News & Events

Listed below are the national news items and national events.

LLG Work Experience Applications NOW OPEN
Publish date: 06/05/2021
Are you a law student looking to gain work experience In a local authority? LLG are delighted to announce that we are now accepting applications for our LLG work experience week for 2021 for all students who wish to take part in the week. This year students just like you, across the country will take part in LLG work experience week which will begin on the 5th July 2021.
LLG AWARDS 2021 NOW OPEN- CLOSING DATE FOR NOMINATIONS 31st MAY 2021
Publish date: 06/05/2021
Given the unprecedent year we have all faced, LLG are delighted to bring you the LLG Awards 2021 which will be held virtually on 15th July 2021 at 6.00pm. This year, the categories have been specifically developed to celebrate your outstanding achievement, resilience, leadership and agility throughout the pandemic, encapsulating the spirit and professionalism of lawyers in local government. The deadline for submissions is 31st May 2021. Best of Luck!
The LLG Grapevine - Week 43 Available Now
Publish date: 04/05/2021
Talking Law in Local Government
Member Update: - Virtual Meeting Judgement following Post-script on Open to Public
Publish date: 04/05/2021
Following the Judgement from the High Court in relation to our Virtual Meeting Judicial Review, the court indicated at the end of that judgement within a postscript, that it would consider references to a meeting being “open to the public” or “held in public”. That judgement was handed down today.
Judgement on Virtual Meeting Provisions
Publish date: 28/04/2021
The application to the High Court made by ADSO, LLG and Hertfordshire County Council in relation to virtual meeting provision for local authorities has today been dismissed.
Virtual Branch Meeting Survey
Publish date: 27/04/2021
LLG are keen to hear your views on participation in Virtual Branch Meetings
Are you a Junior Lawyer in Local Government who could Represent your Sector?
Publish date: 27/04/2021
LLG are looking to appoint a Junior National Lead, leading to Junior Director in October 2021 by nomination to the AGM with a seat on the LLG board from October 2021 to October 2022. This is a fantastic opportunity to gain national exposure and mentoring in your career development. Applications are sought by 14th May 2021.
Colleagues at Warrington Borough Council Pay Tribute to Neil Astles
Publish date: 27/04/2021
Paul Clisby, Legal Team Manager (Corporate) at Warrington Borough Council pays tribute to colleague Neil Astles who sadly passed away last week.
The LLG Grapevine - Week 42 Available Now
Publish date: 26/04/2021
Talking Law in Local Government
High Court Hears Virtual Meeting Provision JR
Publish date: 21/04/2021
Proceedings for a court declaration that virtual meetings can proceed past 6th May 2021 was heard today in the High Court before the President of the Queens Bench Division, Dame Victoria Sharp and the Hon Mr Martin Chamberlain QC.

Blog

30 April 2021

Publish date: 30/04/2021

Whoever said that the law was dull and who could have imagined that a meeting of a dysfunctional parish council could attract a thousand viewers via you tube. Perhaps this surrealist vision is a reflection of the dreamlike year of lockdown we've all just lived through. A time when councils across the land, overnight, converted the way they conducted their most significant decision making from the age old 'face to face' meeting to the new world or Zoom, MS Teams and 'legacy hands'.

The transformation happened overnight and for many it all got off to a shaky start with congested bandwidth, feedback and councillors demonstrating their need for basic ICT skills training. Worse than this were the occasions where councillors forgot that they were on video….perhaps the less said the better. However, we quickly overcame these initial hurdles and found ways to avoid the feedback. We learnt by our mistakes and built in regular breaks to the meetings and developed protocols to bring order to the proceedings.

Fast forward to the present and there must have been literally tens probably hundreds of thousands of fully remote meetings conducted during the last 12 months. Perhaps the most notable fact is that Handsworth Parish Council was the only one to go viral and this is probably due to the fact that the vast majority of the remote meetings were successfully conducted and achieved satisfactory outcomes.

So it was disappointing to read the recent judgement of the President of the QBD and Mr Justice Chamberlain which concluded that the court should not in this case utilise the updating approach to statutory interpretation in light of contextual changes, but instead to stand back and leave the issue for parliament to decide. The argument around the role of the courts and that of the parliament has a familiar ring to it, reminiscent of the Brexit litigation.

The disappointment doesn't arise from any lack of technical prowess in the construction of the judgement which, as you'd expect from judges of this calibre is succinct and logical in its execution. However, it's the implicit underlying presumption that Local Authorities aren't able or can't be trusted to safely conduct these meetings without Parliament having imposed an additional layer of prescriptive rules which undermines this judgement. This is at odds with the reality that we've all experienced at the chalk face.

So, for me the last few weeks have proved to be a bit of a legal rollercoaster. On the one hand, a fascinating opportunity to experience the High Court in action in seeking to make sense of arguments which are more nuanced than many straightforward legal actions with two parties slogging it out as opposed to this case in which all parties had a shared view which, as it transpired, was at odds with the Judges. On the other, the irony of the hearing itself getting off to a shaky start due to the court having some technical issues which caused feedback when counsel delivered their submission. It was surely a portent.

Although the court chose not to exercise its discretion in our favour the process of taking the application to court has strengthened the resolve to do whatever is necessary to enable the option for remote attendance to become a permanent option in the future and we will work with MHCLG to enable it to happen quickly and effectively.

Best wishes

Quentin Baker

LLG President