DIRECTORS REPORT For presentation to the AGM 9 April 2016 · LLG AGM 9th April 2016 Directors report – Treasurer’s report Page 6 Treasurer’s report The company accounts for

LLG AGM 9th April 2016 Directors report Page 1

Company Number 8379439

(A Private Company Limited by Guarantee without a share capital) Registered Office

Suite 2 Sanford House, Medwin Walk, Horsham, W Sussex RH12 1AG

DIRECTORS REPORT

For presentation to the AGM 9 April 2016

Contents

Introduction

President’s Report

Treasurer’s Report

Communications Officer’s Report

LLG Enterprises Limited Report

Reports from Branch Representatives

Reports from SAA Lead Officers

Report of the Junior Professional Representatives

LLG AGM 9th April 2016 Directors report - Introduction Page 2

Introduction Lawyers in Local Government (LLG) was formed in April 2013 by the merger of the Association of Council Secretaries and Solicitors (ACSeS) and Solicitors in Local Government (SLG). LLG’s primary purpose is to represent, promote and support the interests of its members. Membership is open to local government legal or governance officers working within a local authority, including Monitoring Officers and their deputies, solicitors, barristers, legal executives, licenced conveyancers and trainees. LLG is managed by a Board of directors elected or appointed by members, branches and Special Activity Areas. The board comprises the President, the Vice President, the Deputy Vice President, the Immediate Past President, Past President, the Treasurer, the Communications Officer, Chair of LLG Enterprises Ltd, eleven Branch Representatives, up to nine National Lead Officers for the Special Activity Areas and two Junior Professional Representatives. LLG operates eleven branches in England and Wales, each of which appoints a branch representative to the Board. LLG has established several Special Activity Areas, each with a Lead Officer appointed to the Board. The Special Activity Areas cover the following areas of legal activity; Children’s Services and Education, Adult Social Care and Health, Monitoring Officers and Governance, Information Management, Partnerships and Procurement, Planning, Highways and Environment, Housing and Regeneration, Employment, and Litigation and Licensing. The SAAs are intended to provide a focus of professional expertise for each area with a view to developing networking, training and best practice and contributing to development of the area of law. LLG is a company limited by guarantee. LLG operates the wholly owned subsidiary company, LLG Enterprises Limited trading as LLG Legal Training as its trading company. LLG Enterprises provides a programme of high quality training events aimed at the local government legal practitioner.

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LLG AGM 9th April 2016 Directors report – President’s report Page 3

President’s report LLG is approaching its third birthday and to echo the views of my predecessor Phil Thompson, for such a relatively young organisation LLG is now firmly established as a strong national organisation able to speak with a single voice on key issues affecting local authority law and governance on behalf of in-house local authority lawyers. The Directors report can only give a flavour of the good work that is undertaken by the LLG membership across England and Wales. I was privileged enough to attend many branch events during my year and was impressed at the dedication of the membership, all the branch chairs, branch secretaries and SAA directors and conveners and other colleagues who give their time to educate their colleagues and facilitate a support network to assist them in their day to day job and career development. I am grateful to those branches I visited for their enthusiasm and hospitality and I apologise to the few branches that I was unable to get to. Succession planning is a key issue for all organisations and LLG recruited two new national junior lawyer representatives this year, Helen Thompson and Natalie Baldwin who arranged a successful event for Junior Lawyers in the North East. As well as encouraging new members to become active in LLG we also recognise those colleagues that have made a contribution to the work of lawyers in local government by conferring honorary membership upon them. I am delighted that Nigel Roberts, Pat Holding, George Curran and Peter Keith-Lucas accepted honorary membership of LLG and I look forward to entertaining them as my guests at the Annual Dinner. It is important to publicise the excellent work undertaken by all LLG members and the vast range of expertise that exists within the organisation, and to that end another successful awards evening was held in October with the inimitable Clive Anderson acting as MC. All the nominees demonstrated excellent examples of local government innovative practice and the judges had difficult decisions to make in deciding upon the worthy winners. I was delighted to host the first LLG strategic stakeholder event in February at which a number of key partners attended from a diverse range of organisations. New relationships were formed to strengthen LLGs lobbying function for the future. I attended the LGA annual conference to promote the work and existence of LLG and revitalised longstanding relationships with representatives from the Law Society and SRA attending executive board meetings. One of the key issues in my year as president has been the changing models of legal service delivery within local authorities, and to this end I hosted a round table event for corporate partners at the Governance conference in Blackpool to discuss and consider the various models together with the future of the local authority legal department. Legal services are provided to other public sector organisations by


local authorities and the scope of the legal portfolio has widened. Leading counsel’s advice was funded jointly with the LGA in respect of the SRAs stance on local authorities’ ability to provide legal services to other public sector bodies. The advice was provided to members for them to utilise in the current and future planning of legal service delivery. Throughout the year I attended conferences with colleagues from other jurisdictions and it was extremely beneficial to learn from them and to share good practice. I received a warm welcome from LASBA, SOLAR and the In house group of the Scottish Law Society. For the first time I met colleagues from Northern Ireland and I hope that we can maintain links with all these organisations for a long time to come. It would be remiss of me not to mention the work of the LLG Wales Branch as there are many changes to local government law in Wales which is challenging for our welsh colleagues. The board is always looking at ways to add value to the membership and at last year's Weekend School the LLG Mentoring Scheme was launched. Since then a members Bursary Scheme has been implemented together with the forthcoming launch of a Monitoring Officer’s Defence Scheme. Plans are also being finalised for a master’s degree programme in association with Northumbria University for which there will also be a bursary available Once again the work of LLG was facilitated throughout the year by our corporate partners, Anthony Collins, Bevan Brittan, Browne Jacobson, DAC Beachcroft, Eversheds, Geldards LLP, IKEN, Thomson Reuters, Veale Wasborough Vizards, Walker Morris, Weightmans and Wragge Lawrence Graham. The corporate partners have given invaluable financial support for LLG events and provided accommodation for meetings of the board as well as delivering training at many branch and SAA meetings throughout England and Wales. I would like to thank my colleagues on the Board and Executive of LLG for their support throughout my year of office. My thanks go to my predecessor Phil Thompson who, always a gentleman, is an excellent mentor who had the foresight to promote the skills of local government lawyers to the wider public sector market. Special thanks go to Nick Dobson who is stepping down as LLG Communications Officer after three years. Nick has done an excellent job in promoting the work of LLG and I wish him well for the future. My gratitude also goes to Ann Harlow and her team at LLG Enterprises who have again seamlessly delivered LLG initiatives with great attention to detail under the auspices of David Carter and the Board of LLG Enterprises Ltd. The addition of Helen McGrath to the team as Development Officer has already had an impact in increasing the capacity of LLG and I am grateful to Helen for her enthusiasm in taking forward new initiatives. And thanks also to Justina Bartley who has successfully arranged the Board meetings and provided administrative support.


A huge benefit for LLG members and other organisations is the weekly bulletin, I am grateful to the editor Tony Kilner who beavers away in the background to ensure the bulletin drops in to members’ inboxes every Friday afternoon. Mark Hynes was one of the members who worked hard to ensure LLG was established and as he steps down from the board this year I would like to thank him for his input which has helped to make the organisation what it is today a national voice on local government law and governance. And so to the future. I wish my successor Doreen Forrester-Brown as incoming President and Phil Horsfield as the Vice President best wishes for the future. With Nigel Snape managing the finances, I am sure that they will be a driving force that will ensure the success of the organisation for years to come. Bev Cullen

LLG AGM 9th April 2016 Directors report – Treasurer’s report Page 6

Treasurer’s report The company accounts for the period to 31st December 2015 are attached. The key points to note from the accounts are as follows: Income from member subscriptions has fallen by £1,848 since last year. This

is largely as a result of the increase in the number of shared service arrangements.

The number of Corporate Partners was increased to 12 instead of 10, resulting in additional income of £6,000.

Although the cost of running the Awards Ceremony was higher than

expected, this was another extremely successful event with an increased number of submissions compared to the previous year. Under-expenditure in other areas of the budget meant that we still made a net surplus after tax of £44,627.

The key figures to note from the balance sheet are:

£

Surplus for the year 44,627

Reserves brought forward (inc. those from SLG & ACSeS) 121,720

TOTAL RESERVES 166,347 Total reserves now stand at £166,347 (as above). Our stated policy is to

maintain general reserves within a range that is equivalent to between 6 – 12 months of the organisation’s estimated gross annual expenditure. The current figure is at the higher end of that range. This has enabled the Board to earmark part of the reserves to provide bursaries for the new LLM in Local Government Legal Practice that has been jointly developed between LLG Legal Training and Northumbria University.

LLG remains on a sound financial footing.

Member Subscriptions 2016/17

The AGM will be recommended to continue all subscriptions at the same levels as last year.

LLG AGM 9th April 2016 Directors report – Treasurer’s report Page 7

Where two or more local authorities operate a shared legal service they will pay the aggregate of the subscriptions that would otherwise be attributable to each of the constituent authorities, but subject to two provisos: (a) shared services comprising a single legal team of no more than 9 lawyers

(qualified solicitors, barristers or ILEX regardless of whether they hold a current practising certificate) pay a maximum of £300 (or the appropriate scale fee for the relevant largest authority, whichever is the higher); and

(b) shared services comprising a single legal team of 10 lawyers or more pay a maximum of £750.

Nigel Snape

LLG AGM 9th April 2016 Directors report – Communication Officer’s report Page 8

Communication Officer’s report Introduction Key strategic aims have once again been to enhance LLG’s credibility, influence and reach in relation to local government, central government, the Law Society and other major stakeholders for the benefit of LLG’s members and their authorities. Activities These include: Press releases when appropriate; Dealing with the media including Local Government Lawyer; MJ, The

Guardian, Law Society Gazette, DfID; Copywriting as required (e.g. for Governance Conference Brochure); Highlighting social media issues and producing Social Media Guidelines; Continuing contribution to the Executive on strategic, corporate and other

issues; Producing for Local Government Lawyer a detailed riposte to the SRA as to its

stance on local authority trading; Regular column in the Law Society Gazette on local government issues; Regular slot in New Law Journal on local government issues;

Going Forward

LLG (through its SAAS, leaders and otherwise) is an authoritative national voice on key issues of local government law and governance and enjoys good relations with important stakeholders. However, it is essential to enhance and develop this impetus to build a strong and high reputation brand for LLG

All members of LLG (but particularly SAA leads and other Board Members) are therefore once again asked to do what they can to help with this (e.g.) by highlighting achievements in the public domain, writing articles, Tweeting, commenting on relevant developments and generally being positively active in the public space so as to promote LLG as the authoritative voice of local government law and governance.

This is particularly important since SAAs as the key functional representatives of the organisation and therefore LLG’s key voice in their areas of activity will be closely aware of key developments within their operating areas.

It is therefore unfortunate that LLG operational media activity continues to be much more muted than it needs to be. SAAs in particular are therefore once again urged to lead their part of the organisation confidently into the public square by way of articles, media and conference activity and appropriate and timely use of Twitter by lawyers in their SAA areas. For if SAA’s are silent, dormant or otherwise hidden

LLG AGM 9th April 2016 Directors report – Communication Officer’s report Page 9

from public view then so will LLG be. While this remains LLG will be unable to become the strategic national voice on local authority law and governance that it has every right to be.

Recommendation LLG members are recommended to note this report. Nicholas Dobson .

LLG AGM 9th April 2016 Directors report – LLG Enterprise Ltd report Page 10

LLG Enterprises Limited report www.llglegaltraining.org.uk

LLG Enterprises, (trading as LLG Legal Training), is the limited company trading arm of Lawyers in Local Government (LLG). During 2015 LGG Ltd changed to LLG Enterprises Limited, trading as LLG Legal Training, and has relocated the registered office from Cranleigh, Surrey to Horsham, W Sussex. Over the year LLG Enterprises has provided training for over 1,500 delegates on one day training courses and conferences, the annual spring time Weekend School and the annual Governance Conference. In addition, LLG Enterprises has worked together with the LocalGovernmentLawyer since 2013 to provide on-line webinar training at www.localgovernmentlaw.tv In February 2016 LLG members were offered a free three month trail to view the webinars. The LLG Enterprises Board have agreed a memorandum of understanding with Northumbria University to provide three stages of an exciting new local government legal qualification, Certificate, Diploma and Masters. The training business has seen significant reductions in the last few years due to the local government austerity cuts however I am very pleased to report that LLG Enterprises will be reporting an increased profit for the year 2015 compared to 2014. 2016 will see the introduction of the changes by the SRA from CPD accredited training to competency led training. The LLG Enterprises Board has worked with LLG SAA lead officers and LLG’s Development Officer to produce a competency framework which is being launched at the Weekend School 2016. Additional business opportunities that LLG Enterprises are investigating are the provision of local government legal training for non-lawyers and succession planning for legal departments. LLG Enterprises continues to support LLG with its membership and website administration. LLG Enterprises Directors Our board members are all from a local authority or public sector background, giving them a unique understanding of the issues and pressures facing the sector

http://www.llglegaltraining.org.uk/

http://www.localgovernmentlaw.tv/

LLG AGM 9th April 2016 Directors report – LLG Enterprise Ltd report Page 11

through changing legislation, budgetary restraints and continually evolving pressures on personnel David Carter: LLG Enterprises Chair and Strategic Director for Resources, Warwickshire County Council Sarah Duxbury: LLG Enterprises Director for Commercial Opportunities and Head of Law & Governance, Warwickshire County Council Dennis Hall: LLG Enterprises Director for Training and Commercial Manager and Solicitor, Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council Nigel Snape: LLG Enterprises LGG Director for Finance and Head of Legal Services (Clerk & Monitoring Officer), Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Authority John Tradewell: LLG Enterprises Director of Contract Law and Director of Democracy, Law and Transformation, Staffordshire County Council David Carter LLG Enterprises Chair

LLG AGM 9th April 2016 Directors report – North East branch report Page 12

LLG North East Branch report 2015/16

Representing - Northumberland Tyne & Wear Durham & Teesside

Prepared by - Dennis Hall, Branch Secretary

Introduction and Farewell! As you have come to expect, this has been a tremendously busy year in the North East! This is my final report to the LLG AGM as I shall be stepping down as Branch Secretary this month after 23 years in the role with LLG and its predecessors…. the Law Society Group and SLG…… On a personal note, I want to take this opportunity to thank all colleagues for their support and also to personally thank many of you for the friendship and encouragement you have shown me over the years and which, I trust, I have reciprocated too….it is much appreciated, …thank you! Now back to business……. New faces…….new ideas We have many new, and younger, faces and fresh ideas this year …welcome Suzanne Gamble, our new Assistant Secretary (Gateshead) who has been keen to take forward a number of ideas including a Branch Survey, arranging Junior Lawyer events and working on our own signature event the Bi-ennial Conference in June 2016! Nicole Walker (Gateshead) is our new Planning and Highways SAA Lead and organised our first and very successful full day planning conference last September…over 50 delegates attended to hear barristers from Francis Taylor Chambers London speak on a range of topics Joanne Youngs (Redcar & Cleveland) was central to the organisation of our first Property Roundtable, with over 26 property lawyers in attendance for what is set to be a regular feature. Over 50 delegates attended a Licensing Conference in October organised by SAA National Lead Tim Briton and supported by Weightmans and Trinity Chambers Quayside Newcastle We brought before our members a series of training events in collaboration with NEPO, the North’s leading local government procurement organisation, involving corporate partners Bevan Brittan and Freeths……these,


respectively, covered governance, development of land and commercial law topics…..all of these again were very well supported by our members. LLG’s Junior Lawyers held their first event at St Marys Heritage Centre Gateshead Quays in December organised by the National JL representatives, Helen Thompson and Natalie Baldwin and supported by corporate partner Anthony Collins Solicitors….this was an ‘ab fab ‘ event with contributions from Anthony Collins, LLG Vice-Chair Philip Horsfield, Nicole Walker, Tim Briton and Stella Willmott (the last three being Branch SAA Leads!) …Helen tells me she is keen to ‘roll out’ this event to other branches too! The North East’s continuing contribution to LLG: nationally, our contribution as a Branch remains exceptionally strong; colleagues from the North East have a long track record of supporting LLG and its predecessors….3 past national chairs for example,…it comes as no surprise then that LLG’s Junior Lawyer posts are currently taken up by two young and talented solicitors who worked with me in the Gateshead commercial team…Helen Thompson & Natalie Baldwin..nor for that matter that Gateshead’s (not so young) Tim Briton is LLG’s National Licensing lead…… and one of our most senior manager/lawyers,Colette Longbottom, of Durham County Council, is our National Representative …. these colleagues are already shaping the national debates at Executive level. The North East Branch Year in Events and Partners: We continue to attract to the North East the leading commentators on local government law across the range of current and topical issues. We collaborated on training provision with: 11 KBW, Olwen Dutton and Bethan Evans and other colleagues at Bevan Brittan, supported their joint event with LLG: Yorkshire, DAC Beachcroft, Anthony Collins, Northumbria University, NEPO, Weightmans, Francis Taylor Chambers, Trinity Chambers, Wesleyan, Bevan Brittan (Leeds), and Freeths The North East Branch Year in Numbers: 45 is the number of CPD hours that we offered our members through courses presented by us…. 70 was our highest attendance by members at one of our training events but the average was nearer 35-40…. 14 is the number of training events and meetings we arranged but these included 3 full length one day conferences …. 15 or thereabouts was the number of partners we engaged with to bring quality training and a valued networking experience to our members. The Support


The Branch officers appreciate and wish to thank our many partners for their continuing commitment and cooperation. Gateshead Council has a long track record of supporting inter authority collaboration and supporting representative bodies in the public sector….by making facilities and personnel available to support LLG it is right that their significant support be particularly recognised Ann Harlow and her team at LLG Enterprises have supported our conference initiatives which export their popular “Weekend School” style conferencing arrangement to our region once again… Stella Willmott (Gateshead) was instrumental in organising the special needs legislation and employment events during the year. The Branch Officers wish to express personal thanks to the Gateshead “back office” stars including Helen Conway for their continued assistance. Future Plans….more Quality Training Events Our Branch regularly contributes to LLG’s Board meetings, and works closely with its neighbouring branches: LLG Yorkshire & Humberside and LLG North West. We retain close links with authorities in Cumbria. Watch the Branch pages on the LLG website for future events…the AGM will take place this year on 18th May 2016 when we will be joined by speakers from Freeths. At the time of writing our one day Biennial Northern Local Government Legal Conference is planned for the Discovery Museum Newcastle at the end of June 2016 … Special Activity Areas: Branch Leads The following are the current Branch Special Areas of Activity Group Coordinators, each of whom organises separate meetings within their respective areas:-

Standards and Governance: Colette Longbottom (Durham County Council): [email protected]

Procurement: Craig Winter (Newcastle City Council): [email protected]

Licensing: Tim Briton (Gateshead Council):

[email protected]

Planning & Highways: Nicole Walker (Gateshead Council): [email protected]

Adult Social Care: Jane Taylor (Darlington Borough Council): [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]






Childcare: Nicola White (Darlington Borough Council):

[email protected]

Employment: Stella Willmott (Gateshead Council): [email protected]

Housing: Laura Findlay (Northumberland County Council):

[email protected]

Junior Lawyer Representative: Stephen Buston (Durham County Council)

[email protected]

Information Management: Tanya Rossington (Gateshead Council)

[email protected]

List of Branch Officers 2016-17 Colette Longbottom Chair & LLG Board Representative, (2 year term) (Durham County Council): [email protected] Vacancy Branch Secretary (& substitute LLG Board Representative) Tim Briton Treasurer, (& substitute LLG Board Representative) Gateshead Council; [email protected] Tim Briton is active nationally as Deputy Director in supporting the SAA covering licensing Andy Thom Branch Immediate Past Chair (2 year term) Northern Education Trust: [email protected]

Dennis Hall Branch Secretary LLG North East Tel: 0191 433 2114 Email:[email protected]






LLG AGM 9th April 2016 Directors report – Yorkshire and the Humber branch report Page 16

Yorkshire and the Humber Branch Representing Local Authorities in North, West, East and South Yorkshire, North and North East Lincolnshire and Kingston upon Hull Prepared by S D Turner, Branch Secretary List of branch officers 2015/16

POST NAME and AUTHORITY

Chair Kelly Hamblin - Selby District Council

Vice-Chair Vacant

Secretary Steve Turner - Hull City Council

Treasurer Alex Spurr - Wakefield Council

Branch Representative Steve Turner - Hull City Council

Branch Executive Members Lia Musto-Shinton - Wakefield Council

Paul Thompson – Hull City Council

Gill Marshall – Selby District Council

Rebecca Brooks – Leeds City Council

Sajeda Khalifa – Barnsley MBC

Helen Robinson – North Yorkshire County Council

Sumera Shabir – Rotherham Council

Schedule of Branch Meetings and Events 2015/16

DATE and VENUE EVENT TITLE and NARRATIVE

10 July 2015 North Yorkshire County Council, Northallerton

‘New Ways of Working’ – presentation by Bevan Brittan, Corporate Partner. Over 50 members attending – excellent participation and feedback

13 November 2015 Walker Morris, Leeds

Branch Meeting and Training Day hosted by Walker Morris, Corporate Partner - Event postponed.

17 March 2016 Kings Chamber, Leeds

Branch AGM and Training Day hosted by Kings Chambers with Keynote address by Richard Clayton QC, followed by breakout and parallel sessions from members of Chambers on a wide range of topics. The Vice President of LLG and 55 members are expected to attend.

July 2016 York City Council, York

Branch Meeting and Training Day. Program to be confirmed.

Autumn 2016 Branch Meeting and training Day. Program and venue to be confirmed.

LLG AGM 9th April 2016 Directors report – Yorkshire and the Humber branch report Page 17

Working with partners

As can be seen from the events detailed above the Branch works closely with Corporate Partners and others to deliver training opportunities for the branch membership. Forward planning 2016/17 will see a similar program of events to the current year. It is intended to promote greater use of the website particularly by the SAAs and local groups Additional Comments There are a number of local groups detailed below which are active in the SAAs. A new group covering Community Safety is in the process of forming. Signed up membership on the website remains steady at just over 300. Branch Special Activity Areas and Special Interest Groups

Branch coordinators (name and authority)

SAA: Adult Social Care & Health Adult Social Care - Lia Musto-Shinton Wakefield

SAA: Children’s Services & Education

Academies and Trusts – Marianne Moran – Leeds Child Care – Stephen Boorman Leeds Education - vacant

SAA: Employment Employment - Mary O’Shea Leeds

SAA: Housing & Regeneration Housing – Paul Thompson Hull and Andrea Simpson Sheffield

SAA: Information Management Information Governance - Sajeda Khalifa – Barnsley MBC

SAA: Litigation and Licensing Debt Collection – Jenny Beaumont Leeds Licensing – Marie-Claire Frankie Sheffield Prosecutions – Aneeka Sarwar Bradford Community Safety – Kimberley Hudson Scarborough

SAA: Monitoring Officers and Governance

vacant

SAA: Partnership & Procurement Commercial – Sumera Shabir Rotherham

SAA: Planning, Highways & Environment

Planning, Highways and CPOs – Karen Winnard Doncaster

LLG AGM 9th April 2016 Directors report – East Midlands branch report Page 18

East Midlands Branch Representing Local Authorities in the East Midlands Prepared by Phil Horsfield, Branch Secretary List of branch officers 2014/15


Chair Vacant

Vice-Chair Sue Lyons

Secretary Phil Horsfield

Treasurer Robert Swinfield



See EM Lawshare programme

Branch Special Activity Areas and Special Interest Groups


SAA: Adult Social Care & Health

SAA: Children’s Services & Education

SAA: Employment

SAA: Housing & Regeneration

SAA: Information Management

SAA: Litigation and Licensing


SAA: Partnership & Procurement


Additional Comments We have found SAA’s in our area to be ineffective because of the free training program put in place by EM Lawshare that offer half day courses with lunch and networking etc. is done at these meetings. We even found that this was negatively affecting Branch Meetings such that we have had to postpone them until we are able to lift numbers.

LLG AGM 9th April 2016 Directors report – East Midlands branch report Page 19

We are also looking to communicate more virtually with a joint newsletter to branch members being considered.

LLG AGM 9th April 2016 Directors report – West Midlands branch report Page 20

West Midlands Branch

Representing Local Authorities in the West Midlands and surrounding areas Prepared by Stewart Evans, Branch Chair List of branch officers 2015/16


Chair Christine Forde (Coventry City Council) and then Stuart Evans (Birmingham City Council) – Jan 2016

Vice-Chair Stuart Evans (Birmingham City Council) Jane Hackett(Tamworth Borough Council) – Jan 2016

Secretary Jean Evans (Staffordshire County Council)

Treasurer Nigel Snape (Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service)



30 January 2015 Eversheds (a corporate partner) 115 Colmore Row, Birmingham, B3 3AL

Branch meeting and AGM Presentations:

1) Managing the pre-election period and setting a lawful budget – Denis Cooper, Eversheds

2) Defending legal challenges to the budget process – Jean Evans, Staffordshire County Council

Key discussion points/participant feedback on:

- The above presentations - Forthcoming LLG Care Act conference – feedback from

members about potential content - Weekend school

There were 23 attendees including representatives of other Corporate Partners.

13 March 2015 Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co LLP (a corporate partner) 2 Snow Hill, Birmingham, B4 6WR

Branch meeting Presentations:

1) Present and potential future operations of the LGO – David Pollard, Assistant Ombudsman

2) Austerity: lessons from the private sector – Lee Swinerd, Director, KPMG LLP


3) Managing Whistle-blowing complaints & associated risks – Mark Greenburgh, Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co LLP


- The above presentations There were 18 attendees.

15 May 2015 St Philips Chambers 55 Temple Row, Birmingham, B2 5 LS


1) Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards - Matthew Angus, Staffordshire Council

2) LEP governance – Nick Glover, Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP

3) Judicial Review – Mirza Ahmad, St Philips Chambers Key discussion points/participant feedback on:

- The above presentations - New regulations on the dismissal of the three statutory

officers – new requirement to involve a Council panel - ICO required to register as Data Controllers with the

ICO There were 33 attendees including representatives of other Corporate Partners.

10 July 2015 Eversheds (a corporate partner) 115 Colmore Row, Birmingham, B3 3AL


1) State Aid – Aaron Hopley, Staffordshire County Council 2) The Procurement Regulations – Clair Ruskin-Brown,

Staffordshire County Council Key discussion points/participant feedback on:

- The above presentations - Employment and Highways SIGs and the need for new

leads - Recent changes to planning permission for Brown Field

sites and other planning matters There were 20 attendees including representatives of other Corporate Partners.

11 September 2015

Branch meeting


Kings Chambers Embassy House, 60 Church Street, Birmingham, B3 2 DJ

Presentations: 1) LLG update – Bev Cullen, LLG President 2) Planning law – Gary Grant, King’s Chambers and Stuart

Evans, Birmingham City Council Key discussion points/participant feedback on:

- The above presentations There were 14 attendees including representatives of other Corporate Partners.

20 November 2015 Eversheds (a corporate partner) 115 Colmore Row, Birmingham, B3 3AL


1) DPA common pitfalls – Izzy Mitchell & David Hughes, Eversheds

2) Local Government Devolution Bill – Sam Skinner, Kings Chambers

3) Combined Authority update – Stuart Evans, Birmingham City Council


- The above presentations - New Monitoring Officer SIG

There were 17 attendees including representatives of other Corporate Partners.

Working with partners

- The Corporate Partners and Barristers Chambers approached continue to show their support by allowing meetings to be held at their offices and by providing refreshments. They are always keen to present at the meetings and over the year have delivered interesting and relevant topics to members

- The Branch sees no current need to link in with other Branches but following the attendance of Bev Cullen, which members found extremely useful, it has introduced “Update from LLG Board” as a standard agenda item

Forward planning


- We will be arranging for one in three future meetings to be held outside Birmingham to avoid any complaints that the group is too Birmingham-centric

- A review of the current LLG West Midlands SIGs is currently being undertaken with a view to ensuring that each group holds sufficient meetings and / or engages with their members in a useful way

- A new Monitoring Officer SIG will begin in 2016 and their lead officer will feed in to the standard Monitoring Officer agenda item, which will undoubtedly lead to more regular and informed consideration of governance issues

- Venues for future meetings and subjects for discussion and speakers are presently under review

Additional Comments Using Group funds to sponsor the attendance of a Trainee Lawyer at the LLG Conference Branch Special Activity Areas and Special Interest Groups


SIG: Childcare Kemi Okunnu, Birmingham

SIG: Commercial Sian Stroud, Warwickshire

SIG: Community Care, Immigration and Asylum Charmaine Murray, Birmingham

SIG: Court Users Santokh Gill, Solihull

SIG: Education Shazma Begum, Birmingham

SIG: Employment Yvette Berkeley, Telford

SIG: Highways Tarndip Sidhu, Birmingham

SIG: Information Angeline Hayles-Henderson, Birmingham

SIG: Monitoring Officers Helen Lynch, Coventry

Please note that this information is correct @January 2016 (the period covered by the 30 January 2015 AGM). Changes were made at the 2016 AGM.

LLG AGM 9th April 2016 Directors report – Eastern branch report Page 24

Eastern Branch

Representing Local Authorities in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk Prepared by David Holt, Branch Secretary, Suffolk County Council

List of branch officers 2015/16


Chair Nigel Innis, Suffolk CC

Vice-Chair Lorna McShane, Central Bedfordshire

Secretary David Holt, Suffolk CC

Treasurer Quentin Baker, Cambridgeshire CC



19th June 2015, LGSS, Shire Hall, Cambridge.

AGM and quarterly meeting with presentation on changes to local government pension scheme from Tracy Isaac of Wesleyan Financial Services Ltd.

23rd October 2015 Central Bedfordshire

Quarterly meeting with presentation on licensing, and to discuss LLG objectives.

4th December 2015, Suffolk County Council, Ipswich

Quarterly meeting with presentation on Child Trafficking

Spring 2016, date to be advised

Quarterly meeting, proposing event to engage new lawyers and increase relevance of existing LLG Eastern Branch to members and practitioners.

Working with partners Much existing partnership working tends to reinforce existing local contacts and networks. Forward planning The future programme must engage members’ interests and meet their needs to enable LLG to thrive as well as survive, and for this reason we are planning for

LLG AGM 9th April 2016 Directors report – Eastern branch report Page 25

an event to engage new lawyers. With some noted exceptions, the roles of SAAs and SIGS needs attention. Additional Comments Because of the geography of the Branch and the demands upon members, it is noticeable that few members tend to travel long distances, and attendance at any meeting is often boosted by members who are geographically local to the venue. That provides at least some reassurance that we can meet needs, but it makes it very difficult to know how to identify and meet what may be rather disparate needs across six county areas. Branch Special Activity Areas and Special Interest Groups


SAA: Adult Social Care & Health

SAA: Children’s Services & Education Graham Cole, Luton BC

SAA: Employment



SAA: Litigation and Licensing Paul Weller, Huntingdon DC


SAA: Partnership & Procurement


LLG AGM 9th April 2016 Directors report – South East branch report Page 26

LLG South East Branch

Representing Local Authorities in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, Kent, Medway, Surrey and West Sussex Prepared by Ian Davison Branch Secretary List of branch officers 2015/16

POST NAME and AUTHORITY Chair Ann-Maria Brown Crawley BC Vice-Chair Secretary Ian Davison past service Treasurer Clive Moore Tandridge DC



25 June 2015 Crawley BC Presentation on employment round-up by Charlotte Hadfield barrister 3 PB attended by around 16 members

14 October 2015 Worthing BC

Presentation on freedom of information and related information management issues by Peter Lockley barrister of 11 KBW attended by 14 members

16 March 2016 Crawley BC Presentation on property matters for local government to be given by Stephen McNamara of Veale Wasbrough Vizards

Working with partners We have worked with Bevan Britten, 3PB and 11KBW and shall be working with Veale Wasbrough Vizards Forward planning The June 2016 meeting is scheduled for Dover DC Additional Comments We experience difficulty in bringing out the members for branch meetings. Physical communications around the south east are not easy and parking and

LLG AGM 9th April 2016 Directors report – South East branch report Page 27

access are not always convenient. Reorganisations and workloads deter members from leaving their desks! Branch Special Activity Areas and Special Interest Groups


SAA: Adult Social Care & Health SAA: Children’s Services & Education Beth Forrester and Lauren McCann Kent CC

SAA: Employment



SAA: Litigation and Licensing


SAA: Partnership & Procurement Jo Wylly (Brighton and Hove) and Charlotte Woods (Eastbourne and Lewes)


LLG AGM 9th April 2016 Directors report – South West branch report Page 28

South West Branch South West Delegates - LLG Needs You! LLG’s success is dependent on having a thriving branch network and LLG recognises the need to help develop the South West Branch. We need lawyers at all levels – whether you are a trainee or Head of Service - from the following geographical areas/Councils to help us establish a thriving and productive branch.

Bath Bristol Cornwall Exeter Plymouth Somerset

Please contact the LLG office at [email protected] or 01483 478769 for the role profiles of the branch officer posts – chair, secretary and treasurer, and for more details.


LLG AGM 9th April 2016 Directors report – Southern branch report Page 29

Southern Branch

The LLG Southern Branch represents Local Authorities in the geographical areas of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Oxfordshire, and Wiltshire. Prepared by Stephen Taylor, Southern Branch Secretary The Branch meets quarterly at various locations around the region and its current programme considers a Special Activity Area theme at each meeting in addition to a number of standing items and topical matters. List of branch officers 2015/16


Chair MARIA MEMOLI, Cambridge City Council

Vice-Chair MARIA LUCAS, Bath and North East Somerset Council

Secretary STEPHEN TAYLOR, Swindon Borough Council

Treasurer DAVID HOLLING, West Berkshire Council

List of branch officers 2016/17


Chair MARIA LUCAS, Bath and North East Somerset Council

Vice-Chair RICHARD IVORY, Southampton Unitary Authority and Fareham Borough Council

Secretary STEPHEN TAYLOR, Swindon Borough Council

Treasurer DAVID HOLLING, Newbury Council



6th March 2015 Newbury

Branch Annual Meeting: 26 Members attended the branch meeting which had a Procurement theme and Lucy Doran (Trowers & Hamlins) gave a topical update on the new Public Contracts Regulations 2015. The following were elected to hold office for 2015/16: Chairman - Maria Memoli (Aylesbury Vale) Vice Chairman - Maria Lucas (Windsor and Maidenhead) Secretary - Stephen Taylor (Swindon)


Treasurer - David Holling (West Berkshire) Auditor - Keith Mallett (Christchurch and East Dorset)

19th June 2015 Poole

Branch quarterly meeting: 21 members attended the branch meeting which had a Planning, Highways and Environment theme where Tim Jones of Counsel, who is also a Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP) Examiner, gave a topical presentation on “Neighbourhood planning for Local Planning Authorities”, and updated branch members on the relevant Planning Law. In particular, Tim went through the legal process culminating in the examination of the NDP either by written representations or at a hearing.

The June meeting was also the occasion of a Presidential Visit from Bev Cullen who was warmly welcomed by the Branch and she updated branch members on LLG activities and joined us for lunch afterwards.

16th July 2015 Winchester

Adult and Social Care & Health SAA: The following were discussed –

Duty of Candour

Whether there is a need for safeguarding boards to register with ICO

Update on cases in Court of Protection

Interface between Mental Health Act and Mental Capacity Act

25th September 2015 Farnborough

Branch quarterly meeting: 22 Members attended the September 2015 branch meeting at Rushmoor Borough Council, Farnborough, which had a Property and Litigation theme. Michelle Bendall and Stephen McNamara of Veale Wasbrough Vizards gave a thrilling summary of case-law developments in Property law during 2014 /15, in an entertaining and informative presentation which included some useful topical tips.

22nd Oct 2015 Winchester

Adult Social Care & Health SAA: The following were discussed –

Update on cases,

Finance queries on paying towards care

Applications to appoint nearest relative under Mental Health Act

Personal information and

Safe Harbor ruling.

20th November 2015 Unitary Authority Heads of Legal Group SAA:


Swindon 12 members attended the inaugural Unitary Authority Heads of Legal Group meeting and a number of common issues were discussed including current challenges facing local authorities (financial, operational and political), various specific Legal Services issues, benchmarking, and governance arrangements involving external partners.

18th December 2015 Basingstoke

Branch quarterly meeting: 15 members attended the December 2015 branch meeting at Basingstoke, where the main agenda item was on ‘The Future of Local Authority Legal Practices’ and Maria Memoli (Chair) gave a presentation on 'The Shared Legal Service: from the practitioners’ viewpoint' which gave those who work within a shared legal service, an opportunity to share their experiences. There was also a general update from branch members as to where their authorities had got to in terms of Combination proposals.

Working with partners There are no specific matters to report so far as the Branch is concerned. Forward planning In addition to ad hoc meetings and SAA meetings that have yet to be finalised, the following are those that have been arranged to date:

2nd February 2016 Winchester

Adult Social Care & Health SAA - Ordinary residence issues under Care Act 2104, Transparency in Court of Protection, young people in transition from children’s services to adult services

12th February 2016 Swindon

Unitary Authority Heads of Legal Group SAA

4th March 2016 Southampton

Branch Annual General Meeting

28th April 2016 Venue tbc

Partnership and Procurement SAA

24th June 2016 Christchurch

Branch quarterly meeting

1st September 2016 Venue tbc


9th September 2016 High Wycombe/Andover


2nd December 2016 Basingstoke


8th December 2016 Venue tbc



Additional Comments Special Activity Areas On occasion, SAA leads had been invited to attend relevant branch meetings; at the branch held on 25th September, we were fortunate enough to receive a useful update from Tim Briton (Gateshead) on activity in the Litigation and Licensing Special Activity Area, which was much appreciated. It was recognised that some local SAA groups were going well but that this was not the case with all the groups. It was agreed that this issue would be considered further by the branch and Heads of Legal Service were asked in the interim to ascertain the disincentives to taking part in such local groups which were important in helping to facilitate contact between colleagues in different authorities and spread good practice across the branch area. SAA Leads have been encouraged to register onto the LLG website as Administrators to enable them, as users, to edit and use their area as an information tool. The Junior Lawyers Group is still in its preliminary stage due to work and time constraints of those Junior members who have expressed an interest in joining the group. The National Leads for Junior Lawyers have been contacted to ask for their assistance by contacting the junior lawyers with recommendations on how they can collaborate to set things in motion to establish the group. Southern Branch Call Off contract for legal services Regular updates were given at each meeting as to the operation of the Southern Branch call-off contract for legal services. Work is ongoing on procuring a new call-off contract, and Frank Cain (Wiltshire) is leading on this. In total, from November 2010 to September 2015, over £7.1M legal work had been commissioned under the call-off contract which has amply shown its worth in terms of convenience and providing value for money. Branch Special Activity Areas and Special Interest Groups


SAA: Adult Social Care & Health Jennifer Watts (Hampshire County Council)

SAA: Children’s Services & Education Nicola Thomas (Hampshire County Council)

SAA: Employment Paul Hodgson (Hampshire County Council)

SAA: Housing & Regeneration No specific branch lead

SAA: Information Management Jonathan Mair (Dorset County Council)

SAA: Litigation and Licensing No specific branch lead


SAA: Monitoring Officers and Governance David Fairbairn(Purbeck District Council) for Wiltshire and Dorset; David Holling (West Berkshire) for Berkshire; Nick Leach (East Hampshire) for Hampshire; Margaret Reed (South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils) for Oxfordshire.

SAA: Partnership & Procurement Kim Hurst (Hampshire County Council)

SAA: Planning, Highways & Environment Amardip Healy (Slough) for Planning Forum

SAA: Junior Lawyers Group Zoe Bagshaw (Swindon)

SAA: Unitary Heads of Legal Group Richard Ivory (Southampton City Council)

Stephen Taylor Director of Law and Democratic Services, Swindon Borough Council, LLG Southern Branch Secretary

LLG AGM 9th April 2016 Directors report – Wales branch report Page 34

Wales Branch

Representing Local Authorities in Wales Prepared by Gareth Owens, Branch Chair List of branch officers 2015/16


Chair Gareth Owens, Flintshire County Council

Vice-Chair Marie Rosenthal, Cardiff City Council

Secretary Gary Williams, Denbighshire County Council

Treasurer Laura Griffiths, Bridgend County Borough Council

Convener Paul Lucas, Rhondda Cynon Taff County Borough Council

Policy Officer Janet Hooper



5 June 2015 Branch meeting, Powys County Council offices. The meeting was attended by the LLG President. There was discussion with the PSOW about changes to process and guidance. There was an update on the judicial review of health boards in which LLG was jointly instructing counsel.

25 September 2015 Branch meeting, Powys County Council offices. The branch discussed and responded to various consultations, as well as sharing best practice around recording cabinet decisions.

20 October 2015 All Wales Biennial Standards Conference, Cardiff City Hall.

4 December 2015 Branch meeting, Powys County Council offices. The branch discussed the key issues and concerns with the Local Government (Wales) Bill in preparation for the special branch meeting with WG.

22 January 2016 Members were updated with a presentation on Local Government Reform. Senior Officials outlined the implications of mergers and reform, highlighting the key stages on paths to mergers, identifying relevant provisions in the Local Government (Wales) Act 2015 and invite Member comments on the draft Local Government (Wales) Bill. The timetable for Local Government Reform was also highlighted. It was agreed


to establish a Working Group for the Local Government (Wales) Bill.

18 March 2016 Branch meeting Powys County Council offices

Working with partners The Wales Branch is a key consultee for WG and the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales prior to the release of new legislation or guidance. In responding to such consultations the branch also works closely with the Welsh Local Government Association. As well as the special branch meeting noted above the branch has responded to such issues as: proposed legislation issued by WG on changes to the code of conduct and

ethical regime; draft statutory guidance issued by WG on The Well Being of Future

Generations (Wales) Act 2015; changes to the test for whether to investigate complaints under the code of

conduct issued by the PSOW and revised guidance on the code of conduct the branch has also contributed to the drafting of a national protocol on

planning matters to accompany the Planning (Wales) Act 2015 In addition the Branch has responded to national consultations by the Law Commission on changes to the deprivation of liberty safeguards (DOLS) and the form and accessibility of the law in Wales. The branch has also acted jointly to instruct counsel to participate in litigation (a challenge to the funding of nurses in care homes) and to advise (on the stance taken by Wales Audit Office in respect of officers’ interests) where issues affect all councils within the branch. The branch has also established a relationship with the Law Society In Wales and each body sends a representative to the other’s meetings. Few of the corporate partners have offices within the area covered by the branch and those that do so tend to be in the south of the region. Whilst not all councils are therefore able to easily access those offices the branches Special Interest Groups in the south have used corporate partner offices as venues. Forward planning


The branch will continue its role as a forum for the support and development of its member during the forthcoming year, as well as a voice on behalf of the profession with WG. WG is proposing key legislation on the future number and shape of local councils as well as changes to social services legislation. The dates of future branch meetings have been set to follow shortly after LLG Board meetings in order to enable the chair to feedback from the national body. Additional Comments As many matters affecting public services are devolved functions in Wales the branch has members beyond local councils. The monitoring officers for the 3 fire authorities, 4 national parks and 1 police and crime commissioner regularly attend branch meetings. The branch also provides its own update on new legislation and guidance that has been passed by WG through the (nationally funded) policy officer. This work is of key importance in helping to promulgate welsh legislation that is otherwise only belatedly available through Legislation.gov. Branch Special Activity Areas and Special Interest Groups Due to the geography of Wales (and the consequent impact on travel times) the branch operates within 3 sub-regions. These sub-regions have their own special interest groups which provide training, advice and support as well as collaborative working.

LLG AGM 9th April 2016 Directors report – London branch report Page 37

London Branch

The Branch represents Local Authorities in London. Prepared by Suki Binjal, Branch Chair Schedule of Branch Meetings and Events 2015/16

DATE EVENT (past / planned) VENUE 21st January 2015

Children and Employment SAA Meeting and Board Meeting

Wragge &Co, More London

21st April 2015 MO and Governance SAA and Junior Professionals. Board Meeting

Trowers and Hamlin. London

11th June 2015 AGM and Summer Garden Party

Host - 4/5 Grays Inn Square with Law Absolute

24th June 2105 SAA Civil Litigation

Trowers and Hamlin London

8th September 2015

SAA Housing Thompson Reuters

17th September 2015

SAA Partnership and Procurement

Thompson Reuters

14 October 2015 SAA Safeguarding (Children and Adult) presented by Peggy Etiebet of Cornerstone Barristers Monitoring Officers Meeting and Board Meeting

Browne Jacobson 15th Floor, 6 Bevis Marks, London EC3A 7BA

8th December 2015 SAA Partnership & Procurement Group - Evaluation of Tenders

19 January 2016 SAA Monitoring Officers

Bevan Brittan


SAA Housing & Regeneration and London Branch Meeting

Fleet Place House, 2 Fleet Place, London, EC4M 7RF

19th April 2016 London Branch Meeting TBC

June/July AGM – London Branch Meeting – Garden Party

TBC

List of branch officers 2015/16 Branch Chair: Suki Binjal

Alternative Branch Officer: Asmat Hussain

Branch Secretary: Marvin Hay

Treasurer: Saira Tamboo

SAA Leads 2015/16

SAA Name

Branch Co-Coordinator

Monitoring Officer and Governance Yinka Owa - LB Hackney

Safeguarding (Adult and Children) Ranette Prime - LB Hackney

Education Vacant

Junior Lawyer

Keiley Broadhead – LB Enfield

Planning Highways and Environment

Amardip Healey - Slough CC

Housing and Regeneration Alexander McDowall - LB Camden

Civil Litigation Jane Albooye - LB Enfield

Information Management Vacant


Litigation and Licensing and Prosecutions

Jane Middleton Albooye and Neil Allen Wokingham

Partnership and Procurement

Philip Shamash - LB Camden

Employment

Niall Kilfoil - LB Southwark

The London branch has been combining branch meetings and SAA meetings/sessions in an attempt to increase attendance at branch meetings and also to be able to support and develop the SAA’s.

This approach has worked well; SAA Leads have appreciated the support of the branch executive in scheduling meetings assisting with venues and introductions to the Corporate Partners. It has provided an opportunity for members to be briefed on national news.

The SAA leads have also been holding their own sessions and these have been well attended and feedback has been positive. For example, I received excellent feedback on the Housing session (held in Sept) that the speakers were brilliant and it was very well attended (nearly 40).

On the 19th January 2016 London held a successful branch and two SAA meetings attended by 43 members. This was the highest number of attendees we have had attending branch since becoming LLG. Suki Binjal chaired the SAA Monitoring Officers session. The topic of discussion was Devolution: What does it mean for London - Speakers - Beth Evans and Judith Barnes from Bevan Brittan. Alexander McDowall chaired the SAA Housing & Regeneration session Speakers - Catherine Rowlands of Cornerstone Barristers and Bevan Brittan Suki Binjal chaired the Branch Meeting, covering the ongoing theme of Developing 21st Century Public Sector Lawyers. We also had the benefit of Mark Hudson from the Law Society and Crispin Passmore from the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) join us. Mark gave us a presentation of the newly launched In-house Law Society Division and Crispin the Executive Director (Policy), discussed the regulatory reform and its effect for local government lawyers. Finally we completed our session with a successful networking session – the Drinks and Canapés were kindly provided by our hosts Bevan Brittan.


Combining branch meetings and SAA meetings/sessions is gradually working to increase attendance at branch meetings.

Other activities Branch Officers have been

Keeping the website up to date with information/activity/events Exploring - networking - beyond London Networking - beyond Local Government – exploring our links with Public

Health for England, DCLG and TFL. As the current Chair of London, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the London executive and all the SAA’s leads for their continued support and hard work keeping our branch vibrant. Suki Binjal

LLG AGM 9th April 2016 Directors report – Children’s services SAA report Page 41

SAA report - Children’s Services and Education Prepared by Graham Cole, SAA National Lead

In 2013, I was appointed as the LLG SAA Lead Officer for Children’s Services and Education. I have been a local authority child care lawyer for over 30 years. I have chaired the LLG (previously SLG) Child Care Lawyers Group since 2009. The Group met four times (in Birmingham) this year and members of the Group were involved in the work of various national committees, including the Law Society Family Law Committee and Children Law Sub Committee and the Cafcass Liaison Group. We continue to have a number of very active SAA’s around the country covering both children’s services and education. My local SAA (Eastern Region) also met four times this year (in Cambridge) and organised a very well attended update seminar on child care law in September 2015 which was presented by Safda Mahmood (formerly of Birmingham City Council). The national Group has continued to monitor the progress of the 26 week time limit on care proceedings cases. It is apparent from the statistics that considerable progress has been made in reducing delay but there are still difficulties in some areas and pressure from the courts to reduce the length of cases remains intense. Despite the introduction of a new social work evidence template for use in care proceedings, a variety of different templates continue to be used. The new template has already been reviewed and the Group responded to the request for comments. The format of the revised template is awaited. The war in Syria has added a new dimension to the work of local authority child care lawyers with a series of cases where parents have attempted to take their children to war zones. Coupled with this is the risk of children being radicalised either abroad or at home and local authorities have had to develop strategies to deal with such cases. In November 2015, Tower Hamlets Council organised a conference on the subject which was well attended by local authorities, police and other interested bodies. A body of case law is now building up which should assist local authorities in determining how and when to act.


In July 2015, legislation came into force enabling local authorities to apply for female genital mutilation protection orders. These orders are similar in nature to forced marriage protection orders and added a further dimension to our work. On 17.9.15, I gave evidence to the Forced Marriage Commission chaired by Baroness Butler-Sloss. The President of the Family Division has given a number of judgments in which he has laid down guidance for the handling of cases with an international element and the use of section 20 of the Children Act 1989. A number of local authorities have been criticised in a series of judgments about their use (or abuse) of section 20 and it is hoped that in the light of the new guidance, the number of such cases will reduce. The President remains concerned about the presentation of cases by local authorities and has warned that unless practice directions on the construction of court bundles are followed, there will be serious consequences. We have been warned! Over the coming year, changes to the law on adoption and special guardianship are proposed and the Government has announced plans to create regional adoption agencies in an attempt to speed up the process of adoption. We will monitor these changes and continue to respond to government consultations where necessary. I have continued to attend meetings of the Law Society’s Family Law Committee and Children Law Sub Committee. The agendas of both committees have been very busy and have covered:-

1. The PLO and changes to public law proceedings 2. Revision of the Good Practice Guide in Child Care cases and the Family

Law Protocol – this work has been completed and both documents have been re-published. They are recommended reading for all local authority child care lawyers.

3. The Children Law Accreditation Scheme (Children Panel) has been revamped and the new scheme came into operation on 1.2.16.

4. Reductions in legal aid funding 5. Management of litigants in person (LIPs) – a Practice Note has been

issued. 6. Provision for mediation

We received a talk from a representative of Welsh Womens Aid who spoke about the Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (Wales) Act 2015. There is an increasing divergence between English and Welsh law in this and related areas.


We also heard from Rita Giannini of the Law Society’s Brussels office who updated us about proposed revisions to the Brussels IIA Regulations and a possible investigation by the European Parliament into the UK’s adoption laws and how they affect EU citizens residing in this country Over the next year, the committees will continue to monitor how the changes to public and private law proceedings are working in practice and respond to any new government initiatives and consultations. The Children and Families 2014 contained the new statutory framework for the law relating to special educational needs. We will continue to monitor developments. The measures that I am hoping to pursue during the year ahead will be:-

1. Continuing to identify and link up with the regional SIG / SAA contacts and establish a SAA in the south west.

2. Sharing good practice through the national and regional network and continue to make use of the LLG website.

3. Developing a list of local authority child care legal department contacts. You are welcome to contact me. Graham Cole [email protected]


LLG AGM 9th April 2016 Directors report – Employment SAA report Page 44

SAA report – Employment Prepared by Angharad Price Meetings and communication

DATE and VENUE EVENT / ACTION and NARRATIVE

27 January 2016 London Bar Council Meeting – interesting discussions about barristers employed in local government and the impact of regulation.

24 February 2016 London Employed Bar Committee – discussions about the opportunities for the employed barristers including local government lawyers in relation to judicial appointments.

Summary of legislative changes and key issues Some proposed legislative changes and key issues/cases for employment law are set out below. First half of 2016 Consultation on grandparental leave expected 1 April 2016 National Living Wage to be introduced 6 April 2016 Financial penalties to be imposed on employers who fail to pay

an employment tribunal or settlement award 20 and 21 April 2016 Supreme Court scheduled to hear Onu v Akwiwu and

another; Taiwo v Olaigbe and another - This is a discrimination case where the Court of Appeal held that two Nigerian employees, whose employers felt able to treat them badly because of their status as vulnerable domestic migrant workers, did not suffer direct or indirect race discrimination

18 to 19 May 2016 Pimlico Plumbers Ltd v Smith listed to float in the Court of Appeal – this is a case about employment status where the EAT held that the employment tribunal was correct to also take into account the degree of personal financial risk taken by the plumber and the fact that both parties actions and the contractual documentation showed that they considered the plumber was self-employed. This has implications in relation to all areas of employment rights.

23 June 2016 UK referendum on EU membership which could have far reaching implications for employment law, much of which is based on European Directives and caselaw.

11/12 October 2016 General Municipal and Boilermakers Union v Henderson listed to float in the Court of Appeal – this is an unfair

LLG AGM 9th April 2016 Directors report – Employment SAA report Page 45

dismissal case but has implications for discrimination because the EAT held that: "The Law does not accord special protection for one category of belief and less protection for another. All qualifying beliefs are equally protected. Philosophical beliefs may be just as fundamental or integral to a person's individuality and daily life as are religious beliefs."

Early 2017 Tax-free childcare scheme to be introduced

2018 BIS scheduled to have reviewed Shared Parental Leave regulations and Parental Leave regulations.

2019 BIS scheduled to have reviewed the early conciliation scheme and Flexible Working regulations.

Working with partners Looking to forge links with the Employment Bar Association. Chair is also Chair of the South Wales Shared Services Special Interest Group for Employment which involves the 10 local authorities. Hoping in 2016 to make closer links with the Local Government Association and the Welsh Local Government Association who agree national terms and conditions. News and other activities In the current austerity climate, workforce changes have had a significant impact upon the work of employment lawyers working in local government and the challenges faced include; careful workforce planning using tools such as vacancy freezes, voluntary severance, redundancy and early retirement, changes to terms and conditions such as removal of additional payments, reducing the standard hours in a working week, increasing the use of part-time, agile and flexible working (with associated policy and practical implications) and increasing pressure to reduce and manage sickness absence whilst balancing the obligations under the Equality Act 2010, alongside trying to reduce the costs spent on agency worker and external consultants (when additional regulations are increasing costs.) Other changes such as the right to shared parental leave and the national living wage require careful consideration for both policy and practical developments. Forward planning Activities and Events planned for 2016/17 include arranging for employment SAA quarterly meetings, possible training sessions on new and significant issues such as the National living Wage, developments in discrimination cases. Additional Comments Plans to develop the use of the Forum and the SAA area on the LLG Website and to use the links with partners mentioned above to raise the profile of the employment SAA.

LLG AGM 9th April 2016 Directors report – Housing and Regeneration SAA report Page 46

Housing and Regeneration SAA report

Prepared by Alison Stuart, SAA Lead - Housing and Regeneration Meetings and communication

DATE ACTION VENUE

Sought LLG representative to be a speaker at National event

Capita Conferences

News and planned activities Liaising with LLG regarding proposed agenda for course in 2016 Engagement with Corporate Partners Proposed a further corporate partner – Bircham Dyson Bell keen to forge links with LLG. Additional notes To continue working with Philip Horsfield to move forward Housing proposal previously brought to the Board

LLG AGM 9th April 2016 Directors report – Licensing and Litigation SAA report Page 47

Licensing and Litigation SAA Prepared by Tim Briton, Lead Officer and Steve Turner, Deputy Lead Officer In summary

2015 has been another active year for the SAA particularly in respect of licensing

Training has been delivered by the SAA to approximately 500 people at eleven regional and national events, including a half day conference organised by the SAA which was attended by approximately 60 people

Nine other events, working groups and national fora have been attended on behalf of the SAA

Contributions have been made to three national guidance documents

Contributions have also been made to Local Government Lawyer, and to a national consultation

Meetings and communication During 2015, the following actions have taken place:

DATE ACTION VENUE

15 January 2015 Tim Briton gave a licensing legal update presentation at the Local Government Association Annual Licensing Conference http://www.local.gov.uk/past-event-presentations/-/journal_content/56/10180/6914931/ARTICLE

London

5 March 2015 Steve Turner attended the Institute of Licensing

York

14 March 2015 The LGA published its handbook for Councillors on taxi and PHV licensing, which Tim Briton contributed to

http://www.local.gov.uk/documents/10180/6869714/L15-87+Councillor+Handbook+-

http://www.local.gov.uk/past-event-presentations/-/journal_content/56/10180/6914931/ARTICLE





+Taxi+and+PHV+Licensing_06.pdf/c73bec4b-cd31-4bcd-be2c-f5fe3e87b4f4

26 March 2015 Tim Briton gave a presentation on making taxis safer through licensing at a North East Public Protection Partnership meeting

Gateshead

31 March 2015 Tim Briton attended the Local Government Association Taxi Conference

London

10 June 2015 Tim Briton attended the LGA Licensing Policy Forum

London

11 June 2015 Steve Turner gave a presentation on the Deregulation Act to IoL Regional Meeting

York

8 July 2015 Steve Turner presented licensing training

Leeds

13 July 2015 Tim Briton attended Public Health England Licensing Network meeting

Video conference

14 July 2015 Tim Briton attended North East Fraud Forum masterclass

Gateshead

15 July 2015 Shirley Jarlett gave a presentation to the Westminster Policy Forum

London

20 July 2015 Tim Briton attended a Local Alcohol Action Area seminar

Middlesbrough

30 July 2015 Article published on Local Government Lawyer prepared by Tim Briton

http://www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=23872%3Asafeguarding-vulnerable-people-through-taxi-licensing&catid=52&Itemid=20

http://www.local.gov.uk/documents/10180/6869714/L15-87+Councillor+Handbook+-+Taxi+and+PHV+Licensing_06.pdf/c73bec4b-cd31-4bcd-be2c-f5fe3e87b4f4



















14 September 2015

Tim Briton attended a corporate partner meeting with Mark Cook and Chris Plumley of Anthony Collins Solicitors

Gateshead

16 September 2015

Tim Briton attended the LGA Licensing Policy Forum

London

17 September 2015

Steve Turner presented licensing training

Leeds

18 September 2015

Tim Briton attended a Balance – the North East Alcohol Office licensing conference

Durham

23 September 2015

Tim Briton presented at an Institute of Licensing Safeguarding through Licensing seminar

Manchester

25 September 2015

Steve Turner presented at an Institute of Licensing Safeguarding through Licensing seminar

Bristol

30 September 2015

Tim Briton prepared a response to the Institute of Licensing’s consultation on a standardised model pool of conditions for the Licensing Act 2003

http://www.instituteoflicensing.org/

30 September 2015

Steve Turner presented at an Institute of Licensing Safeguarding through Licensing seminar

London

16 October 2015 Tim Briton gave a presentation about avoiding impartiality and bias at the Local Government Association Taxi Conference http://local.gov.uk/documents/10180/7533764/Impartiality,%20bias+and+appointing+people+to+the+committee+-Tim+Briton,Solicitor,%20Gateshead+Council+.pdf/701af0bd-ebe8-482c-8214-a9b2822d2dda

London

19 October 2015 Tim Briton arranged an LLG North East training event and gave a presentation on case studies of good practice in licensing; with presentations by John Coen from

Gateshead



http://local.gov.uk/documents/10180/7533764/Impartiality, bias+and+appointing+people+to+the+committee+-Tim+Briton,Solicitor, Gateshead+Council+.pdf/701af0bd-ebe8-482c-8214-a9b2822d2dda







(corporate partner) Weightmans and Charles Holland from Trinity Chambers

30 October 2015 Tim Briton attended a corporate partner meeting with Chris Plumley of Anthony Collins Solicitors

Gateshead

10 December 2015

Steve Turner arranged and led an Institute of Licensing working group on developing a national policy for PH and Taxi licensing decision making. Ongoing.

London

10 December 2015

Tim Briton gave a presentation about working with Members at an LLG National Junior Lawyer event; supported the Junior Lawyer Representatives in arranging the event and liaised with corporate partner Anthony Collins Solicitors for their support for the event

Gateshead

15 December 2015

The LGA published its fee setting guidance to Councils, which Tim Briton contributed to

http://www.local.gov.uk/publications/-/journal_content/56/10180/7613607/PUBLICATION

Steve Turner is leading an Institute of Licensing working group to develop a template policy on the relevance of criminal conduct for Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Drivers; and Tim Briton is assisting the LGA in revising and updating their template policy. This work is ongoing. Tim has also worked with Public Health England to support lawyers who advise licensing committees to help them have a greater understanding of the role of public health in the licensing regime and to set out key case law that public health colleagues should be aware of when considering licensing matters. Both Steve and Tim have contributed to the LLG website forum. Both Steve and Tim are regional officers of the Institute of Licensing, and take active roles to ensure so far as possible that the two organisations complement each other rather than compete, particularly in respect of training opportunities.







Tim represents the SAA on the Local Government Association Licensing Policy Forum and the Public Health Licensing Network, both of which hold regular meetings but for which the majority of work is carried out by email or telephone throughout the year. News and planned activities We are planning a national licensing conference, and are in discussion with key partners regarding speakers and topics. We are working with Public Health England on a project that will run from February to the end of May to support public health responsible authorities in a number of pilot sites to make best use of available data under the Licensing Act as it stands, which will then lead to analysis of whether the Act should be amended to incorporate a health based objective. In March we will be carrying out a peer review of licensing policies and procedures in conjunction with the Local Government Association. We are also approaching the Magistrates’ Association in conjunction with the LGA to discuss better understanding of the crucial role of the Magistracy in the licensing regime. Finally, funding is being sought to attend the LGA Annual Licensing Conference on 23 February 2016. List of SAA leads and contacts 2015/16

Tim Briton – SAA lead officer – [email protected]

Stephen Turner – deputy lead officer (Licensing) – [email protected]

Richard des Forges – Higher Rights Group joint lead officer – [email protected]

Mark Roberts – Higher Rights Group joint lead officer – [email protected]





LLG AGM 9th April 2016 Directors report – MO and Governance SAA report Page 52

Monitoring Officers & Governance SAA

Prepared by Eleanor Hoggart Meetings and communication


8.12.15 Law Society, Chancery Lane, London

Law Society In-House Committee meeting No specific issues relating to Local Govt – meeting principally around the proposed changes to the Law soc being brought about by their new C Ex – welcome modernization and a potential opportunity to keep up the pressure to ensure more quality of representation for the public sector element of the profession within the Law Soc

20.1.16 Kings College, London

Invited speaker at the Law Commission Symposium on their review of the law of Misconduct in Public Office. Request for input from membership brought no response but used the event to continue to highlight the need for improvements to the Members CoC regime.

26.1.16 CSPL Office, Horseguards, London

Invited as Stakeholder representative to event by the Committee on Standards in Public Life regarding their upcoming review of ‘The Ethics of regulators’. Useful practical input from members on issues arising from the limitation of the current CoC and again used the event to highlight the need for change in this area.

Summary of legislative changes and key issues See above – input into both the Law Commission Symposium on MiPO (with MP’s and senior DCLG civil servants present) and the CSPL Stakeholder event on misconduct in regulators by way of continuing to press the need for improvements and changes to the new/existing standards regime, based on the practical experiences of working MO’s as well as comments from elected members.

LLG AGM 9th April 2016 Directors report – Partnership and Procurement SAA report Page 53

Procurement and Partnership SAA report

Prepared by Ian Anderson Meetings and communication


3 December 2015 Manchester

Northern Powerhouse session

2016 Various meetings associated with Devolution Agenda

Summary of legislative changes and key issues A – Revised Procurement values for procurement in compliance with EU Procurement Directives From January 2016 – reduction in values at which EU Directives must be followed in light of change in respective valuation of Sterling against the Euro. Note in particular in relation to Services Contracts for which the limit is now circa £8k below current £172k limit. B – Grant of Concessionary Contracts being brought within EU Directives April 2016 – Grant of Concessionary Contracts is to be brought within EU Procurement Directives, however, indication of relatively high threshold - €5 186 000. C Local Government Partnership Working - Devolution 1. Legal Context:

The legal framework from which the concept of devolution developed arises from legislation passed in 2008 and 2009, in the absence of a popular mandate to consider the establishment of regional authorities as a separate tier of local government.

The framework for establishing the mechanisms for combined authorities was developed in the Local Transport Act 2008 and the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act, 2009.

That legislation provides for the establishment of Integrated Transport Authorities (LTA 2008) and Combined Authorities (LD, ED and CA 2009)


The key legislative change has been the passing of the Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016. The Act amends the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 to create greater flexibility for the Secretary of State in relation to the creation of Combined Authorities – enabling the Secretary of State to take a greater lead in this area, including undertaking consultation himself upon proposals that are brought forward and developing the concept of elected Mayors to provide a single governance framework for combined authorities.

The Act allows for Police and Crime Commissioner Powers to be brought within a combined authority and supports the development of supplementary Statutory Instruments which offers greater flexibility in relation to the establishment of Joint Committees and joint working with Health can be developed.

In addition the Act provides for the establishment of Sub-National Transport Bodies operating across a number of Combined Authorities to manage regional transport spend and to develop regional transport policy. For example in the north “Transport for the North” is the vehicle around which the Combined Authorities, proposed Combined Authorities and local authorities outside Combined Authorities are coming together to create a Sub-National Transport Body.

Working with partners There is significant engagement between Local Authorities at present in relation to the developing landscape for combined authorities and the governance arrangements that relate thereto. Engagement with private sector partners is underway in relation to the development this month of a framework for procuring private sector legal partners. Forward planning Inevitably going forward there will be a continuing significant focus upon the development of Combined Authorities, Joint Committees which cross over between Health Bodies and Local Authorities and Sub-National Transport Bodies. I intend to develop the alternate governance frameworks that are being considered through the LLG website. A key further piece of legislation likely to pass into law later this year is the Enterprise Bill. Particularly relevant from the current draft bill is section 19 which proposes to extend the operation of the primary authority scheme under the Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008 enabling the Secretary of State


to nominate primary authorities acting in partnership with business in relation to self regulation. This is an area which is subject to current legal review in the courts, however, it offers opportunities for partnership working with business which have yet to be fully developed.

LLG AGM 9th April 2016 Directors report – Planning, H and E SAA report Page 56

Planning, Highways and Environment SAA Prepared by Rachel Mckoy Meetings and communication DATE and VENUE EVENT / ACTION and NARRATIVE 4 February 2016 Bryan Johnston Consultant Editor - Planning Law

Magazine – Annual Lawyers Survey

Tele - con 2 February 2016

Richard Barlow – Brown Jacobson (Next quarterly calls booked for 17 May and 20th September 2016)

Tele-con 26 January 2016

Oliver Wilson - Gellards

Tel-cons 1 & 2 February & 26 January 2016, 18,9 & 7 December 2015

Chris Plumney, Amy Walker - Anthony Collins

Correspondence Alexander McDowall (Chair of London Branch & Home Counties SAA’s)

Tel- con 15.12.15

Richard Swede DCLG

Summary of legislative changes and key issues Housing &Regeneration Bill 2015 House of Lords Committee Stage scheduled 9 Feb. The Bill scheduled to receive Royal Assent early this year.

The purpose of the Bill is to provide the legislative means for the creation of more affordable homes, for increased home ownership and to improve the way housing is managed. A key part of this is reforming the planning system so that it facilitates the delivery of new homes.

The Bill is made up of eight parts, the first five focus on:

starter and custom/self-built homes; rogue landlords; recovering abandoned premises; reforming social housing; and other changes to simplify and improve legislation on housing and rents.


The main planning changes are included in part 6 of the Bill. The proposed planning reform focuses on seven key areas:

Neighbourhood Planning; local planning; planning in Greater London; local registers of land and permission in principal; planning permission; nationally significant infrastructure projects; and urban development corporations.

Changes to the compulsory purchase regime are included in part 7 of the Bill and are aimed at making compulsory purchase "clearer, fairer and faster".

The Bill now contains the following provisions in summary:

Local Plans

Clarity that the Secretary of State may make a direction relating to the subject matter of the documents specified in the local development scheme.

A new power for the Secretary of State to 'suspend' the local plan examination to consider specified matters.

Amendments to the Secretary of State's existing default power that will enable him to direct a LPA to prepare or revise a document, to submit that document to examination, publish the recommendation and to consider whether to adopt the document, in circumstances where "the Secretary of State thinks that a LPA are failing or omitting to do anything it is necessary for them to do in connection with the preparation, revision or adoption of a development plan document".

Starter Homes and Affordable Housing

A new legal duty on LPAs to carry out its relevant planning functions with a view to promoting the supply of Starter Homes in England.

A power for the Secretary of State to make regulations to provide that a LPA may only grant planning permission for specified residential development if the Starter Homes requirement is met. The requirements are to be set out in regulations but could provide that a LPA may only grant planning permission for residential development above a certain size


if a S 106 agreement provides for a certain number of starter homes or contribution towards the authority's provision of these.

Brownfield land and permission in principle through plans and registers

The government will require local authorities to prepare, maintain and publish local registers of specified land (Brownfield Register).

Provisions to give the Secretary of State the power, by a development order, to grant permission in principle to land allocated for development in a qualifying document.

Initially the government intends only that land allocated in the Brownfield Register, Development Plan Documents and Neighbourhood Plans will be capable of obtaining permission in principle.

The development order would set out the type and scope of the development. The current intention is for the provisions to apply to minor housing development (fewer than 10 units).

If land is allocated and satisfies the requirements the development order it will automatically grant permission in principle. The Development Management Procedure Order 2015 will be amended to set out the process for applicants and local authorities and the type and scope of development.

The government will consult on the details of the application process for the technical detail consent in due course. The technical consent will be required to commence development.

LPAs will be required to keep a register of permissions in principle and there is a power to issue statutory guidance.

DCLG Consultation on proposed changes to National Planning Policy definition of Affordable Housing in the NPPF – closes 22 February 2016 Working with partners “Regeneration Master Class” – Anthony Collins I have been working with Chris Plumney and Amy Walker at Anthony Collins to put together a regeneration training event. The “Regeneration Masterclass” has


now been finalised and will be held on the 7 March 2016 at their Birmingham Offices and will be branded jointly as an LLG and Anthony Collins event. Planning and Regeneration London Conference (Gellards) I am in the process of working upon putting together a London conference with Gellards which will have a regeneration and CPO focus. This will be very useful given the amendments to CPO detailed in the Housing & Planning Bill 2015. Work is being undertaken to elicit topics/areas that our members’ would like to be covered at this event which will hopefully take place later this year. Brown Jacobson I have continued to speak with Richard Barlow on a quarterly basis to discuss training opportunities and topics of interest in planning. Richard has provided several video training links to be published upon our website. These are currently with our Development Officer. Training notes on the highways and environmental law topics will be provided for publication following LLG re –branding in due course. I have been invited to attend the following events: • 25 Feb - Devolution Project (to discuss devolution in the context of

austerity and its implication)– Round table at Brown Jacobson • 26 April - Planning Class at Brown Jacobson

Richard has also advised that they have recently appointed Anita Bradley (former Head of Legal at Cheshire East).

DCLG I spoke with Richard Swede at DCLG in December 2015 about their capacity to undertake further secondments in the forthcoming months and was advised that they did not have capacity at present. We agreed that we would both continue to have dialogue on the subject as capacity could increase in the future. Richard advised that he was happy to consider accommodating a day placement at their offices but this arrangement would not be reciprocal at the current time. I intend to make contact again in March 2016 and will continue to put together a secondment pack in the interim. News and other activities A request for collaboration has been received from Planning Magazine in regards to the Annual lawyers Survey and the input of our members. I will publish the link to the survey on the website.


Forward planning I have contacted Alexander McDowall – Chair of London Branch Regeneration SAA in regards to the preparation of a LLG response to the DCLG consultation upon the amendment of the definition of Affordable Housing and will seek engagement with Alison Stuart on this issue. The closing date is the 22 February 2016. Additional Comments I will continue to touch base again this year with the other Corporate Sponsors that I was in correspondence with year last year (Wragges, Weightmans, DAC Beachcroft, Bevan Brittan, VWV, and Walker Morris).

LLG AGM 9th April 2016 Directors report – Junior Lawyer SAA report Page 61

Junior Lawyer SAA Prepared by Helen Thompson Meetings and communication


10 December 2015 St Mary’s Heritage Centre, Gateshead

NE Branch and SAA National Lead Junior Lawyers Event in partnership with Anthony Collins. Event held with the NE Branch aimed at Junior Lawyers. Event looked at difference between local authority and private sector work, working with Members and an overview of Judicial Review. Well attended and enjoyed by all.

Working with partners Worked together with Anthony Collins and the NE Branch to organize and run the Junior Lawyer event in December 2015. Forward planning It is hoped to repeat the event held in December in a Midlands and Southern venue. Discussions have been had with Anthony Collins who are willing to host the event at their offices in Birmingham and the Eastern Region.