Local government legal services will be ‘severely at risk of implosion’ if public sector budget cuts force a decline in professional standards, the new chairman of the Solicitors in Local Government group has warned.

Stephen Turner, a solicitor at Kingston-upon-Hull City Council, said maintaining services and good governance with ever decreasing budgets would be a painful process for many local authorities.

‘We must guard against a constant "more from less" strategy.

‘[A legal department] has a critical mass below which it is severely at risk of implosion either through lack of time to make effective judgments and decisions or the unavailability of prompt, proper and effective advice,’ he said.

Turner added that, as well as the responsibilities owed to the local authority, legal teams also have to maintain professional standards and comply with regulation.