Five South of England councils pursue legal services partnership plan

Five local authorities in the South of England are in discussions to create a legal services partnership, it has emerged.

The group of councils include East Sussex and Surrey, which in March this year announced plans to share a range of services including legal.

Brighton & Hove City Council, West Sussex County Council and an unnamed district council are also part of the discussions about the proposed partnership.

Called Orbis Public Law, it will be separate from another partnership being set up by East Sussex, Surrey and Brighton & Hove to provide support functions to councils.

A document prepared for a meeting this week of Brighton & Hove’s Policy & Resources Committee to consider the council's wider budget proposals said Orbis Public Law was the “preferred approach” for its Legal Services department.

The city council is looking for its Legal Services team, which has 31 FTEs, to save £101,000 in 2016/17 and £204,000 from 2017/18 to 2019/20.

“The projected savings for 2017 onwards will be achieved from within Orbis or, if the Orbis option is not agreed, a combination of trading, a reduction in services and staffing and charging for non-core services,” the document said.

Other potential savings identified include reducing employment law support to essential Employment Tribunal representation, and limiting contract support to high value contracts (£350,000+). The document said the Orbis partnership could mitigate the risks involved.

A spokesperson for Brighton & Hove City Council told Local Government Lawyer: “Orbis is a newly created partnership with East Sussex County Council and Surrey County Council which provides support functions to councils. Staff will remain employed within each partner council, and make efficiencies through integrating work and minimising duplication, while offering high standards of service to all the partner organisations. As a founding partner, Brighton & Hove City Council is helping to shape the future structures.

“Our Legal Services are still in discussion with East Sussex, Surrey, West Sussex and a district council about a separate partnership called Orbis Public Law. This is being developed separately and a paper will be submitted to the Policy & Resources Committee on 21 January recommending to enter into partnership.”

The spokesperson added: “The initiative will help the service achieve greater resilience and deliver savings through economies of scale, avoidance of duplication and income generation. It also provides an exciting career development opportunity for staff as the combined service has the potential to be one of the major players in the legal field in the region.”