Think local

On 1 April 1974 local government suffered its first reorganisation for 40 years, and it seems to have been undergoing continuous reorganisation ever since. On that day, virtually every remaining old-style town clerk retired and the Bains report, 'The New Local Authorities: Management and Structure', brought in corporate management to replace the old departmentalised approach. Incidentally, it also deprived the top lawyer of his '“ yes, 'his', obviously, in those days '“ right to be in charge.

Bains styled the lawyer 'the geographer' of the council '“ the one who showed the way to get to the political destination, presumably avoiding the swamps of illegality with advice such as: 'Here be dragons, councillor'.

Bring in the new

Under corporate management teams, traditional service-based departmental structures initially remained although they were also reflected in the committee system '“ meaning that many solicitors tended to be responsible for specific committees rather than areas of practice which were encountered in the private sector. But there was far less law then and lawyers didn't need to specialise so much, developing their careers by moving from committee to committee, gaining experience and learning how the whole of the council worked. Only the smaller district councils can offer this kind of training these days, though rather than training in specific areas and gaining experience, it tends to be everything at the same time.

Then the Thatcher government came in and started a crusade to flood local government with legislation, which has continued to inundate us ever since '“ some of it unbelievably badly planned and drafted. Lawyers were needed to help comply with or find a way around the central government nonsense and allow innovative solutions to local problems. At the same time local authorities were, like everyone, affected by the growing tendency to mount legal challenges on issues from minor to substantial. The amount of law encountered, and so the number of lawyers needed, mushroomed. Lawyers who might otherwise have gained broad experience had to specialise '“ none more so than in the area of child care. During the 1970s in my authority many child care hearings were conducted not by a solicitor but by the Social Services Department's Court Liaison Officer. Now child care lawyers in many authorities are in double figures.

At first it was difficult to fund larger legal departments. Councillors preferred to spend money on frontline services. Backroom folk had to struggle '“ until time recording and billing of services began. If the work was there it was paid for and the resources could be funded. There were always the odd 'clients' (as we now call those who were once called colleagues) who thought they could save money by avoiding the lawyers; but most quickly realised that it was more expensive having to be rescued from swamps and dragons than being shown the way around them.

Occasionally there can be problems with the 'I'm your client' mentality, as some object to being told a proposal isn't in the council's interests or expect to be unquestioningly supported in a dispute with another service (for instance where social workers are concerned about the effect on children of possession proceedings by housing teams '“ though current versions of Bains-style management can usually sort that one out). And of course the committees have largely gone '“ replaced by elected mayors or leaders with cabinets, responsible for nearly everything. Now we are more business-like, more financially responsible, more oriented around systems geared to getting results provided we remember that a system is a tool and not an end in itself.

With the Thatcher era came the view that local government legal departments were flabby and not particularly effective beasts. Consequently, compulsory competitive tendering came in, forcing legal departments to outsource a percentage of their work to the private sector, which would in theory do the work more efficiently and more cheaply. This then morphed into 'best value', which changed to 'value for money', and finally the audit commission reviews. What this has meant in practical terms is if you've worked in local government for long enough you'll be aware that everything goes in cycles, with legal departments now bringing back in house the work which was originally put out many years ago.

All shapes and sizes

This brings us on to the 430-plus local government legal departments themselves. These vary in size from two or three solicitors supported by legal assistants, as in some district councils, to that of Birmingham City Council which has over 200 lawyers, with every shape and size in between.

The structure of the department is generally the same with a head of legal services in charge, principal lawyers beneath and assistants below them; though some have moved to structuring the department similarly to private practice with 'partners' heading up the grouping of legal areas.

As a result different models for providing legal services have emerged. There are those who have formed loose groupings such West London Alliance who have joined to put together approved lists of suppliers to purchase services at a reduced rate and share training and experiences which are unique to their locality. There is also the Suffolk model where seven local authorities have formed an alliance which shares services and expertise from each of their respective authorities in an internal purchasing agreement. This enables them to recruit, retain and give better experiences and a better quality of work to the solicitors working within the individual authority, which they might have to leave to progress their career if it were not there. Others such as Essex County Council run along the lines of a regional firm, providing legal services not only to their council but to other district authorities, and actively tendering for work from other public sector bodies such as health.

Local government has the same obligation whether you are in the north, south, east or west but there are regional variations depending on the population and area you live in. This can be seen just by looking at your own personal priorities. The council is our client, and the council is driven by the policies and priorities of the elected members. It is for the legal department to give clear advice not only on practical day-to-day issues but on the strategic vision of the incumbent party.

Every local authority legal department has a planning department and is constrained by the same legislation, but each will have their own individual priorities and local or regional issues '“ some may be dealing with areas of outstanding natural beauty, others regeneration. The same goes with children and adult social services, which follow the make-up of the population and the social problems faced within the borough '“ some will be dealing with illegal immigrants due to the area being a port of entry, others drug problems. It is a truism in local government that no two days are the same and neither are two authorities.

A local government lawyer is required to have a broad base of knowledge as not only do you need to know your area of law but you need to be able to understand constitutional issues and assess whether the person instructing you can actually give you those instructions. This is because a local authority can only act where legislation gives it the power, and a local government officer can only proceed if the constitution allows him to act on that power. You don't want to be in court prosecuting only to discover at the outset that your prosecution cannot take place because the notice was not served by someone who was authorised.

Ups and downs

Whereas before more 'complex' work would be outsourced to private practice, the trend now is to keep as much as possible in house and to expand the knowledge of the lawyers working within the department. This allows for better career progression and a better working experience. Even where work is outsourced the local government lawyer is expected to be more hands-on and take an active interest in the work.

The credit crunch has obviously had an effect on all areas of the legal profession whether you work in private practice or in the public sector. The areas most affected are adult and children services, as greater demand is placed on limited resources leading to a rise in judicial reviews questioning the decisions of local authorities. Planning and regeneration have been hit too, with developers either mothballing their projects or withdrawing altogether. Conveyancing within the context of right to buy has slowed '“ although I heard of one local authority thinking of moving into the mortgage lending arena to stimulate the local market.

There will always be work in local government whether there is an upturn or a downturn in the market. Local government will always be in flux as the law never stands still and local priorities never remain the same. But lawyers and clients need to remember they're still a team working to the same end. And I wonder where the future local authority lawyers '“ as opposed to planning, housing or child care lawyers '“ are going to come from.