Decision

Following a formal tendered quotation process to approve the appointment of Cambs Gritting as the Winter Maintenance Service Contractor to undertake the recommended gritting works for FDC owned or managed car parks for the 2026/2027 winter period.

Six winter gritting service providers were invited to provide a quotation following a pre-tender inquiry process.

Five service providers returned quotations, and one declined to price.

Decision

It is recommended that approval be granted to appoint Cambs Gritting as the Contractor to undertake the winter gritting maintenance across FDC owned or managed car parks for the 2026/2027 winter period.

Reasons for the decision

Whilst it is not law to grit public car parks specifically it is a legal and legislative requirement to ensure car parks are safe and suitably maintained in accordance with broader health and safety legislation and to reduce the liability for the Council who have a duty of care.

As such the Council has been undertaking winter gritting services within its car parks for more than 25 years and an annual budget is allocated specially for this purpose.

Winter service provision costs are sought each year from suitable service providers.

Grit runs are triggered when the road surface temperature is predicted to drop to 0? C or below or following an officer request due to usual weather patterns. The actual number of grit runs shall be informed by real time weather data and weather forecasts which historically have varied each year between 20 to 40 runs.

Alternative options considered

There would be no alternative option to providing winter gritting services due to the potential health & safety and liability risk to the Council.

The Council could choose to close car parks during unprecedented weather events but to date this has not been necessary.