Council ends contract after lengthy delays to home works
Renfrewshire Council have ended their contract with Bell Group
- Published
Renfrewshire Council has ended a contract with a major property services contractor after just one year, claiming the company's performance fell short of expectations.
Bell Group was appointed by the local authority in October 2024 to deliver a programme of kitchen, bathroom and rewiring works across 158 homes.
But work has only been completed in under half of the homes and has taken "unacceptable periods of time".
The company said the decision to end the contract had been reached by mutual agreement.
A letter from the council's housing project manager was sent to elected members last week regarding the end of the contract.
It stated: "Communication from this contractor has been poor, as has the coordination of their trades.
"This has resulted in unacceptable excessive periods of time being taken to complete works in customers' homes.
"Efforts have been made by the council to bring about improvements in Bell Group's performance, however, these have proved unsuccessful."
A spokesperson for the council said the local authority had "expressed its dissatisfaction" to Bell Group and sent letters to those affected to explain the circumstances.
The spokesperson added that work was only completed in 75 out of 158 homes.
The council said the remaining 35 kitchen replacements would be carried out through its building services team.
Meanwhile, a new investment programme, which the council is currently tendering for, should see the other outstanding work begin in February.
A Bell Group spokesperson said it had delivered a number of community benefits during the contract, including litter picks and a food bank donation as well as handing out paint and recycled laptops to organisations in Renfrewshire.
They added: "Renfrewshire Council opted to end their contract with Bell Group, a decision both parties arrived at mutually.
"That being said, we are proud of the 100 per cent KPI (key performance indicator) scores achieved across various metrics including H&S and quality for the duration of the contract."