performance and Change provided 3 options which were outlined in the table at 4.6 of the report, with the following costs/savings to be expected:

 

Recovery charge

Cost of

Service

Potential

Income

Net cost to

BCBC

50/50 proportionate split

£95,000

£71,250

£23,750

80/20 split in favour of concessionary

charges

£95,000

£57,000

£38,000

 

The Interim Chief Officer – Finance, Performance and Change stated that it was recommended not to proceed with option 3 as this incurred the highest cost to the authority and would need to be funded from the core Council budget. She added that Option 1 and Option 2 entailed a change in service provision and was therefore subject to public consultation, which would take 12 weeks to complete.

 

The Interim Chief Officer – Finance, Performance and Change explained that to ensure service continuity in the meantime it was proposed that Cabinet suspend the relevant parts of the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules requiring a competitive procurement exercise and agree to enter into a short-term contract of 6 months with the current pest control service provider Rentokil. She advised that this proposal breached the requirements of the Public Contract Regulations 2015 and required Cabinet’s approval to set aside the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules.

 

The Cabinet Member - Wellbeing and Future Generations explained that the service was earmarked as a potential saving as part of the MTFS, however it did appear to be a popular service overall despite the point covered about the long call out time.

 

The Cabinet Member - Wellbeing and Future Generations asked if there were other options available that could see elements of the listed options. She explained that an option that covered free call outs for rats only could be considered, as this covered the majority of pest control call outs.

 

The Cabinet Member - Social Services and Early Help shared similar views as the cabinet member and explained that the rat population appeared to have increased in recent months, particularly as restaurants had closed and their food source in town centres had diminished. She stated that residents were apprehensive about reporting about rats as they did not want to take ownership of the problem and therefore potentially incur a charge. The Cabinet Member - Social Services and Early Help felt that this would further cause issues on reporting a problem if a charge were in place for this.

 

The Cabinet Member - Education and Regeneration agreed that the options listed did not cover the issues that the cabinet members and the public have faced as well as the possible consideration of a hybrid option.

 

The Deputy Leader asked what scope option 2 in the report allowed for.

The Interim Chief Officer – Finance, Performance and Change explained that further consultation could be undertaken with providers as well as Local Authorities to determine what other options could be provided.

 

The Leader commented that sometimes infestation issues were as a result of other environmental health issues. He agreed that more information on how other Local Authorities dealt with these issues and how the Shared Regulatory Services delivered these services to Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan, was required.

 

RESOLVED:                      That Cabinet:

 

  • Agreed to explore further avenues with the Shared Regulatory Services (who provide pest control support to Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan Councils) on possible other alternative options to pursue with regards to Pest Control to those identified in the report.

 

  • Approved the suspension of the relevant parts of the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules in respect of the requirement as to re-tendering and authorise the Interim Chief Officer – Finance, Performance and Change to enter into a short-term contract of 6 months with the current pest control service provider Rentokil.

 

Supporting documents:

 

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