Local agreement means councils will pool legal expertise

Sixteen local authority legal departments across the east of England last week signed a joint working agreement, amid predictions that this is the way forward for council lawyers.

The agreement means that the councils involved will pool information on everything from land sales and acquisitions to child protection and adoption hearings.

They will charge a fee for any help given or work done, to be arranged among themselves.

The local authorities involved are Cambridgeshire and its four district councils, Norfolk, Cambridge, Bedfordshire, Essex, Suffolk, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Peterborough, Kings Lynn, West Norfolk and Milton Keynes.

Keir Hounsome, head of law at Norfolk, said the cornerstone of the initiative was a regional database giving details of individuals within the local authorities who have specialist knowledge, skills or experience in a particular area of law.

'On a more formal level, there is the opportunity for sharing staff,' he said.

'For example, if someone has left or has long-term sickness, you can see if there are any other authorities who can at least help out in the short or medium term, either from their own office or by moving across.'

Mr Hounsome said he envisaged more councils designing their own agreements in their localities.

'I think you will see not just one agreement but four or five overlapping ones, perhaps county-based,' he added.

Joy Posting, head of legal at Cambridgeshire, said: 'The new arrangement will allow each authority to tap into the expertise of the group members which will help us control costs and improve services.'

Stephen Rickitt, chairman of the Law Society's Local Government Group, agreed that local authority legal departments are increasingly interested in co-operating with each other to avoid duplication of work.

'Conflicts of interest can arise, but those are the exceptions and not the rule in my experience,' he added.

'I believe a lot of authorities will be looking at arrangements such as this initiative.'

Paula Rohan