For Suffolk County Council to develop an in-house bid for Suffolk Highways maintenance

The Suffolk Green, Lib Dem and Independent Group, the elected opposition at Suffolk County Council, are seeking 3,675 signatures to sign our petition.

£5,000 for a pair of dropped kerbs? £7,500 to cut down a single tree? £10,000 to design four humps in a road (not even to build!)? These are just some of the astonishing quotes Kier charge for Suffolk highways maintenance.

Since 2013, Suffolk County Council have been outsourcing highways maintenance to Kier, an infrastructure company that won a council's contract lasting 10 years. The result of this contract has seen some astronomical prices for small maintenance jobs, meaning your elected councillors, local government, and Suffolk communities all struggle to afford work that is necessary to the safety and maintenance of Suffolk.  

The current contract is now expiring, and Suffolk County Council are now in the process of tendering for a new contract. Before Kier, the Council controlled highways maintenance ‘in-house’, meaning prices were stable and affordable.  

For the new tendering process, Suffolk County Council have failed to provide an 'in-house' bid, meaning any commercial contract won has not been properly benchmarked in terms of cost, and we are in danger of these sky-rocketing prices staying for another decade.  

This petition is to ask that the current tendering process is postponed until Suffolk County Council prepare a fully costed, in-house bid for the Council to take back control of highway maintenance.  

If you've had similar price stories, please leave us a comment... your story may be mentioned in the next Council meeting!

James Sheridan, Suffolk Green, Lib Dem & Independent Group    Contact the author of the petition