Pastoral care for solicitors needs to stay high on the agenda of both the Law Society and the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), the incoming chairman of Solicitors in Local Government (SLG) has said.


George Curran, a former head of legal services at Walsall Council who is now working as a locum solicitor at West Wiltshire District Council and Harlow Council, warned that work in this area should not be allowed to fall between two stools following the post-Clementi split.



Arguing that the issue needs to be addressed for the future benefit of the whole profession, he said: 'We see a clear link between the two organisations in terms of pastoral care, trying to help people who might be in difficult circumstances, and trying to prevent them from being the subject of regulatory control.'



Mr Curran added that the SLG would continue to maintain its historically strong relationship with the Law Society, having worked together on initiatives such as Lexcel.



However, he called on the Society to give groups the ability to forward plan by indicating how much funding they are likely to receive over a period of three years, rather than the current annual budgeting.



'The groups are active and they do deliver,' said Mr Curran, who added that the SLG also sees it as important to develop a positive relationship with the SRA.



Mr Curran took over as chairman of the group from Nigel Snape of Malvern Hills District Council at the SLG's annual weekend school, held this year in Cambridge, which attracted close to 300 delegates.



l Habib Hameed Aziz, a senior lawyer at Leeds City Council, was named the SLG and Trowers & Hamlins local government young solicitor of the year at the weekend school for his innovative work co-ordinating the council's large housing department. Sonia Belfield of Kingston-upon-Hull City Council received a commendation.



Philip Hoult