When I first joined local government from private practice in the mid-1960s the emphasis, although not overtly, was upon quality of service without any necessary balance with cost effectiveness.

Client interests and influence were not seen to be paramount.

Professionals generally (and this was probably true in the private sector at that time) were often central players with influential roles.

Quietly, however, and with gathering momentum, change began as local authorities and their members began to redefine their roles and the way in which they wanted to operate.

Outcome, not process, took on more emphasis.Within a decade, working in many local authorities was very different and now, 30 years on, the local government lawyer's working environment is virtually unrecognisable from the days when John Hayes and I occupied adjacent rooms in the Guildhall of Nottingham City Council.The cultural changes have been particularly dramatic.

Professional elitism is a thing of the past.

Lawyers are part of the service delivery process and will invariably be expected to support it by quality legal services at reasonable cost.In days when local government finance is continually being constrained, support services come under greater scrutiny in the defence of front-line services.Perhaps the greatest catalyst for change has been the introduction of compulsory competitive tendering, first for so-called 'blue collar services' and now for a range of professional and administrative services including legal.Hard experience on the part of local authorities testing the market and sometimes seeking to preserve their in-house organisations has led to a focus on the cost and quality of council services.

As soon as 'blue collar' jobs began to be exposed to risk under CCT it was to be expected that the employees affected would expect 'white collar' colleagues, whom they saw as cosseted, to take their share of the pain.CCT for legal services is, of course, already biting in the London boroughs and the metropolitan districts where the first contracts will be let and operative on 1 April 1996.

In general, however, most local authorities will have made some strides to prepare for competitive tendering, whether compulsory or voluntary.

This trend is irreversible, certainly in terms of market testing, quality and price.So where has all this left the local government solicitor in his or her working environment and looking at the prospects? First, in many of the larger local authorities, there could be some form of split, either hard or soft, between the client and provider sides of the legal department.

Some departments providing legal services will not have their own budgets which will be held by the client departments.Many legal departments will have reviewed their structures and examined the cost of their service.

They will be engaged on preparing specifications and tender documents for CCT.

Time costing, usually by computer, is fairly commonplace and increasingly you will find case management systems and some departments will be operating trading accounts.

What is becoming more pronounced is the concept and operation of a legal office within the local authority, managed on commercial principles.

There will often be agreements between the legal provider and the client on what is to be provided, at what charge and within what timescale.What I have described is not of universal application, but certainly I would expect some of such changes to affect most local authorities and their legal departments whether arising from compulsion or otherwise.

Legal services in many local authorities are now subject to the same broad imperatives as those affecting private practitioners, namely quality and cost.Another factor compounding the uncertainty in local government at present is the local government review being conducted by the Local Government Commission.

This is expected to be completed by the end of 1995 and affects many of our larger cities and towns and other county areas.

Clearly, in affected local authorities there will be changes in the type and volume of legal work.I believe local government legal work offers considerable interest and variety.

This is enhanced particularly by working in the larger authorities, but these are the ones which are facing compulsory competitive tendering for their legal services.

A well managed and prepared local authority legal depa rtment will have a good prospect of winning tenders.Anyone contemplating a career in local government legal work should certainly make enquiries as to the present position with CCT and what steps the local authority has taken to prepare for it.

There will also be a range of smaller authorities which will fall below the CCT threshold whose legal services will not be exposed to competition.In the current climate there are issues clouding decisions about working within the local government legal service.

The real test is whether or not the local authority concerned and its legal department is a quality organisation.One should look for important indicators, eg realistic structures, commercial approach, IT, degree of outsourcing, CCT preparations.

I still advocate local government as a stimulating working environment.

It presents a challenge no less real than joining private practice.

The waters are chillier than they were.

We are looking for tough-minded people who want to take on the challenge.