Issue - meetings

This spotlight report provides the Orbis Joint Committee with an overview of the activities and achievements by Business Operations

6.1       The Committee considered a report by Nigel Manvell (Deputy Chief Finance Officer Brighton & Hove City Council), Kevin Foster (Chief Operating Officer East Sussex County Council), Leigh Whitehouse (Executive Director of Resources Surrey County Council).  Mike Lea, Assistant Director of Business Operations, highlighted the following:

• The swift transition from an office-orientated, transaction heavy service to one capable of working remotely
• Staff acting as volunteers to deliver equipment to shielding colleagues
• Ambition to retain successfully adapted working practices as business as usual
• Joint working with Audit, HR and Finance to maintain the control environment 
• Wellbeing champions, to assist teams in a frequently changing landscape

6.2       Members asked questions about:

• ERP and the procurement of replacement finance systems
• Pension administration and the legacy issues identified

6.3       Officers responded:

• East Sussex and Surrey have each begun a sovereign re-procurement process, while BHCC has a longstanding programme.  Each authority has its own requirements from its finance system, but each benefits from the common support offered by the Procurement Team which works across Orbis.
• The recent review of Pensions Administration concluded that a single head across all three authorities was insufficient to deliver both the strategic oversight and delivery of change required.   Therefore administration was returned to each sovereign authority from June 2020.  Traded services returned to Surrey as the contractual holder of those services.

6.4       The Committee RESOLVED (1) to thank the staff for their flexibility and commitment during the pandemic; and

(2) to note the report.