Local government legal services could be delivered from just six regional centres of excellence within the next decade, it has been suggested.

A roadmap unveiled by the Association of Council Secretaries and Solicitors (ACSeS) last week outlined how a national network of six legal hubs could provide cost-effective legal services to local authorities across the country.

The hubs would be Birmingham for the Midlands; Kent for the south-east; Essex for the east; Bristol for the south-west; Cardiff for Wales; and Leeds for the north.

At a specially convened meeting attended by senior local government and private practice lawyers, ACSeS identified seven practice models for the future delivery of legal services. These ranged from the traditional model, where in-house lawyers carry out the bulk of legal work, through to an externalisation model, where most services are outsourced to private sector firms.

ACSeS president Mirza Ahmad said: ‘In this age of austerity, the writing is on the wall. It is time for creativity and the devising of new service delivery models that generate efficiencies and cost reductions.

‘There are around 450 local authorities in England and Wales, which means around 450 opportunities for duplication. This has to change, and I can clearly see local government legal services transformed over the next decade into a regional structure based around six centres.’

Solicitors in Local Government chair Stephen Turner said: ‘The proposals are thought-provoking and undoubtedly some, if not all, will become a reality. Channelling the legal work of so many local authorities into six regional centres will be a vast challenge. It’s too early to say with certainty what will fit and where.’