LGG Weekend School for Local Government Lawyers3 – 5 April 2014 I University of York

www.lgg.org.uk

In association with

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With around 20 years' experience delivering CPD accredited, industry-defining training to the public sector legal professionals, LGG draws on a pool of talent, sector knowledge and legal expertise to shape acomprehensive programme of legal training events and webinars thatresponds to changing needs, creatively identifies training requirements andis ultimately designed to provide the public sector legal practitioner with a one-stop shop where the emphasis is always on quality and value formoney. As well as providing courses, seminars, bespoke in-house training,

conferences and events LGG, together with the Local GovernmentLawyer, continues to provide a comprehensive selection of on-linewebinar training at www.localgovernmentlaw.tv LGG is the limitedcompany trading arm of Lawyers in Local Government (LLG)

For further information about all our training events and to enquireabout in-house training contact the LGG office on 01483 542917 or visit our website www.lgg.org.uk

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CONTENTS

President’s Welcome 52013 – 2014 LLG Board Members 6LGG Weekend School 2014 Arrangements 8Business Support Managers Programme 10Trainee Day Programme 12Main Weekend School Programme 14Speakers’ Biographies and Exhibitors 18LLG Awards Ceremony 47Our Sponsors 48

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Dear Colleague

Firstly let me extend to all our delegates, speakers, sponsors and exhibitors a very warmwelcome to this charming City of York. In time honoured tradition the LGG team have again excelled themselves in putting together an excellent show of legal talent in terms ofthe key legal topics we would expect to see covered. So whether you are a trainee solicitor,or a head of legal services, a social services lawyer or a housing litigator there is plenty ofrelevant lectures and seminars to keep you busy!

The remarkable talent we have within local government is reflected in the ever growingnumber of in house local government lawyers leading on sessions which I am delightedabout. So thanks again to all of you who have worked extremely hard to both prepare for and deliver these sessions.

I am also extremely grateful to all our commercial sponsors, whom without their continuedgenerosity and participation the event would not be what it has become today.

For those who are new to the Weekend School can I extend a particularly warm welcomeand ask you to bear in mind that the event is so much more than just attending seminars and lectures. The opportunity to network with both your fellow peers in local government,lawyers from a huge range of firms and barrister’s chambers, and other sponsors andexhibitors will prove invaluable, and may even prove of more value and longevity than the lectures and seminars themselves.

Do take time out to visit as many of the exhibitors stands as you can as this presents anexcellent opportunity to learn about what some of our private sector lawyers have been up to, as well as meeting up with key legal suppliers.

Finally, remember to have some fun! We are not expecting you to give up part of a weekendand not socialise. The highlight of course will be the drink’s reception and formal dinner onthe Friday evening but there will be other opportunities to take some time out and visit some of the spectacular charms that the great City of York has to offer.

On a personal note the event will mark the end of my Presidency of this fantasticorganisation, and it has been an absolute privilege to have served you all over the last year. I do hope I get the opportunity to meet as many of you as possible over the weekend.

Kind regards

Mark HynesLLG President

President’s Welcome

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2013 – 2014 LLG BOARD MEMBERS

EXECUTIVE MEMBERS

Mark HynesPresident

Nicholas DobsonCommunications Officer

PhilipThomsonVice President

Nigel SnapeTreasurer

Bev CullenNW Branch

David CarterLGG Chair

Philip McCourtPast ACSeS President

BRANCH OFFICERS

Guy GoodmanE Midlands Branch

Bev CullenNW Branch

Andrew JolleyWales Branch

Quentin BakerEastern Branch

Ann-Maria BrownSE Branch

Christine Forde W Midlands Branch

Doreen Forrester-BrownLondon Branch

Baan Al-KhafajiSW Branch

Stephen Turner Yorkshire & Humber Branch

Andy ThomNE Branch

Stephen TaylorSouthern Branch

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SAA LEAD OFFICERS

Lia Musto-ShintonSAA: Adult Social Care & Health

Mark TurnbullSAA: InformationManagement

Stuart EvansSAA: Planning, Highways & Environment

Graham ColeSAA: Children’s Services & Education

Nicola HartleySAA: Litigation and Licensing

Gurbinder SanghaSAA: Junior Lawyer

Paul HodgsonSAA: Employment

Eleanor HoggartSAA: Monitoring Officers and Governance

Sam McGintySAA: Junior Lawyer

Alison StuartSAA: Housing &Regeneration

Ian AndersonSAA: Partnership & Procurement

LLG POLICY OFFICER

Tony KilnerPolicy Officer

Lawyers in Local Government (LLG)was formed in April 2013 by the mergerof the Association of Council Secretariesand Solicitors (ACSeS) and Solicitors inLocal Government (SLG), and operatesthe wholly owned subsidiary company,

LGG Limited, as its trading company.LLG’s primary purpose is to represent,promote and support the interests ofits members.

Membership is open to local governmentlegal or governance officers workingwithin a local authority, includingMonitoring Officers and their deputies, solicitors, barristers, legal executives,licenced conveyancers and trainees.

For further information about Lawyers in Local Government, its membershipand how to become a member please visit www.lawingov.org.uk

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LGG WEEKEND SCHOOL 2014 ARRANGEMENTS

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Weekend School Information DeskThe Weekend School information desk will be located in theExhibition Centre

Delegate Registration for the Weekend School and CPDRegistration will take place at the Weekend Schoolinformation desk in the Exhibition Centre on Thursdayevening 18.00 – 21.30 and on Friday and Saturday from 08.00.Attending all sessions of the main programme provides 11.25CPD hours. Please ensure you register for CPD hours bysigning in at the delegate registration as above.

To claim CPD hours from the Bar Council please completethe Bar Council signing in form at the delegate registration as above. Please note all sessions may not be accredited.

CPD course reference is FE/LLGN

Overnight accommodationRoom keys can be collected after 14.00 on the day of arrivalfrom the Information Centre South in the Roger Kirk Centre,located between the Exhibition Centre and James College. The Information Centre South is staffed 24 hours a day and keys can be collected throughout that time.

Room keys must be returned to the Information Centre Southby 09.30 on the day of your departure.

University staff at the Information Centre South will assist withany enquiries you may have regarding your room during your stay.

Dress CodeSmart Casual with the exception of the Friday evening formaldinner which is a black tie dinner.

Name BadgeConference badges will need to be worn at all times, apartfrom the Friday evening dinner, and will be collected whenregistering for the Weekend School.

Car ParkingThere is plenty of Pay and Display parking on the campus.Parking is free between 18.00 and 08.00 each weekday and isfree from 18.00 Friday to 08.00 Monday. Parking can be paidby cash at the car park machines and costs £1.00 per parthour or £6.00 for the full day. Parking tickets must be paid for each day. A parking permit can be purchased (rather than paying each day at the car park machine) from theConference Support Office P/T003 in the Exhibition Centrefrom 13.00 on Thursday afternoon and throughout Fridayfrom 08.00. The cost of a parking permit is £6.60 per day and can bepurchased for more than one day at a time. There are nocard payment facilities.

Left LuggageOn the Saturday left luggage can be placed in the James Hallby the Galleria Restaurant.

Internet AccessThere is free wifi available in the Exhibition Centre and allpublic areas of the campus. Wifi codes can be collected fromthe Information Centre South when collecting overnightroom keys. Please notewifi connectivity may be affected by demandseparate codes will be required for different devicesto access the internet from the bedrooms you will need tobring an Ethernet cable to the university

Thursday Evening Exhibition and Dinner,Exhibition CentreThe exhibition will be opened to delegates by Mark Hynes,LLG President at 18.00 on Thursday and delegate registrationfor the Weekend School will take place throughout theevening at the Weekend School information desk in the Exhibition Centre.

There will be a buffet served from 19.30 – 20.30 in theexhibition centre with an accompanying cash bar for wine,beer and fruit juice from 18.00 to 23.00 and this will be theonly bar open on the campus.

A delegate quiz will take place amongst sponsoring exhibitingcompanies with a winner’s prize draw taking place between21.30 and 22.00.

All delegates are invited to attend two meetings being held on the Thursday evening. Nicola Hartley and David Raeburn,Law Works, will hold a meeting about participating in ProBono work and Noel Inge, Cilex, will hold a meeting aboutthe Legal Apprenticeship Scheme in local government.

CateringThe evening meal on Thursday will be in the ExhibitionCentre and will be served from 19.30 – 20.30

Breakfast each day is served in the Galleria Restaurant in the Roger Kirk Centre 07.00 – 09.00

Tea/coffee breaks and lunch on Friday and Saturday will be served in the Exhibition Centre.

The formal, black tie dinner will take place in the Galleria Restaurant in the Roger Kirk Centre.

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Friday Evening Formal Black Tie DinnerA pre-dinner drinks reception will take place in the JamesHall by the Galleria Restaurant from 18.45 for everybodywho is attending the formal dinner. Call to dinner will be at 19.30. The dinner will be held in the Galleria Restaurantand all delegates are free to make arrangements for theirown seating plan with the exception of the guests of theLLG President who will be seated at the guest tables.

Speeches from Mark Hynes, LLG President and the after dinner speaker, Richard Atkins QC of St PhilipsChambers, will follow the dinner with the band Jamms and a disco completing the evening entertainments.

The evening will close at 01.30.

After Dinner Speaker

Richard Atkins QCSt Philips ChambersDescribed in the Legal 500 as "The dedicated RichardAtkins QC is a powerful and persuasive advocate whoattracts praise for his ability to command and controlthe courtroom and proceedings." Placed in Band 1 of theChambers and Partners Directory which states: "Has asubstantial practice in serious crime and regulatory law.He specialises predominantly in murder cases includinggangland and matrimonial killings." Richard took silk in2011. He specialises in regulatory and serious criminaloffences. His regulatory practice comprises ConsumerLaw and Trading Standards cases, Health and Safety casesincluding associated inquests and cases arising frombusiness offences. He has appeared before the Professional

Golfers’ Association National Disciplinary Committeeand has advised the Royal Automobile Club Motor Sports Association. He has prosecuted for the SeriousFraud Office. He has previously dealt with liquor and entertainment licensing cases. He has extensiveexperience in murder and manslaughter cases, complexmulti-defendant high value frauds and serious sexualoffences. He defends and prosecutes in equal measureand his reputation is as an approachable, engaging andentertaining advocate. Richard sits as a Crown CourtRecorder and is authorised to try all criminal offencesexcept homicide. He is one of a small number of JudicialCollege Tutor Judges in which role he trains Judges andRecorders. He is also a Midland Circuit and Gray’s InnAdvocacy Trainer. Richard has recently been appointed asa Tribunal Chairman for the Financial Reporting Councilwhich is the UK's independent regulator responsible for promoting high quality corporate governance andreporting to foster investments. It also oversees theregulatory activities of the actuarial profession and theprofessional accountancy bodies. Richard is the Head ofthe St Philip's Chambers Criminal Group and a memberof the St Philip's Chambers Regulatory Group. He alsohas a door tenancy at 4 King’s Bench Walk, the Chambersof Timothy Raggatt QC in London. Richard is the MidlandCircuit Queen’s Counsel Representative on the GeneralCouncil of the Bar of England and Wales. He is Chairmanof the Bar Council Member Services Board, and sits on theGeneral Management Committee of the Bar Council. Heis a member of the BARCO escrow account committee.He was vice-Chairman of the 2013 Bar Conference and isthe Chairman of the 2014 Bar Conference. He enjoys 20thCentury Military History, Ballroom dancing, good red wineand (last but not least) his family.

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BUSINESS SUPPORT MANAGERS PROGRAMME: WEDNESDAY 2 APRIL 2014

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Wednesday 2 April14.00 Onward arrive at York University and collect room key.

17.30 – 19.00 Self Service Dinner (The Edge, Wentworth College)

Thursday 3 April09.00 Session 1 - Business Strategy

Matthew Stringer, Business Growth Partner,Advance Business Consultancy Ltd

10.30 Coffee Break

11.00 Session 2 - Document ManagementPaul Sachs, Netmaster Solutions Ltd

12.30 Lunch

14.00 Session 3 - Local Authority ProcurementDean Backhouse, Procurement Governance & Regulation Manager,Leeds City Council

15.30 Tea Break

16.00 - 17.30Session 4 - ABS for Local Government and the Solicitors Accounts Rules

Frances Woodhead, Head of Local Government,Eversheds LLP

Friday 4 April09.00 Session 5 - Marketing & Brand Strategy

Matthew Stringer, Business Growth Partner,Advance Business Consultancy Ltd

10.30 Coffee Break

11.00 Session 6 - How Mindfulness can help you work more efficiently

Jackie Hawken, Mindfulness Bristol & Equanalta

12.30 Close of BSM

Chaired by

Elliot Smith, Professional Services Manager,Peterborough City Council

Course informationThe BSM programme is being held in roomP/T111 on the first floor of the Exhibition Centre

CateringThe following will be served in The Edge,Wentworth College

Dinner Wednesday evening 17.30 – 19.00

Breakfast Thursday morning 08.00 – 09.00

Lunch Thursday 12.30 – 13.45

The following will be served in the Exhibition Centre

Dinner Thursday evening 19.30 – 20.30

Friday morning coffee break 10.30 – 11.00

Lunch Friday 13.00 – 14.15

The following will be served in the Galleria Restaurant, Roger Kirk Centre

Breakfast Friday morning 07.00 – 09.00

Thursday eveningThe exhibition will be opened on the Thursday evening by Mark Hynes, LLGPresident at 18.00 with an opportunity to meet with the exhibiting companies and takepart in the sponsoring exhibiting quiz with awinners prize draw taking place at 20.00

Joining the Main Weekend SchoolBSM delegates have the option to extend their stay by joining the main Weekend Schoolprogramme from Friday afternoon until either Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning.These both include attendance at the formalblack tie dinner on the Friday evening.

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SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

BSM

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ME Matthew Stringer

Business Growth Partner, Advance Business Consultancy Ltd

Matthew has a proven track record of successfullygrowing, expanding and developing highlyprofitable businesses around the globe. Usingfocused and innovative strategies he generatesand executes exciting, fresh, tailor-made solutionsto drive significant results. Matthew has occupiedseveral executive level positions throughout his career, including his time working for theentertainment giant, Bodog. Matthew isextremely results driven and prides himself on thededication, focus and expertise he and his teamapply to each and every client. Matthew foundedAdvance Business Consultancy to offer a worldclass service to small and medium size companiesthroughout the UK and Ireland. Clients continueto choose Advance Business Consultancy due tothe unrivalled level of results, the 100% moneyback guarantee, competitive prices, flexibility,highly efficient service and proven track record.Matthew employs six members of staff whichallows Advance Business Consultancy to offerfocused services supported by highly skilledsubject experts. Skills ranging from BusinessStrategy, Sales, Marketing and Branding, PR andExecutive Level Coaching are all available to help clients achieve their goals, no matter howcomplex and challenging.

Dean BackhouseProcurement Governance & Regulation Manager,Leeds City Council

Dean currently has responsibility for theProcurement Governance and Regulation side of the Procurement Unit, which consists of four distinct teams, namely the compliance andregulation team (legal); the governance team;initiatives and projects; and the performance andsystems team. With over 27 years’ experience inlocal government (his first role was delivering mailto Council offices from the Civic Hall Post Room)25 of those dealing in legal work in one form or another. Dean’s legal grounding was in debtrecovery and housing law before turning his hand

to procurement over the last 13 years givingadvice on the application of the Public ContractsRegulations and regularly advising on majorcontracts, the latest being Procurement 2011.Dean has a vast amount of experience of litigationincluding conducting advocacy in both the Countyand Magistrates Court, instructing Counsel anddefending numerous litigation claims includingJudicial Review applications. During his time in theprocurement unit Dean has been asked to attendas a guest speaker relating to the EU PublicProcurement Directives in a number of MemberStates including Latvia, Lithuania, Croatia, Slovakiaand Bulgaria.

Frances WoodheadHead of Local Government, Eversheds LLP

Frances leads the Local Government team inEversheds and has over 25 years experience of local government and public sector work.Before joining Eversheds she was Director ofLegal Service and Deputy Monitoring Officer forSheffield City Council and had a long career inlocal government, working for local authoritiesand West Yorkshire Police Authority. Frances hasexperience of advising local authorities on a widerange of issues including governance, employment,shared services, major projects and innovativeservice delivery models. She has a particularinterest and experience in education, health, police and strategic partnerships.

Paul SachsNetmaster Solutions Ltd

Paul Sachs is the managing director of NetmasterSolutions, a company that specialises in themanagement of legal documentation and theproduction of electronic bundles. He hasdeveloped ground-breaking strategies forstreamlining the handling of documents in areas that include court legal bundles, tribunalpreparation, FOI redacted response and agendapreparation. He has helped Local Authorities andLaw Firms save over half of their costs and reducedocument preparation timescales four fold. In 2013 Paul led the team that piloted the use of electronic bundles in the Crown Court on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Jackie HawkenMindfulness Bristol & Equanalta

Jackie Hawken has been recognised as one of theUK's best Mindfulness teachers. A Buddhist andformer local government lawyer and practicemanager, she now runs Mindfulness Bristol - anorganisation that teaches people how to managetheir lives calmly and optimistically. Mindfulness"Paying attention in a particular way in the presentmoment and non-judgementally" is being used allover the world in all professions; indeed, Radio 4recently reported that it is now being used in theHouses of Parliament by MPs. In the UK theNational Health Service is introducing Mindfulnessas a way of helping people with stress, depressionand anxiety. Jackie takes the tools of Mindfulness,mixing them, inter alia, with clinical psychology andcognitive behavioural therapy to run workshopsfor local government employees, including manylawyers and headteachers. She also works as apsychological coach, helping people one to one by telephone, skype and face to face. Lawyers areincreasingly using her one to one service and shecontinues to work as a volunteer for LawCare.

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TRAINEE DAY PROGRAMME: FRIDAY 4 APRIL 2014

Friday 4 April 2014

09.00 Registration (Exhibition Centre)

09.15 Opening AddressGurbinder Sangha, LLG Junior Lawyer Representative and Herefordshire Council

09.35 Local Partnerships, Major Infrastructure Projectsand the Role of Local Government Lawyers

Rob Hann, Local Partnerships LLP

10.05 Introduction to Local Government Law: The Dark Art of Making Decisions

Clare Hardy, Eversheds LLP

11.05 Coffee Break (Exhibition Centre)

11.45 Case Law Update Richard Clayton QC, 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square

12.45 LLG Trainee and Junior Lawyer NetworkGurbinder Sangha, LLG Junior Lawyer Representative and Herefordshire Council

13.00 Lunch (Exhibition Centre)

Delegates can choose which option they would like to attend in the afternoon

OPTION 114.15 Insights Personal Discovery

An introduction to the Insights PersonalDiscovery followed by individual analysis ofthe on-line survey and personal profile

Kendyl Clarke, LexisNexis

15.45 Tea Break (Exhibition Centre)

16.15 Insights Personal Discovery, continuedUnderstanding your personal profile; buildinga personal development plan and how to putthis into practice

Kendyl Clarke, LexisNexis

17.00 Close

OPTION 2

14.15 Powers and Legal Issues affectingLocal Government: Ultra Vires and why it remains an issue despiteLocalism and General Competence

Rob Hann, Local Partnerships LLPandGavin Allan,LexisNexis

15.45 Tea Break (Exhibition Centre)

16.15 Charging and Trading Issues

Rob Hann, Local Partnerships LLPandGavin Allan,LexisNexis

17.00 Close

Course InformationThe trainee programme is beingheld in the Exhibition Centre

CateringThroughout the day the cateringwill be in the Exhibition Centre

Joining the Main Weekend SchoolTrainee delegates have the optionto extend their stay to the Saturdaymorning and attend the formalblack tie dinner on the Friday night,or, to extend their stay to attendthe formal dinner and join the mainWeekend School programme tothe end of Saturday.

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SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

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Kendyl ClarkLexisNexis

Kendyl Clarke is an HR Business Partner atLexisNexis based in central London, supportingthe Sales, Marketing, Strategy and Technologyareas within LexisNexis UK & Ireland. Kendyl’s role involves partnering with business leaders,designing and delivering HR initiatives that alignwith the business strategy and deliver againstbusiness priorities. Originally from New Zealand,Kendyl has worked in HR for 7 years in NewZealand and Australia before relocating to the UK in 2011. She holds bachelor degrees in bothPsychology and Human Resource Managementand is an accredited Insights practitioner.

Richard Clayton QC4-5 Gray’s Inn Square

Richard Clayton QC covers a wide range of advisory and litigation work in the localgovernment field: eg on vires powers andfinancing, constitutional and standards issues,education, housing, social services/community careand mental health, planning and environmentalcases, public procurement, health care and humanrights. He has appeared in many Supreme Court,House of Lords and Privy Council cases, mostrecently last year in the important FOI case,Kennedy v Charity Commission. Richard is rankedin Chambers Directory as a Leading Silk in PublicLaw, Human Rights and Local Government Law.Recent cases of note include Kennedy, R(Littlefair)v Darlington BC (2013) (local government cuts,R(Southwest Care Homes) v Devon CC (No 2)(2012) (public sector equality duty concerningfees for private care home providers)andR(Condliff) v North Staffordshire PCT (2011) (CA- Art 8 and health care). He is the UnitedKingdom’s representative to the VeniceCommission, the Council of Europe’s advisorybody on constitutional law, is a former Chairmanof the Constitutional and Administrative Law BarAssociation and a former Vice Chair of Liberty.Richard has been an Associate Fellow at theCentre for Public Law at Cambridge Universitysince 2001.

Gavin AllanLexisNexis

Gavin Allan is a Regional Training Consultant at LexisNexis based in the Birmingham area,supporting clients in the East Midlands. He hasbeen at Lexis for 17 years in various customersupporting roles and has worked in the TrainingDepartment for 8 years. His job is to ensure end users are able to get the most from theirLexisNexis Online Services through training andsupport. His clients include Local Authorities, LawFirms, Chambers, Universities, Corporations andTax & Accountancy Firms. Gavin has a Bsc (Hons)degree in Zoology and completed his GDL andLPC with the College of Law.

Rob HannLocal partnerships’ LLP

Rob is a solicitor with over twenty years of localgovernment and private sector experience. LocalPartnerships LLP is a joint venture body ownedby HM treasury and the Local GovernmentAssociation set up to assist local public bodieswith major projects. He leads Local Partnerships'input into legislation, procurement, contractualand regulatory matters affecting local governmentand the wider public sector. Rob is alsoresponsible for developing know-how, publicationsand guidance for local government on a range of subjects including EU procurement law, jointventures and PPP/PFI contracts. In a professionalcapacity, Rob has written several law books onlocal government subjects including the loose-leaftext-book ‘Local Authority Companies andPartnerships’ (LACAP), Local Authority Chargingand Trading Powers (both books published byHann Books Limited – see www.hannbooks.com )and now published on line by LexisNexis and ‘The PFI and Major strategic Procurement in LocalGovernment’ (published by Sweet and Maxwell).In a private capacity, Rob is the author of ‘SASOperation Galia’ – a true story about a daringWorld War Two SAS Operation behind enemylines in Italy and which involved Rob’s late father.The book won the Impress prize for Non-fiction.Rob also writes children’s stories one of which(‘the Grumblegroar’) won the New Writers UKChildren’s Book of the Year 2012.

Clare HardyEversheds LLP

Clare is an associate in our Local GovernmentSector Group. She specialises in local government.Clare trained under Eversheds' Local GovernmentTrainee Scheme which included a secondment to Lancashire County Council. She has alsoundertaken a part-time secondment to TamesideMetropolitan Borough Council, where she workedmainly on matters relating to procurement and contracts. She works on a range of localgovernment and other public sector matters such as governance and powers. She has advisedindividual members on defending themselvesagainst allegations of their local authority's Code of Conduct and has assisted with providingtraining to a number of authorities on this. She regularly reviews draft reports which are tobe considered by members of public authoritiesand has assisted with the drafting of a governanceguide for a public authority, which looks at therole and functions of the authority and the rightsand obligations of its members. She has providedadvice to police organisations, including assistingwith advice and support to Police and CrimeCommissioners for stage two of the transfer ofstaff and assets from the former police authorities.She has also provided advice to fire and rescueauthorities. She advises on a range of other publicsector matters, including matters relating to jointarrangements, and advising generally on queriesraised by local authority clients.

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WEEKEND SCHOOL PROGRAMME: FRIDAY 4 APRIL 2014 (5.5 CPD)

DAY

ON

E

Breakout Session 1e Practical Tips For Managing YourContractsDavid Kilduff, Walker Morris LLP

Daniel Newbound, Walker Morris LLP

11.00 Coffee Break

11.45 Plenary Session 2Keynote AddressKim Ryley, Executive Chair,SOLACE

12.15 Breakout Sessions 2a - 2eBreakout Session 2aThe Challenges For Local Authorities In Managing Their Property EstateStephen Matthew, Nabarro LLP

Breakout Session 2bSocial Media Uses and Abuses: Don’t Be Made A Twit By A TweetKatie Mickleburgh, Hill Dickinson LLP

Angela Brumpton, Hill Dickinson LLP

Breakout Session 2c Licensing UpdateJames Button, James Button & Co Solicitors

Breakout Session 2d Whistle-blowing in the Public SectorMark Greenburgh, Wragge & Co LLP

Breakout Session 2e Property and State Aid IssuesStephen Glass, Bond Dickinson LLP

Dean Murray, Bond Dickinson LLP

09.00 Opening of conferenceMark Hynes, LLG President, London Borough of Lambeth

09.15 Plenary Session 1Local Government Case Law UpdateRichard Clayton QC, 4-5 Grays Inn Square

10.15 Breakout Sessions 1a - 1eBreakout Session 1a Defending Local Authority DecisionMaking: The New TerrainBryan McGuire QC, Cornerstone Barristers

James Findlay QC, Cornerstone Barristers

Breakout Session 1b Care proceedings: Meeting the 26 weeksrequirementGraham Cole, LLG SAA Lead Officer Children’s Servicesand Education, and Principal Solicitor (Social Services),Luton Borough Council

Breakout Session 1c Procuring Contracts Using Social ValueIan Anderson, LLG SAA Lead Officer Partnership and Procurement and Solicitor, Hull City CouncilMark Cook, Anthony Collins LLP

Breakout Session 1d Employment Law UpdateChristopher Sing, Freeth Cartwright LLP

Adam Leith, Suffolk County Council

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13.00 Lunch

14.15 Breakout Sessions 3a - 3eBreakout Session 3a New Models for Local Authority LegalServices - Pushing the BoundariesOwen Willcox, Geldards LLP

Breakout Session 3b The Revised EU Data Protection Regime:Implications for Local AuthoritiesJohn Sharland, Sharpe Pritchard LLP

Breakout Session 3c Current Issues In EnvironmentalAssessmentDavid Elvin QC, Landmark Chambers

Heather SargentLandmark Chambers

Breakout Session 3d Housing Law and ASB UpdateHabib Aziz, Leeds City Council

Breakout Session 3e Renegotiating Contracts & ManagingChange – The Procurement ImplicationsFrances Woodhead, Eversheds LLP

15.00 Plenary Session 3Problems, Problems: How To Advise In A Complex WorldOlwen Dutton, Bevan Brittan LLP

Bethan Evans, Bevan Brittan LLP

Peter Keith Lucas, Bevan Brittan LLP

15.45 Tea Break

16.15 Breakout Sessions 4a - 4eBreakout Session 4a Recent Developments in Information Law and PracticeGraham Smith, Information Commissioner’s Office

Breakout Session 4b Local Government Finance: Past, Present and FutureJudith Barnes, DAC Beachcroft LLP

Simon Wiles, Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council

Breakout Session 4c The Children and Families Bill: the biggest reform in 30 years?Joanne Clement, 11KBW

Breakout Session 4d Developments in Renewable Energy in Local GovernmentStephen Cirell, Stephen Cirell Consultant Ltd

Breakout Session 4e Advising Planning Committees: Practical Hints and TipsKirsty Cole, Newark & Sherwood District Council

Jonathan Goolden, Wilkin Chapman Goolden LLP

17.00 Close of Conference for the day

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WEEKEND SCHOOL PROGRAMME: SATURDAY 5 APRIL 2014 (5.75 CPD)

DAY TWO

Breakout Session 5e New EU Directives:To Consider in Particular what the Implications are for In-house Companies, Trading andContracting with MutualsIan Anderson, LLG SAA Lead Officer Partnership and Procurement and Solicitor, Hull City CouncilPeter Ware, Browne Jacobson LLP

11.30 Coffee Break

12.00 LLG AGM

13.15 Lunch

14.15 Breakout Sessions 6a - 6eBreakout Session 6a An Update on Social Care and HealthOlwen Dutton, Bevan Brittan LLP

Clare Taylor, Bevan Brittan LLP

Breakout Session 6b If Life’s a Journey why am I Standing Still?Rob Gee, Sellick Partnership

Breakout Session 6c Court Of ProtectionJane Campbell, 6 Pump Court Chambers

David Hebblethwaite, Gloucester and Cheltenham County Court

09.30 Plenary Session 4Sleep walking into oblivion: Is timerunning out for local government lawyers?Hugh Peart, London Borough of Harrow

10.30 Breakout Sessions 5a - 5eBreakout Session 5a Regulatory ProsecutionsDavid Travers QC, 6 Pump Court Chambers

Breakout Session 5b Digital Working and Information: Trends in Public Sector LegalDes Brady, Thomson Reuters

Breakout Session 5c The LLG Planning CodeStuart Evans, LLG SAA Lead Officer Planning,Highways and Environment and SolicitorBirmingham City CouncilPhilip McCourt, Consultant

Breakout Session 5d Community Care and the Care BillJonathan Auburn, 39 Essex Street Chambers

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Breakout Session 6d Equal Pay: Essentials for Local Government Lawyers and Why Equal Pay MattersJennifer Jones, Harrison Clark Rickerbys

Michael Stokes, Harrison Clark Rickerbys

Breakout Session 6e The Survival Guide for Local Authorities Involved with CharitiesChris Thomas, Pinsent Masons LLP

15.15 Breakout Sessions 7a - 7eBreakout Session 7a Clever Commissioning: The Legal Path to Delivering Things DifferentlySimon Goacher, Weightmans LLP

Vincent King, Weightmans LLP

Breakout Session 7b Monitoring Officer and Governance Issues: What next for Monitoring Officers?Eleanor Hoggart, LLG SAA Lead Officer Monitoring Officer and Governance and Solicitor,Lincolnshire County Council

Breakout Session 7c Judicial Review: Hot Topics for Local GovernmentDr Mirza Ahmad LLD, St Philips Chambers (London & Birmingham),Chancery House Chambers (Leeds)

Breakout Session 7d Everything you wanted to know aboutacademies but were afraid to askKevin Jaquiss, DWF LLP

Michael Mousdale, DWF LLP

Breakout Session 7e Town and Village Greens, and Rights of Way LegislationNick Evans, Bircham Dyson Bell LLP

Mark Challis, Bircham Dyson Bell LLP

16.15 Plenary Session 5Q&A With LLG Board Members and Close of Conference

16.45 Close of Conference

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E Ian AndersonSAA Lead Officer: Partnership and Procurement & Solicitor Hull City Council

Ian has enjoyed a long career in local government,working in all areas of local government law. In his present position as Town Clerk of Hull CityCouncil, Ian is responsible for the Council’s Legal and Procurement Services, developing and leading the Council’s Procurement Strategy and supporting service areas across the Council as they move into new organisational forms. He previously led the Legal and Procurementservices of Scarborough Borough Councilcontracts and developed “Procure NorthYorkshire” a shared procurement service forDistrict Councils in North Yorkshire. He was a member of the YORbuild Board overseeing the development of the YOR suite of frameworkcontracts for Yorkshire and the Humber. Ian is theNational Lead Officer within Lawyers in LocalGovernment for Partnership and Procurement.

Judith BarnesDAC Beachcroft LLP

Judith is an experienced public sector lawyer and manager who provides legal, strategic andconsultancy support for local authorities andpublic bodies. With over 30 years' experience inthe sector, Judith advises on governance includingmember conduct and ethics; provides MonitoringOfficer support (previously having held that roleat LB Greenwich); advice on powers and incomegeneration; advice and health-checks/draftingCouncil constitutions; HR issues and governanceeg senior officer departures; major regenerationschemes, including asset vehicles; PPPs; setting up and managing companies, charities and socialenterprises; judicial review; as well as other localgovernment issues. She advises on shared servicedelivery, including the formation of Teckal andTrading companies eg for East Lindsey and South Holland DCs; and partnerships betweenthe wider public sector, providing eg optionsappraisals, governance, best value and vires advice.

Habib AzizLeeds City Council

Habib Aziz is a Senior Local Authority solicitor,with a large Authority, with substantial experienceof housing law. He provides advice on all aspectsof housing law including tenancy related issues,HMO licensing and homelessness. Prior to joiningthe Local Authority, Habib qualified and worked inprivate practise defending possession proceedingsbrought against tenants. Habib was awarded thetitle of Local Government Young Solicitor of theYear in 2007 for his housing work. He has alsowritten articles on housing law and is recognisedas a specialist on housing related matters.

restructuring programs. She also heads up theeducation team in Yorkshire, which advisesschools and colleges on employment law matters. In addition to delivering a full menu of employment law training, including bespoke in-house training and mock tribunals, Angela is a regular speaker for South Yorkshire CIPD andCreative Sheffield. She frequently produces articleson a number of employment topics which arepublished in the trade press, such as PersonnelToday. Angela has extensive employment tribunaladvocacy experience and has representedrespondent clients in a range of matters includingdiscrimination, unfair dismissal, breach of contract,whistleblowing and union issues in tribunalsthroughout England, Scotland and Wales.

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Angela BrumptonHill Dickinson LLP

Angela acts for a wide range of employersproviding comprehensive legal advice to businessowners and HR practitioners on the full gamut ofemployment issues - from handling disciplinariesand grievances, supporting performancemanagement and managing dismissals, to advisingon TUPE and larger scale redundancy and

James T H ButtonJames Button & Co Solicitors

Principal of James Button & Co., Solicitors, a nichepractice specialising in licensing (including Taxis,Licensing Act 2003, Gambling Act 2005 etc),environmental health and public health. For localauthorities and NHS bodies, this includesadvocacy, advising committees and providingtraining for Officers and Members. In addition Iact for Licensees and Applicants. He was articledat South Tyneside MBC in South Shields, spentsome years at Manchester City Council, set upand ran the Public Health legal Information Unitfor the Department of Health before setting uphis firm up in 1996. James is married with threechildren and lives in Derbyshire. His interestsinclude walking, photography and tram-conducting. James is the author of “Button onTaxis: Licensing Law and Practice” (BloomsburyProfessional 2009), he writes a regular columnon Taxi matters for the “Journal of Licensing” andis a Consulting Editor for “Licensing Review”. Heis a Companion of the Institute of Licensing, andits current President, having previously been Chair.He was a Founder Member of its fore-runner, theLocal Government Licensing Forum, andmanaged its evolution into the Institute.

Stephen CirellStephen Cirell Consultant Ltd

Stephen has worked in the Public Sector foralmost 30 years. Formerly an in-house lawyer, and then a Partner with an international law firm,Stephen is one of the most well-known expertson local government law and is nationally knownfor his writing on many different areas, being theauthor of over 15 books on Local GovernmentLaw, spanning over two decades. He specialises in the creation of a low carbon economy, throughemissions reduction schemes and renewable orclean energy projects and is recognized for hisknowledge of developing schemes involving solarPV, wind energy, biomass energy and electric cars.In 2010 Stephen was shortlisted by the FinancialTimes for the Most Innovative Lawyer of the Year award. “My main aim with public bodies is to inspire them to raise their ambition in the area of climate change and to help increase theirconfidence to take on bold and innovative projects.”

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SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

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E Richard Clayton QC4-5 Gray’s Inn Square

Richard Clayton QC covers a wide range of advisory and litigation work in the localgovernment field: eg on vires powers andfinancing, constitutional and standards issues,education, housing, social services/community careand mental health, planning and environmentalcases, public procurement, health care and humanrights. He has appeared in many Supreme Court,House of Lords and Privy Council cases, mostrecently last year in the important FOI case,Kennedy v Charity Commission. Richard is rankedin Chambers Directory as a Leading Silk in PublicLaw, Human Rights and Local Government Law.Recent cases of note include Kennedy, R(Littlefair)v Darlington BC (2013) (local government cuts,R(Southwest Care Homes) v Devon CC (No 2)(2012) (public sector equality duty concerningfees for private care home providers)andR(Condliff) v North Staffordshire PCT (2011) (CA- Art 8 and health care). He is the United Kingdom’s representative to the VeniceCommission, the Council of Europe’s advisorybody on constitutional law, is a former Chairmanof the Constitutional and Administrative Law BarAssociation and a former Vice Chair of Liberty.Richard has been an Associate Fellow at theCentre for Public Law at Cambridge Universitysince 2001.

Joanne Clement 11KBW

Joanne is recommended in the directories as a leading junior in local government law,administrative and public law, human rights andcivil liberties, education and community care law.Joanne frequently represents clients before theFirst-tier Tribunal in both special needs anddisability discrimination cases, and has extensiveexperience of admissions and exclusions matters.She undertakes a wide range of education workin the Upper Tribunal and in the AdministrativeCourt. She recently acted for a consortium oflocal authorities, schools, teachers unions andchildren in respect of a judicial review challengeto the marking of GCSE English papers (see R(London Borough of Lewisham and others) v AQA,Edexcel and Ofqual [2013] EWHC 211 (Admin)).Joanne also has an extensive practice incommunity care law, relating to both adults andchildren. This includes challenges to communitycare assessments, the consequences ofimmigration status on community care decisions,human rights challenges, age assessments, andsupport under the Children Act. Joanne alsoappears regularly in the Court of Protection, andhas experience of deprivation of liberty issuesand mental capacity matters. She has publishedand lectured widely on the forthcoming Care Bill.Joanne is the editor of 11KBW’s Community Carebriefing and a contributor to 11KBW’s educationlaw blog.

Graham ColeSAA Lead Officer: Children’s Services & Education& Principal Solicitor Luton Borough Council

Graham qualified as a solicitor in 1985 and hasbeen practising in local government, firstly withBedfordshire County Council (1985 – 2007) and then with Luton Borough Council (2007 –present). He has practised mainly in the field ofchild care law and has conducted numerous carecases, advised social workers and their managerson law and practice and taken part in training ofsocial workers and other professionals. He hasacted as legal adviser to his authority’s AdoptionPanel, Adoption Agency Decision Maker and LocalSafeguarding Children Board and participated in a number of serious case reviews, both in an advisory role and as the writer of severalindividual management reviews. Graham is amember of the Eastern Region child care specialinterest group (now SAA) and chairs the LLGnational Child Care Lawyers Group. He sits on the Law Society’s Family Law Committee andChildren Law Sub Committee and is an assessorfor the Law Society’s Children Panel. Hecontributed to the Law Society’s Family LawProtocol and Good Practice Guide on Child Care Cases. He is also a school governor.Graham is the LLG Specific Activity Area Lead for Children’s Services and Education.

Kirsty ColeNewark & Sherwood District Council

Kirsty Cole is the Deputy Chief Executive andMonitoring Officer at Newark & SherwoodDistrict Council, having previously been employedat South Kesteven District Council and in privatepractice. She is Past President of the Associationof Council Secretaries and Solicitors, havingserved as President from November 2005 toNovember 2006 and having previously held officeas Ethical Governance Portfolio Holder and asPress and Publicity Officer to the Association. She has a particular interest in issues relating toprobity, corporate governance and the ethicalframework. Together with colleagues from the East Midlands Branch of ACSeS, she wasinstrumental in publishing a Parish Council Toolkitas a means of assisting both Monitoring Officersand Parish Councils in dealing with governanceissues relating to parishes. More recently Kirstyhas led on the transformation agenda at Newarkand Sherwood District Council as well as playinga key role in a number of major projects includinga new national civil war centre which attracted£3.5 million of Heritage Lottery funding and anew leisure centre. Until recently, Kirsty was a solicitor to the Institute of Cemetery andCrematorium Management, having previouslyserved as its Company Secretary. She is alsoClerk to the Mansfield and District CrematoriumJoint Committee. Kirsty is a regular speaker andtrainer both regionally and nationally on a varietyof topics, most notably relating to ethics, probity,governance and transformation. Kirsty is also anaccredited mediator.

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E Mark CookAnthony Collins Solicitors LLP

Mark is a lawyer with over 24 years of experienceof advising people and organisations on how towork together across the public, private and civilsociety sectors. He provides strategic advice onmodels for transforming public services, using thelaw to create flexible routes for achieving change.He has a particular track record in enabling socialvalue to be a core feature in the delivery of public services. He works hard to deliver solutionsthat involve people in local communities and he believes in the ability of those on the groundto make the difference in the neighbourhoodswhere they live and work. Mark’s experiencecovers a wide range of operations, including fire,waste, corporate services, regeneration, economicdevelopment, leisure, health and education. His particular specialisms are EU procurement,local government and commercial law. WithRichard Macfarlane he co-authored the seminalJRF publication “Achieving community benefitswith contracts” (2001), recently updated with the new “Tackling poverty through procurement”launched on 17th March 2014. He supportedChris White MP throughout the passage of thePublic Services (Social Value) Act 2012.

David Elvin QCLandmark Chambers

David Elvin QC was educated in County Durhamand Hertford College, Oxford (BA 1981; BCL1982) where he studied law. He is a member of the Bars of England and Wales and NorthernIreland and took silk in 2000. Before taking silk heserved on the panels of Treasury counsel from1991-2000. David’s work is largely concernedwith planning, the environment, local governmentand the human rights and EU law aspects ofthose areas of practice. He is a Recorder (2001-),a Deputy High Court Judge (2008-), sitting in theAdministrative Court and, since 2009, has beenone of the Boundary Commissioners for England.Notable cases include Berkeley (2000), Chapman(2001), Alconbury (2001), Delena Wells (2004),Edwards (2005), Barker (CJEU and HL) (2007), Save Historic Newmarket (2011), Alternative A5Alliance (2013) the National Trust’s challengeconcerning the Giant’s Causeway (2013), West Kensington Estates Tenants (2013) and the HS2 litigation (2012-2014). His work includes planning and CPO inquiry work as well as Court work at all levels in England and Northern Ireland and he acted for theGovernment on the passage of the Crossrail Billthrough Parliamentary Select Committees.

Bethan EvansBevan Brittan LLP

Prior to joining Bevan Brittan, Bethan enjoyedover 20 years' experience in local governmenthaving worked as a lawyer for four Councils indifferent roles including Monitoring Officer andReturning Officer. She is now recognised as oneof the leading figures in local government law andhas advised many public bodies on issues rangingfrom investigations into conduct and standardsmatters, to complex partnering arrangementswith other public sector bodies or with theprivate sector. These include Joint Ventureagreements and shared services projects. Beth'swork in the last year included the much publicisedmerger between Harrow and Barnet Councillegal teams followed by the innovative jointventure between HBPL and Bevan Brittan. In recognition of her innovative work, Beth was included in The Lawyer Hot 100 for 2014.

James Findlay QCCornerstone Barristers

James was called to the Bar in 1984 and took Silkin 2008. James Findlay has been recognised forseveral years in both Legal 500 and Chambers asa leading practitioner in the fields of planning &environmental (including compulsory purchase),local government, public & administrative andlicensing law. His practice currently comprises asignificant number of appearances both north and south of the Border in Courts at all levels and at inquiries. He is also instructed in generalcommercial matters, including contract andnegligence cases, highways & rights of way cases and procurement disputes.

Olwen DuttonBevan Brittan LLP

Olwen joined Bevan Brittan following a highprofile career in the public sector, where she heldpositions as Chief Executive, Corporate Director,Monitoring Officer, and Head of Legal Services.Much of her work involves advising Council's oncomplex governance issues, emerging legislationand case law arising from the Localism Act andthe Health and Social Care Act 2012. On thelatter Olwen has quickly developed a nationalreputation on the complex issues arising from the transfer of responsibility for Public Health toLocal Authorities the establishment of Health &Wellbeing Boards, and the growing integrationagenda between health and councils. In 2013Olwen received the prestigious "Partner of theyear" award from the Birmingham Law Society.

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NE Stephen Glass

Bond Dickinson LLP

Stephen is a Director in Bond Dickinson’sdevelopment and regeneration team. Stephenadvises on a range of property related mattersbut has particular expertise on regenerationprojects involving public sector entities, jointventure arrangements and public sector fundingstreams. In his career he has advised many publicsector entities including Homes and CommunitiesAgency, Leeds City Council, Scarborough BoroughCouncil, various RDAs and City of London.

Jonathan GooldenWilkin Chapman LLP

Jonathan Goolden is a partner and head of publiclaw at Wilkin Chapman LLP solicitors. He hasworked in or for local government for the last 20 years and was a Monitoring Officer and chiefofficer for 6 years. As a member of the InternalInquiry Team at Doncaster Borough Councilexamining the “Donnygate” scandal, Jonathan hasfirst hand experience of addressing corruption in planning. He has investigated well over 180councillor conduct cases, many of which havecentred on alleged improprieties at planningcommittees. In conjunction with a team of formerMonitoring Officers and police officers, Jonathanadvises a range of local authorities, NHS Trusts andsocial enterprises, policing bodies, and academieson governance, powers and duties, procurementand state aid, freedom of information, dataprotection, complaints, conduct, grievances anddisciplinary cases. He is the independent personfor both North Lincolnshire and North EastLincolnshire Councils and has co-presentedregional workshops in both 2012 and 2013 onthe role of the independent person. Jonathanwas the independent chair of a standardscommittee and has been a member of two otherstandards committees. He has also served as amember of RICS’ disciplinary appeal committee.

Mark GreenburghWragge & Co LLP

Mark leads the multi disciplinary Public SectorGroup at Wragge & Co, covering local and centralgovernment, social housing, social care andeducation. The team advises on shared servicesand partnering agreements in public/public andprivate sector contracts; as well as mutuals andother share ownership models. Together withpartner, Sarah Sasse, they have advised on a numberof LATC, mutuals and other trading companies forlocal government and with partner Giles Clifford onregeneration schemes across England. The teamalso advises on procurement and local governmentfinance issues including bond issues for two localauthorities. Mark’s specialism is employment lawranging from Equal Pay, TUPE, Redundancy andTrade Union agreements and disciplinary/conductissues. He also take a particular interest ingovernance and probity issues, including the dutiesof the Monitoring Officer. Mark is the lead adviserunder the LLG Members’ Defence Scheme andhas represented its members in a number of highprofile disputes with their employers. He is a fellowof the Royal Society of Arts, a freeman of the Cityof London and serves on the Employment LawCommittee of the City of London Law Society.

Mark HynesDirector of Corporate Affairs Lambeth Council

Mark Hynes is the Director of Corporate Affairswith the London Borough of Lambeth, and is theCouncil’s statutory Monitoring Officer and ChiefLegal Officer having strategic responsibility for alarge number of teams including legal services,committee services, risk, insurance, corporatecomplaints, FOI, electoral services, scrutiny, audit,strategic asset management, corporate health andsafety, business continuity and emergency planning.Mark has extensive public sector law experiencehaving worked previously at District, County andUnitary level as well as four years private sectorexperience working as a solicitor with Eversheds.Mark has extensive senior managementexperience within the public sector which iscomplimented by the management qualificationsincluding an MBA, and a post graduate Diploma in Business Excellence. Mark is the President of Lawyers in Local Government and is a fullyaccredited officer peer with the LGA and hasundertaken mentoring work, CPA audits andgovernance reviews within other Authorities.Mark is also a Board Member, Director andSolicitor to SOLACE, the Society of LocalAuthority Chief Executives, and its tradingsubsidiary Solace Enterprises Ltd. Mark is aTrustee of K-Dash a domestic violence charitywho provides advice in Kent and Medway.

David KilduffWalker Morris

In addition to heading up the Commercial Group,David leads the Public Sector team and chairs the Renewables Energy & Resources Group atWalker Morris both of which bring togethermulti-disciplinary teams that have an in-depthknowledge of the issues in their sectors. He is anationally recognised leader in the field of publicsector law, experienced in advising both publicand private sector parties on all forms ofcommercial contracting. This includes majorprojects (particularly accommodation andinfrastructure projects), procurement, vires andgovernance issues. David draws on 25 years'expertise advising on complex, high risk and highvalue assignments whilst maintaining pragmatismand a commercial outlook. David is recognised asa key individual in Chambers Guide to the LegalProfession. "Delivering effective solutions forclients in a pragmatic fashion is what it's all about.The ability to work with talented and motivatedindividuals both at Walker Morris and within ourclients is extremely rewarding as is the satisfactionof meeting the challenges of some of the mostcomplex or demanding assignments in the sectorsin which I work. Helping deliver the result andsecuring a happy client is what makes thedifference for me."

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E Adam LeithSuffolk County Council

Adam Leith is a solicitor in the Employment teamat Suffolk Legal. Adam trained at Suffolk CountyCouncil, gaining a broad exposure to localgovernment legal work before specialising inemployment law. Adam provides employment lawadvice to HR professionals and managers across anumber of public sector organisations. Adam alsohandles complex Employment Tribunal litigationand achieves excellent results for clients bothwithin and outwith the litigation process. Clientspraise his "thorough, honest and clear" advice.Adam is an active member of the EmploymentLawyer’s Association, and was part of the workingparty which drafted ELA’s response to theconsultation on reforming TUPE. Adam haswritten articles for Local Government Lawyer and the Public Law Partnership, and contributesto Suffolk Legal's regular e-newsletter onemployment law issues affecting the public sector.

Peter Keith LucasBevan Brittan LLP

As a former local authority Chief Executive andHead of Legal Services, Peter combines thepractical experience of 25 years of working in localgovernment with a nationally-recognised expertisein the area of local authority decision-making andcorporate governance. Peter has drafted andreviewed some 30 local authority constitutions andis widely acknowledged as an expert at providingpractical answers to assist local authorities to functionmore effectively. Peter's wider work includespublic procurement (including local authoritycharging and trading powers) and joint ventures,particularly partnering arrangements between thepublic and private sectors. He has undertaken anumber of high-profile probity investigations forlocal authorities and wrote the model proceduresfor local investigation and local StandardsCommittee hearings. Peter is also the author of"Monitoring Officer", the standard textbook on thework of the chief legal officer in a local authority.

Stephen MatthewNabarro LLP

Stephen began his career in local government and since moving to private practice has focussedon supporting local authority clients on majortransactions. He has particular expertise in local authority outsourcing, procurement, jointventures, and regeneration. He has acted forcouncils on both housing-led and town centredevelopments, including various joint venturearrangements between developers and councils.The challenge for local authority in-house lawyersis to continue demonstrating the value they bring to the often highly complex new models of service delivery and structure. Stephen enjoysworking with in-house teams on the delivery ofprojects, especially where new thinking is required.

He seeks to respond to the changing needs of local authorities, and has been significantlyinvolved in legal developments over the pastdecade and more in the areas of social housingand homelessness, asylum support, communitycare and more generally the provision of servicesto the vulnerable including to the aged, to thosewithout capacity or with particular disabilitiesand/or to children.

Bryan McGuire QCCornerstone Barristers

Bryan was called to the Bar in 1983 and took Silkin 2010. Bryan is an experienced litigator whosepractice involves advocacy, advice and drafting,often in public law matters, across the full rangeof work undertaken by adult social services,children’s services and housing departments.

Katie MickleburghHill Dickinson LLP

Katie is a member of the Regulatory ServicesGroup. She acts for a wide range of high profileindividuals, local authorities, NHS bodies and thechurch; providing reputational management adviceincluding advice on responding to defamatorystatements. Katie’s special focus is on reputationalissues arising out of the use of social media. Inaddition to advising when problems arise, Katiealso provides proactive practical advice to herclients to help them understand and comply with their on-going legal obligations. Advice isgiven either on an ad-hoc basis or via bespokestructured training events which Katie devises.Katie has written extensively for both the legaland trade press. She currently blogs for theHuffington Post and has recently been publishedin the Health Service Journal.

Dean MurrayBond Dickinson LLP

Dean is an Associate in the Newcastle office of Bond Dickinson LLP. Dean combines his work advising on commercial contracts with aspecialism in competition law, including State aid.Dean has extensive experience of all aspects ofState aid law. Dean has acted for a number ofpublic and private sector clients including localauthorities, Regional Development Agencies and commercial enterprises and has providedassistance to awarding bodies, potential recipientsand aggrieved third parties relating to State Aidissues. He has acted in matters involving theassessment of measures from a State aidperspective, the utilisation of exemptions(including the GBER), the application of theMarket Economy Investor Principle (including the application of specific European CommissionGuidelines) and the submission and conduct ofcomplaints before the European Commission.

Daniel NewboundWalker Morris

Daniel is a Senior Associate in the CommercialDispute Resolution Group. He has over 10 years’experience of advising on a wide range ofcontractual disputes and litigation matters rangingfrom general contractual disputes to professionalnegligence claims, and claims for urgent injunctionrelief relating to breach of contract orconfidentiality. Daniel is experienced at dealingwith public procurement actions for both publicsector clients and contractors. He has particularexpertise in matters relating to IT and telecomslitigation and also has experience in relation toconstruction disputes. Daniel is frequentlyinvolved in advising on the termination of contractsand has recently acted for a development agencyin relation to the termination of a developmentagreement concerning a high profile site.

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Heather SargentLandmark Chamber

Heather Sargent practices in planning,environmental, EU, public and property law.Recent planning work includes appearing (asjunior to Nathalie Lieven QC) for nine claimantLondon Boroughs in a High Court challenge tothe Mayor of London's Revised Early MinorAlterations to the London Plan (on groundsrelating to affordable rented housing) andappearing for the appellant (as junior to CharlesBanner) at a six day inquiry in relation to a retail-led regeneration scheme on the edge ofNewmarket town centre. Recent environmentalwork includes advising on the Climate ChangeAct 2008 (as junior to David Elvin QC) andadvising on costs in relation to an AarhusConvention claim. Heather also has significantexperience in relation to the Habitats Directive,gained during ten months spent as a trainee ofthe European Commission (Legal Service) andthe Court of Justice of the European Union priorto joining Landmark Chambers.

Kim RyleySOLACE

Kim Ryley has 35 years experience in publicservice, 14 of which were as a Chief Executive in4 large local authorities. Following an initial careerin Education in London and the South East, Kimhas worked in Metropolitan, Unitary and CountyCouncils across the UK. He has also contributedto developments in local government bestpractice internationally, in countries as diverse asthe USA, Finland, Russia, Thailand, Australia andNew Zealand. Kim is a recent Past-President ofthe Society of Local Authority Chief Executives, is an adviser to the Solace Board, and serves also as a Trustee of the Leadership Centre. As a keynote speaker at major events in the UK and internationally, Kim is an acknowledgedthought leader in his field and has a well-earnedreputation for successfully turning around councils in difficulty. Now working as a freelanceconsultant on public service leadership, Kim is the Founder Director of Torque LeadershipAssociates Ltd. Since January 2014, he is currentlythe Executive Chairman of Solace Enterprises Ltd.

John SharlandSharpe Pritchard LLP

John has been a partner at Sharpe Pritchard since1997, having previously worked for three Londonboroughs. He is a specialist in public sector andlocal government law. His practice consists of avariety of projects for the public sector, mainly forlocal authorities. He has undertaken a substantialnumber of large-scale procurements, jointventures and PFI/PPP projects. He has advised ona range of legal issues affecting local authoritiesincluding state aid, procurement law, freedom ofinformation and data protection. He is interestedin the governance of public sector organisationsand how they adapt themselves to the changinglegal landscape.

Christopher SingFreeth Cartwright LLPChristopher Sing is a Partner in Freeth Cartwright’snational practice. He is an employment law specialistand, having initially trained as a barrister, has aparticular interest in advocacy in the employmenttribunal. He was previously Head of Education at aregional law firm and now has national responsibilityfor schools within Freeth Cartwright’s EducationTeam. His recent work includes defending localauthorities and schools against complex tribunalclaims involving unfair dismissal and discriminationand devising and supporting large-scale collectiveconsultation processes affecting public sector staffin relation to both TUPE and redundancy.

Graham Smith Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)Graham is Deputy Commissioner and Director of Freedom of Information at the ICO. He wasappointed Deputy Commissioner in 2001, after theFreedom of Information Act received Royal Assent.Having overseen the introduction of FOI and its sisterregime for access to environmental information inthe UK, Graham now has lead responsibility forpolicy and strategy in those areas. He personallyoversees and signs off many of the Commissioner’smore sensitive and controversial access decisions.He has extensive experience as a speaker oninformation rights, nationally and internationally. In his earlier career as a local government lawyer,Graham worked for four English local authoritiesover a 20 year period, most recently OldhamMBC, where he was Assistant Chief Executive andSolicitor to the Council. He holds a law degreefrom the University of Sheffield and a Diploma inLocal Government Law and Practice.

Owen WillcoxTPP/Geldards LLPOwen has extensive experience of public servicescorporate structures and governance issues includinglocal authority companies. He has gained substantialknowledge of commercial and corporate legal issuesboth in the private and public sector. Before joiningTPP/Geldards, Owen held positions as Senior Solicitorwith Lawrence Graham LLP, Interim Head of LegalServices at EEDA, and Head of Legal and DemocraticServices at Harlow District Council. As a Directorof TPPLaw, before it merged with Geldards, he wasat the forefront of its conversion to ABS status andheld the position of Compliance Officer for LegalPractice. As Monitoring Officer at Harlow DC,Owen advised the Council on vires and governanceissues in relation to all its key functions and majorprojects. Major projects included the establishmentof a JVCo for the delivery of all the Council’s streetscene services. He has also advised a number oflocal authorities on governance and vires issues inrelation to town centre and other regenerationprojects. Owen has also advised a number of publicservices clients in relation to the establishment ofvehicles for public service delivery projects. Thesehave comprised Industrial and Provident Societies,Community Interest Companies and charitablevehicles for the delivery of GP services, healthimprovement services, dental services, educationand training services, housing services, mental healthand social care services, community services andprobation services. Owen has also advised two localauthority social care teams in relation to corporatedelivery and corporate governance options to supportproposals to spin out from their host authoritiesunder the Cabinet Office mutual support programme.

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Simon Wiles Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council

Simon Wiles has worked in Local Government for almost 30 years. He started as a traineeaccountant in the London Borough of Newham,before working in the London Boroughs ofHackney, Southwark and Lewisham. He becameCity Treasurer and then Director of Resources in York before leaving in 2008 to work for theGovernment’s Partnerships for SchoolsProgramme. Simon joined Doncaster in 2011 asDirector of Finance and Corporate Services. AtDoncaster he is responsible for Finance, Legal, HR,IT, Customer Services, Registrars, Data Securityand a range of other corporate services. Simon has been a CIPFA member for over 25years and has been a CIPFA examiner and amember of CIPFA’s National Housing Panel.

Frances WoodheadEversheds LLP

Frances leads the Local Government team inEversheds and has over 25 years experience of local government and public sector work.Before joining Eversheds she was Director ofLegal Service and Deputy Monitoring Officer forSheffield City Council and had a long career inlocal government, working for local authoritiesand West Yorkshire Police Authority. Frances hasexperience of advising local authorities on a widerange of issues including governance, employment,shared services, major projects and innovativeservice delivery models. She has a particularinterest and experience in education, health,police and strategic partnerships.

Dr Mirza AhmadSt Philips Chambers & Chancery House Chambers

Mirza is nationally recognised as an expert inLocal Authority Law and Employment Law. Hespecialises in providing high quality advice andadvocacy services covering all aspects of localauthority work (for and against), for example:-Judicial Reviews, Constitutional & Governanceissues; Employment (including unfair dismissal,redundancy, TUPE and discrimination); Contracts,Procurement & State Aid (including PrivateFinance Initiate and Joint Ventures/Partnerships);and Land and Property matters (includingHousing, Planning and CPO). Called to the Bar in 1984 (Gray’s Inn), Mirza spent over 26years in local government. From 2000 – 2011, he was the Chief Legal Officer and CorporateDirector of Governance at Birmingham CityCouncil, with leadership over 800+ staff.Professional memberships include: President ofthe Association of Council Secretaries & Solicitors(2009/2010) Chairman of the Bar Association forLocal Government & the Public Services (since1998). Mirza is the General Editor of two legalencyclopaedic publications: - “Lexis Nexis’ LocalAuthority Employment Law, Practice and Procedure”;and - “Butterworth’s Knight’s Guide to PublicProcurement Law and Practice

(eg R (South West Care Homes) v Devon CC (AdminCourt 2012, leading case on equalities duties andcare home funding), R (Redcar & Cleveland ProvidersAssociation) v Redcar & Cleveland BC (Admin Court2013; use of benchmarking in determining fees)).Jonathan has recently published a new book, JudicialReview, Principles and Procedure (OUP 2013).He publishes 39 Essex Street’s Community CareNewsletter and also writes for the White Book.

Jonathan Auburn39 Essex Street

Jonathan Auburn is one of the leading juniorbarristers in community care and judicial review.He is in the legal directories as a top ranked juniorfor community care law, as well as being highlyranked in the related fields of judicial review, localgovernment law and education law. He has appearedin many of the main community care judicial reviewchallenges over the last few years, including R (KM)v Cambridgeshire CC (Supreme Court 2012, leadingcase on personalisation and Resource AllocationSchemes), Westminster CC v SL (Supreme Court2013, test of “care and attention” and whetherneeds must be “accommodation-related” for s.21).Recently he has acted in a number of challengesto cuts to services (eg R (LH) v Shropshire Council,November 2013 & pending in the Court of Appeal;consultation and equalities duty challenge to closureof day centres) and in care home funding disputes

Jane CampbellSix Pump Court

Jane is a barrister in the Chambers of StephenHockman QC at 6 Pump Court, Temple, London.She specialises in family law. Her practice is dividedbetween financial remedies/financial provision forchildren and Children Act 1989 work. In relation tothe latter, her practice primarily focuses on privatelaw proceedings. She has considerable experienceof representing vulnerable clients, particularly thosewith mental health difficulties. She has appearedin all courts from the Family Proceedings Courtto the Court of Appeal, including the Court ofProtection. She has been in several reportedcases, the most recent of which is R v R [2013]EWHC 4244 (Fam) before the President. Shehas recently co-authored an article with ProfessorColin Drummond and Dr Sally Marlow of KingsCollege London Addictions Unit on the conflictbetween the Revised Public Law Outline and thetimescales of alcoholic mothers in care proceedings.This is due to be published in Family Law Journal.

Des BradyThomson Reuters

Des leads local and central government insight andstrategy for Thomson Reuters’ UK & Ireland legalsolutions business. A software and informationprofessional with 15 years’ experience, Des hasheld various management roles in ThomsonReuters, including editorial, custom solutionsdelivery and business development. Previous rolesinclude successful and long-lasting collaborationon bespoke legal information and custom onlinesolutions for the Financial Services Authority andBusinesslink.gov.uk. Des led the transformation ofmanaged print and online publishing services forthe Legal Services Commission. In his current role,Des is increasingly focused on adapting ThomsonReuters’ legal information and software solutionsto the needs of shared services functions in bothcentral and local government.

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WO Mark Challis

Bircham Dyson Bell LLP

Mark has over 20 years’ experience in planninglaw, gained from working in both localgovernment and private practice. He has advised upon numerous developments of many different kinds, ranging from large commercialdevelopments and major infrastructure projectsto much smaller matters. As well as advising uponall aspects of planning law, Mark advises uponcompulsory purchase issues, highways law andprocedure and environmental law. Mark iscurrently the General Editor of ButterworthsPlanning Law Service, the loose leaf encyclopediathat covers the whole spectrum of planning lawand of Butterworths Monthly Planning LawBulletin. He has also contributed to nationalguidance issued by English Heritage.

Nick EvansBircham Dyson Bell LLP

Nick advises local authorities and other bodies onthe planning and consenting of majorinfrastructure projects, whether in the transport,energy, waste or water sectors, and associatedenvironmental and planning issues. He is also headof our public law group and regularly advises localauthorities and other public bodies on theirpowers and obligations, constitutional matters,and information rights and privacy. Recenthighlights include advising Leeds City Council,Nottingham City Council, National Grid andTransport for London on the use of public openspaces and other 'special' land for major schemesbeing promoted by them.

Stuart EvansSAA Lead Officer: Planning, Highways & Environment & SolicitorBirmingham City Council

Stuart qualified as a Solicitor in 1992. He hasworked in private practice at Wragge & CoBirmingham, and has progressed to developconsiderable local authority experience throughworking in South Staffordshire DC, WolverhamptonMBC, Walsall MBC and Birmingham City Council.Stuart joined the Legal & Democratic ServicesDepartment of Birmingham City Council in 2002where he is now the Head of Environment,Development & Planning Law. His expertise lies in regulatory law, planning, environmental health,licensing law and trusts and charities. Stuart advisesthe Birmingham City Council’s Planning Committeeand Public Protection Committee on legal andgovernance issues and is the relationship lawyerfor the City Council’s Development Directorate.Stuart’s notable areas of advice have includedLongbridge, Post & Mail, Arena Central, Snow Hill,Big City Plan Core Strategy, Icknield Port LoopUrban Village and the Birmingham Plan. Stuart isalso a Committee Member of the EducationCommittee and the Law Society Planning andEnvironment Committee that deals with andprovides advice in relation to new legislationconsultation. In addition, Stuart was seconded to Stratford-on-Avon District Council as ChiefSolicitor and Monitoring officer. His team alsoprovide support to Coventry City Council andTamworth Borough Council. He also now leadson Planning & Environmental issues for the LLG.

Rob GeeSellick Partnership

Rob Gee is an industrial psychologist, a cognitivetherapist and a leadership development coach.Before coming to the UK in 1999, he held seniorpositions in the non-profit sector, in construction, insecondary education and as an infantry commanderduring the Angolan conflict in the 1970s and 80s.Since arriving in the UK Rob has worked as TrainingDirector for a large recruitment group in London,and in 2002 set up his own leadership developmentconsultancy. He has designed and deliveredleadership training and one-on-one coaching to awide range of UK and global companies includingThe Royal Bank of Scotland, Transport for London,ARUP, GasUK, KAEFER, the FSA, Caterpillar andDubai Holdings. Rob is a Visiting Executive Fellowof Henley Business School and serves as a visitingfaculty member at Cass Business School andLondon Business School. He also holds non-executive directorships at several UK companies.

Simon GoacherWeightmans LLP

Simon Goacher has enjoyed a long and distinguishedcareer in local government law spanning almost twodecades. As Head of Legal Services and MonitoringOfficer at Wirral Council, Simon was the lead legaladviser for key projects including regenerationschemes in New Brighton and Birkenhead. In 2009,he was appointed Head of Legal Services andMonitoring Officer of the newly created CheshireWest and Chester Council. Simon joinedWeightmans in February 2013 to head up theLocal Government team and advises local authorityclients on governance, vires and compliance.

David HebblethwaiteDistrict JudgeGloucester and Cheltenham County Court

For many years I was a practising solicitor until being appointed a District Judge in 2006. For 6 years I sat at Tunbridge Wells County Court,transferring to Gloucester and CheltenhamCounty Court in 2012. I am a civil and familyjudge, with a wide jurisdiction. On the family side,I am particularly experienced in dealing withdivorce financial applications and Children Actproceedings (private law). In 2012 I became anominated judge of the Court of Protection, oneof several such judges who sit in the regions, andto whom cases are transferred when the partieslive in the area, in my case Gloucestershire.

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SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

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O Eleanor HoggartSAA Lead Officer: Monitoring Officers & Governance & SolicitorLincolnshire County Council

Eleanor Hoggart has been a local governmentsolicitor for over 25 years, managing legal (andother) departments at East CambridgeshireDistrict Council and Boston Borough Councilbefore joining Legal Services Lincolnshire asAssistant Director on its inception in April 2008.Eleanor was part of the implementation teamwhich brought the new shared service forward.Legal Services Lincolnshire was among the first todevelop an innovative approach to the provisionof local authority legal work, being a fullpartnership of both District and County legalteams, hosted by the County Council. ThePractice's 68 staff all work to stringent targets - in relation to minimising external spend andmaximising external income as well as producingtangible efficiencies for the benefit of all thepartners. The Practice continues to meet all of itschallenging targets, generating both year on yearefficiencies and considerable external income,enabling us to return an annual dividend to thepartner authorities. When not working Eleanorlives with her partner and assorted pets in ruralCambridgeshire.

Kevin JaquissDWF LLP

Kevin was awarded the Financial Times InnovativeLawyer of the Year award in 2010 for his work indeveloping new structures for the delivery andfunding of community services and led the teamwhich was shortlisted for the Client Serviceaward in 2012 for its work with Lambeth Councilin developing a simple means of prioritisingservices to be delivered through new structures.Education has a central place in Kevin’s work. His team developed the Co-operative Trust andAcademy models for schools which appear onthe Department for Education’s website and hasdesigned and delivered 700 individual and clusterschools and academies, including free and faithschools. They also worked with schools and theco-operative movement to develop the nationalSchools Co-operative Society as a vehicle for cost sharing, commissioning and promoting bestpractice and have worked with a number ofschools and local authorities to develop newstructures for the delivery of schools services.

Jennifer JonesHarrison Clark Rickerbys

Jenny is a specialist employment law barrister withover 20 years’ experience of advising public sectoremployers. She began her career as a barrister at No. 5 Chambers in Birmingham, during whichtime she was repeatedly recommended in thelegal press and Chambers & Partners as a “leader”in employment law. Jenny now heads up the 25-strong Employment and HR team at HarrisonClark Rickerbys as well as sitting part-time as anEmployment Judge. Jenny is a specialist in publicsector equal pay, whistle-blowing and all types ofdiscrimination. She is also regularly called upon to give strategic board-level HR advice to publicsector organisations on organisational change,restructuring and TUPE.

Vincent KingWeightmans LLP

Vincent is an experienced and versatile projectsand commercial lawyer at Weightmans LLP. He advises public sector clients on PFI, PPPs,outsourcing, long-term contracts for the supply of services and funding agreements. He hasparticular experience in the local governmentsector. Vincent has established a variety ofcontractual and corporate structures includingpartnering arrangements and shared services and has advised local authorities on the transferof services and assets to new delivery vehicles.Vincent has a good understanding ofprocurement law and has advised clients using the competitive dialogue and restrictedprocedures. He has also devised and worked on schemes and structures such as concessionarrangements which do not involve the fullapplication of the procurement rules.

Philip McCourtConsultant

Philip is a solicitor and a chartered secretary by training, beginning with a not for profitorganisation before joining local government in 1988. Since then he has worked for severalauthorities, for the most part as a monitoringofficer, and also for the Improvement andDevelopment Agency. Philip was the President of ACSeS in 2011 to 2013, leading into LLG. Prior to that he was spokesperson on localgovernment powers and then regulatory matters.Over his career he has undertaken a number ofwider pieces of work for authorities and theirnational bodies. As well as the earlier version ofthe Model Members’ Code on Planning Mattersand this new version, his work has includedguidance materials on conduct and developmentcontrol matters as an LGA, DCLG, POS andACSeS grouping for central government, chairingthe model constitution group, the Parish CouncilToolkit, the councillor guide to licensing decisionmaking for LACoRS and DCMS and designing theethical governance toolkit and peer review. Philip isnow an external author and editorial consultantfor LexisNexis and a consultant for a number ofauthorities, working over the last few months forPeterborough, Rutland, Bristol, Newham and theIsles of Scilly councils.

Michael MousdaleDWF LLP

Mike is a partner in DWF's Corporate andCommercial team specialising in public procurementand public sector matters generally. Mike has beenqualified as a solicitor since 1988 and has workedentirely in the local government area, having spentthe first eleven years of his career working in housein local government and subsequently, devoted hispractice to the local government market. Mike isa very experienced local government and publicprocurement practitioner with a well-earnedreputation as an expert in these fields. The 2014version of Chambers, the Legal Directory, notes thathe is "recognised for his strength in procurement on anumber of large and medium scale projects. He offersconsiderable expertise”. Mike is also recognised inLegal 500 as a “specialist local government advisor,with experience across complex matters of vires,procurement, governance and contracting”.

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WO Hugh Peart

HB Public Law

Hugh Peart is the Director of HB Public Law, theshared legal practice between Harrow and BarnetCouncils. Based in Harrow the practice has grownfrom 25 lawyers in 2012 to over 80 today. Thenew practice went live in September 2012, andwithin 2 months had secured Lexcel accreditation,IIP Gold & the IIP Staff Health Well-Being award.HB Public Law was the first local authority practicein the country to submit an application to the SRAfor an ABS licence, which forms part of its businessplan to take advantage of new market opportunities.No stranger to innovation, Hugh is also responsiblefor elections in Harrow, pioneering the developmentof online electoral registration, which is now beingadopted by other Councils. Away from workHugh competes in the national Porsche DriversChampionship, which sees him racing at tracksaround England & in Europe.

Michael StokesHarrison Clark Rickerbys

Michael qualified as a solicitor in 1992 andbecame a partner with Harrison Clark Rickerbysin 2012. He has a wealth of experience on bothsides of the employment law divide, and uses thatexperience and know-how for the benefit of hisclients in a wide range of employment issues.Michael’s work over many years for trades unionsand their members gives him a unique insight intothe way mass tribunal claims are run, and how todeal with them. He has been closely involved inbeginning mass equal pay claims and has had todeal with them from the employer side in morerecent years. Having dealt with equal pay claims inthe Employment Tribunal, he now has a growingcaseload of Court claims based on the SupremeCourt's decision in Abdulla.

Clare TaylorBevan Brittan LLP

Clare joined the Bevan Brittan local governmentteam in 2013. Having worked in Local Authoritiesin the West Midlands for 7 years, she brings awealth of first-hand knowledge of the issues facingCouncil in-house teams. Her experience includesadvice to local authorities on commercial,contractual and constitutional matters coveringshared services, joint ventures and outsourcing.Clare also deals with a wide range of Health &Social care issues including Children's Servicesand Adult Social Care.

David Travers QC6 Pump Court

David Travers QC practices in regulatory and localgovernment law from 6 Pump Court in the Temple.Uniquely he has for many years been identified asa leader in the fields of Consumer Law, Healthand Safety, and Environmental Law in both theindependent “Guide to the UK Legal Profession” andthe “Legal 500”. A former Royal Institution ScienceScholar, one reviewer described him as having “an expert grasp of extremely complex scientificmatters". His practice includes: • consumerprotection (he has appeared in many appellatecases on the “due diligence” defence and wasclosely involved in the illegal money lending pilotscheme for Birmingham City Council) • foodsafety (for his work in this sector he was electedan Honorary Fellow of the Society of FoodHygiene and Technology in 2012 and invited tomeet Professor Elliot during his preparation of theReport into the horsemeat scandal) • health andsafety (6 Pump Court was named “Health andSafety Set of the Year” in 2013); • environmentalprotection. David Travers QC is a publishedacademic and Visiting Professor in BusinessAccountability at the University of South Wales.

Chris ThomasPinsent Masons LLP

Chris is a Senior Associate in the Pinsent MasonsTax group. He has experience in a wide range ofissues involving charities, particularly in acommercial context, including tax advice and thestructuring of trading activities and joint ventures.He also has considerable experience in theestablishment and registration of new charities,including issues around charitable status andpublic benefit. Clients include universities (themajority of which are charities), local and centralgovernment and charitable foundations as well asnational charities. Chris is a member of theCharity Law Association.

Peter WareBrowne Jacobson LLP

Peter is head of Browne Jacobson’s government andinfrastructure team. He heads up the commercialaspects of our local authority practice and specialisesin complex procurement, shared services, PFI,outsourcing and public sector joint ventures. Prior to joining Browne Jacobson, Peter was specialprojects adviser for Nottinghamshire County Council.His extensive knowledge of local authority law andhis time leading major projects at the council gavePeter a wealth of experience in advising all types ofpublic bodies on commercial matters, in particulartheir public procurement, PPP and commercialwork. His expertise is recognised by Chambers &Partners 2014 who rank him as a leading individualin the areas of local government and publicprocurement. Peter is an active member of the PLAand sits on the Executive Committee - currentlyhe is helping on the working group looking at thenew draft procurement directives. Peter is chairingthe sub group looking at the impact on SMEs andrecently spoke at the PLA conference at theEuropean Bank for Reconstruction and Development.Peter also regularly delivers workshops on publicprocurement, charging and trading powers andshared services.

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Sharpe Pritchard is pleased to be associated with the Solicitors in Local GovernmentAnnual Weekend School 2013.

Our dedicated legal teams offer the highest quality service and support to localauthorities from around the country.

We are a leader in public law across a broad range of areas, and have leading specialistswho advise public sector clients in the following areas.

Procurement

PPP/PFI

Elections

Litigation/Dispute Resolution

Commercial Property

Employment

Planning

Regeneration

Parliamentary

www.sharpepritchard.co.ukT:020 7405 4600

E:enquiries@sharpepritchard.co.uk

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Our vision for Legal Services Collaboration

Working together, we shall achieve even greater economies of scale and maintain resilient and robust legal services.

Legal Services collaboration is a partnership of the local authorities in the east region who are working together to provide cost-efficient legal services to their councils.

Our aims are to:

• Provide a professional network to share resources wherever practicable• Develop and deliver initiatives that will reduce the costs of legal services

We look forward to showcasing our work at the Weekend School and reviewing the issues with our colleagues.

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Knowledgetransfer

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• Children Services and Education• Litigation and Licensing• Adult Social Care and Health• Planning Highways and Environment• Employment Law• Information Law• Housing and Regeneration

• Commercial Law• Monitoring Officer and Governance• Junior/Trainee Local Government

Lawyer of the Year• Local Government Lawyer of the Year• Local Government Legal Team of

the Year

LLG AWARDS CEREMONY NOVEMBER 2014

LLG is proud to announce the first...

The awards will be presented at a glittering ceremony to be held at the stunningRosewood Hotel, Holborn, London on the evening of Saturday 29th November

2014. Join us for an evening of celebration and fun for a very affordable £60 a ticket.This will be a black tie event.

For all enquiries about the LLG Awards Ceremony please emailmembership@lawingov.org.uk

Celebrating the vital work of local government lawyersThere will be awards for outstanding achievements in the following categories:

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www.lgg.org.uk

In association with

OUR SPONSORS

Thank you to our Sponsors for their Invaluable Support

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