Issue - items at meetings - Legal Services – Orbis Public Law

Report of the Head of Legal & Democratic Services (copy attached).

That the Committee agrees:

1)           To the creation of a new Legal Services partnership arrangement between Brighton & Hove City Council, East Sussex County Council, Surrey County Council and West Sussex County Council to be known as Orbis Public Law with effect from 1 April 2016, subject to due diligence.

2)           That a Business Case be developed for an Alternative Business Structure, in the form of a Limited Company approved by the Solicitor Regulation Authority, and to delegate authority to the Chief Executive, after consultation with the Monitoring Officer, the Section 151 Officer and the Head of HR, to establish such an ABS if he considers it appropriate.

3)           To delegate authority to the Chief Executive to take any action necessary or incidental to the implementation of the above including (but not limited to) agreeing and entering into the Articles of Association, shareholder agreement and an Inter Authority Agreement between the partner authorities

That the Committee recommends to Council:

4)           The establishment of a Joint Committee as the governing body for Orbis Public Law to oversee the discharge of the Council’s Legal Services function;

5)           To agree the attached Terms of Reference (appendix 2) for the Joint Committee and to appoint Councillor Les Hamilton, Deputy Chair of P&R and Lead Member for Finance & Resources, to be a Member of the Joint Committee.

107.1    The Committee considered a report of the Head of Legal & Democratic Services in relation to Orbis Public Law – Proposals for the Establishment of a Shared Legal Service. The report set out the proposals for the development of a shared legal service between Brighton & Hove City Council, East Sussex County Council, West Sussex County Council and Surrey County Council called ‘Orbis Public Law’. The report also sought authority for the implementation of the proposals including the establishment of a company, subject to proper due diligence.

107.2    Councillor Janio stated that the authority had an excellent legal department and he was of the view that the better option would be to retain and strengthen the dedicated in-city service. The Chair noted that the proposals in the report would strengthen the service through increased resilience.

107.3    In response to concerns raised by Councillor Sykes the Head of Law explained that the Orbis model would increase the recruitment power of the body, as practising public sector law had become less attractive in recent years, by providing ‘branded recognition’ and economies of scale. Orbis Public Law would also create increased capacity as it would be able to call on the resources of other authorities and provide the potential to further grow the service. The Head of Law also added that, whilst the details of Orbis needed to be worked through in full, the option to progress this course of action had been the unanimous view of the management team within the department when all the options in the report had been explored.

107.4    The Chief Executive provided further assurance, explaining that, as with all modernisation programmes taking place, there was an expectation that investment would be needed to ensure these ventures were meaningful. In relation to the governance arrangements it was also clarified that Brighton & Hove would be joining as an equal partner, the authority would also retain the right to withdraw if due diligence was not met.

107.5    The Chair added that the authority was looking at many ways to delivery services differently, and it was hoped that the assurance provided by the Chief Executive and the Head of Law would be sufficient for the Committee to give its support to the proposals.

107.6    The Chair then put the recommendation to the vote.

107.7    RESOLVED - That the Committee agrees:

1)        To the creation of a new Legal Services partnership arrangement between Brighton & Hove City Council, East Sussex County Council, Surrey County Council and West Sussex County Council to be known as Orbis Public Law with effect from 1 April 2016, subject to due diligence.

2)        That a Business Case be developed for an Alternative Business Structure, in the form of a Limited Company approved by the Solicitor Regulation Authority, and to delegate authority to the Chief Executive, after consultation with the Monitoring Officer, the Section 151 Officer and the Head of HR, to establish such an ABS if he considers it appropriate.

3)        To delegate authority to the Chief Executive to take any action necessary or incidental to the implementation of the above including (but not limited to) agreeing and entering into the Articles of Association, shareholder agreement and an Inter Authority Agreement between the partner authorities

107.8    RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND - That Council agrees:

4)        To the establishment of a Joint Committee as the governing body for Orbis Public Law to oversee the discharge of the Council’s Legal Services function;

5)        To agree the attached Terms of Reference (appendix 2) for the Joint Committee and to appoint Councillor Les Hamilton, Deputy Chair of the Policy & Resources Committee and Lead Member for Finance & Resources, to be a Member of the Joint Committee.