§ Mr. GouldTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what initial screening of companies seeking to tender for the maintenance of any of the royal parks took place on grounds of a horticultural quality threshold or the company's financial position;
(2) what account he has taken of the experience of individual local councils who have awarded horticultural contracts to a prospective tendering company, in drawing up short lists for maintenance of the royal parks.
§ Mr. Heseltine[holding answer 16 January 1992]: Companies wishing to tender for garden and landscape maintenance work in the royal parks were asked to complete a pre-tender questionnaire providing details of their company finances and their contracts. This information, together with assessments of the horticultural quality of their current work by site visits and the financial viability of each company, was then considered in drawing up a short list of tenderers for each park. The experience of individual local authorities has been a relevant factor in drawing up these short lists of tenderers for garden and landscape work in the royal parks.
§ Mr. GouldTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will disqualify any contractors proposing staffing levels signficantly below the minimum staffing levels for maintenance recommended in the 1989 consultants' report from bidding for the maintenance contract of St. James's park.
§ Mr. Heseltine[holding answer 16 January 1992]: No. But my Department has satisfied itself that the chosen contractor will employ enough skilled and unskilled operatives to tend the gardens and grounds to our high standards—and indeed to improve on our present standards in certain respects.