Committee details

Orbis

East Sussex County Council, Surrey County Council and Brighton & Hove City Council have established a joint public sector partnership called ‘Orbis’, with the vision to develop an integrated business service. Orbis builds on the already successful partnership between Surrey and East Sussex Councils delivering shared services through ‘South East Shared Services’, and a joint Procurement Service. Orbis is formed of the following functions:

·         Personnel & Training / Human Resources

·         Property

·         ICT / Information Management Technology

·         Procurement

·         Finance

·         Business Operations (previously known as Shared Services)

Orbis Joint Committee

The Orbis Joint Committee oversees the work of the Orbis partnership, monitors the implementation of the Business Plan and carries out the functions outlined in the Committee’s terms of reference below.

Orbis Joint Committee Terms of Reference

1.    Membership:

a.    The Joint Committee shall comprise of Members appointed by the Councils (Currently Brighton & Hove City Council, East Sussex County Council and Surrey County Council.) Each Council shall appoint two Members to the Joint Committee in accordance with the governance arrangements of each Council.

b.    Each Council’s Leader (or in the case of Brighton & Hove City Council, the Council) may appoint two substitute  Members to attend meetings of the Joint Committee, should an appointed member of the Committee be unavailable or unable to attend a meeting of the Joint Committee. A substitute Member attending in the absence of an appointed member will have full voting rights.

2. Terms of Reference:

The terms of reference of the Joint Committee are to oversee and to improve delivery of the Services for the benefit of each participating Council, and in particular to:

·              Recommend proposals to meet the annual budget for Orbis, set by each of the Councils

·              Approve the Orbis Business Plan and performance measures

·              Monitor the Orbis Business Plan and performance of Orbis

·              Make recommendations to the constituent authorities regarding revisions to the Terms of Reference of the Orbis Joint Committee

3.    Meetings of the Committee:

a.    The Joint Committee shall hold meetings two times a year unless otherwise determined by the Joint Committee. The venue for the meetings will be determined by the Councils on an alternate basis.

b.    The Joint Committee may in every year hold any additional meetings it determines necessary.

4.    Standing orders

a.    The standing orders of ESCC, BHCC and SCC will apply to meetings of the Committee in accordance with the venue of the meeting unless otherwise provided for in this agreement.

b.    The quorum for any meeting of the Joint Committee will be three members provided that one member is in attendance from each Council.

c.    The chair of the meeting shall be the member of the Council which is hosting the meeting.