Ealing Labour pays contractors for non delivery of tree services again

Ealing Liberal Democrats are very disappointed but not shocked that Ealing Labour have not learned lessons with its contractors.

Some residents have raised concerns of fraud1 by tree care contractors for Ealing Council. Various incidents have been reported by residents including a lack of watering for young trees and some young trees “planted” in sand. It is critical that newly planted trees are watered regularly for the first year, especially in dry summer conditions.

These issues have been raised with local councillors and discussion is ongoing with Ealing officers who undertake due diligence to check that paid for duties have been performed.

The process for recording tree watering across the borough is that the date when trees are watered are written on a post beside it.

There are many incidents of new trees not being watered, witnessed by diligent residents, in a number of areas, who have been monitoring the posts, when such issues are raised by officers with the contractors they are advised that watering has taken place, despite no indication on the posts.

Residents have witnessed back filling of dates on the posts and another resident witnessed just dates being written and no watering taking place.

These most recent concerns, follow on from the sacking of tree contractors in 2022 for under-performance following a substantial number of complaints across most parts of Ealing.

This persistent poor performance and contract management by Ealing Labour is a feature of a complacent local Labour party who have been in control of the council for the last 15 years and yet the borough seems to be degrading instead of improving over time. Ealing Labour rest on their laurels and do not manage value for money. They seem to exist in a persistent financial crisis of their own making despite raising the council tax by the maximum each year.

Liberal Democrat Councillor Gary Busuttil, Opposition Spokesperson on Finance and Council Honesty said: “Sadly for residents, Ealing Labour seems to be repeating its failings time and again with no appropriate oversight or management of contractors resulting in a misuse of public funds which are going to line contractors’ pockets for services they do not provide! This is a scandal of epic proportions especially as our Council Taxes go up every year. Ealing Labour been in for 15 years and things have simply got worse for residents. This is a sign they have failed their residents as they are not getting the basic services like this right.”