R (on the application of Miller) (Appellant) v The Prime Minister (Respondent) Cherry and others (Respondents) v Advocate General for Scotland (Appellant) (Scotland)

Publish date: 01/10/2019

Judgement of the Supreme Court

To read the Judgement click here

Blog

18 October 2019

Publish date: 18/10/2019

If you dipped into Twitter or Linkedin this week you could not fail but notice the extensive coverage of the LLG Governance Conference 2019 which was, to quote a delegate, "the best conference yet". It was a fantastic success, showcasing the brilliance of our sector and raising some really important and topical legal and governance issues at a time where political instability and indeed Brexit is changing the landscape of our daily lives.

From financial management and the role of statutory officers to the code of conduct and strategically bridging the recruitment gap, the conference 'Golden Triangle' theme rocketed out of the starting blocks and never let up. We were delighted to be joined by Carole Mills, CEO of Derby Council to hear that 'absolute integrity, honesty and a desire to do the right thing are essential ingredients for those working in the Golden Triangle" and Graham Farrant, CEO of BCP Council to remind us that, "being a statutory officer is a lonely job, but there is strength in shared vision across the Golden Triangle".

Later on in the day we were asked some thought-provoking questions including (in relation to the recruitment crisis) "does Kim Kardashian becoming a lawyer show that millennials value purpose over pay?" There were also lots of poignant statements such as "austerity is no excuse for poor governance" and "in some cases, the Golden Triangle is more rusty than golden" to, "it doesn't matter where the comma goes if no one has asked if the proposals stack up in the first place". The real highlight for many however appeared on the second day when James Goudie QC gave his views on the Supreme Court prorogation Judgement and what it means for local authorities. Packed in amongst several absolute brilliant observations we heard "it demonstrates that political territory and political implications are not off limits for judicial review". This led one delegate to openly comment "your analysis of the Supreme Court case is outstanding!" to which Mr Goudie replied, "I respectfully agree".

Throughout the conference we also heard from our excellent Corporate Partners on a range of topics vast and informative and we give out thanks to them and indeed all exhibitors and delegates for supporting the event and injecting so much energy, learning and indeed, fun. You will find extensive coverage and quotes from the conference at @LLGLegal or search under #llggov19. You will also find us on Linkedin at Lawyers in Local Government.

Full coverage of the Governance Conference will appear in next week's Special Bulletin Edition.

Best wishes

Deborah Evans

LLG Chief Executive

deborah.evans@llg.org.uk