Brighton & Hove City Council - Agenda item - Operational Arrangements 2019/20

Report of the Chair, Greater Brighton Officer Programme Board

1) Agree and secure the budgetary contributions, as amended, sought to fund the cost of running the Board and delivering its workplan in 2019/20;

2) Note the proposed workplan outlined in the Five Year Strategic Priorities and Project paper and agree that a detailed workplan should be presented at the next Board meeting in July alongside the investment pipeline of projects;

3) Note that Brighton & Hove City Council shall continue to act as Lead Authority for the Board in 2019/20;

4) Agree the process set out at sections 3.16 to 3.18 by which the Chair of the Board shall be nominated for 2019/20;

5) Note the date by which the Lead Authority must be notified of all named substitutes and instruct any necessary actions within their respective organisations;

6) Note the date by which the Lead Authority must be notified of all nominations to the Greater Brighton Call-In Panel and instruct any necessary actions within their respective organisations;

7) Note that the Annual Report will be drafted for presentation to the Board at its first meeting in the new municipal year;

8) Agree to the proposed changes to the Boards Heads of Terms as outlined in 3.9

9) Note the proposal under agenda item 6 that Arun District Council is formally invited to become a constituent member of the Greater Brighton Economic Joint Committee (GBEJC), subject to the agreement and formal ratification from the Board’s member organisations and note this would result in further changes to the Heads of Terms.

10) Agree to extend the contracts of the Greater Brighton Support Team (1 FTE Business Manager, 0.5 FTE Business Manager and 0.5 FTE Programme Support Officer) by 3 years, as they are due to expire in May 2020, and agree to increase the hours of the 0.5 FTE Business Manager to 0.65 FTC to deliver the workplan and further development of the Five Year Plan.

11) Agree to extend the current communications contract with the Adur & Worthing Communications Team by another year with an update on the first year’s activities provided at the July 2019 Board Meeting.

28.1 The Board considered a report of the Chair, Greater Brighton Officer Programme Board that that set out its Operational Arrangements for 2019/20.

28.2 The Chair stated that an anomaly had been identified due to an historic position meaning that the entirety of the Mid Sussex District was not included when calculating the member contributions. The Chair stated that as Leader of Mid Sussex District Council, he intended to rectify that anomaly and therefore proposed that Mid Sussex increase its contribution that would in turn mean that the contributions from partner authorities would decrease.

28.3 Prof Humphris asked whether consideration should be given to the University of Chichester being invited to join the Board on the basis that Arun District Council were likely to join the Board to accurately reflect the new geography. Prof Humphris also enquired as to how an expanded Board would work differently to the LEP.

28.4 Nick Hibberd answered that appointing the relevant business partner alongside Arun District Council would be subject of a later report to the Board.

28.5 The Chair stated that he viewed the Board as having a strong voice with the LEP that in turn gave the LEP a stronger voice with central government. The Chair stated that this was an important matter to monitor to ensure that there was a difference in focus between the Board and the LEP.

28.6 Jonathan Sharrock explained that the LEP boundaries and status with central government was different to that of the GBEB. Furthermore, spending, accountability and transparency matters were also different. Jonathan Sharrock stated that he was entirely confident with the current arrangements although it would be an issue to collectively monitor.

28.7 RESOLVED-