Decision details

16.1     The Committee considered a report by the Director of Law and Assurance on the joint working arrangement between the County Council and East Sussex County Council in relation to governance and leadership and for a joint chief executive (copy appended to the signed minutes).

16.2     The Chief Executive commented that despite the difficulties facing local government as a whole it was it was clear that the two local authorities worked well together and significant improvements had been made. She said she was proud of the work that had been done so far.

16.3     The Leader expressed his personal thanks to the Chief Executive for her work in strengthening Council governance and dealing with the challenges which were facing the Council. There had been significant progress and the shared leadership skills across the two councils were helping to deliver valuable services to residents. The Chairman echoed those thanks and asked the Chief Executive to pass on thanks behalf of all members to all staff.

16.4     All members were supportive of the arrangements and were reassured that a similar review report was due to be considered by East Sussex County Council where it was anticipated that the arrangements would also be supported. Assurance was also given that the six-month notice period mentioned in the report was a minimum should the joint arrangements be considered to be no longer beneficial by either party. 

16.5     Resolved - That, having considered the matters set out in the report, the Committee agrees that the review of the arrangements has been satisfactorily completed.