Senedd Update - No 147 - 31st March 2021

Publish date: 31/03/2021

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Blog

9 April 2021

Publish date: 09/04/2021

It was a great privilege for Aneeka and I to be appointed to the LLG board this year, as your new Membership Directors. It's been a busy start to our new roles, and we were buoyed by the successful outcome of the exit cap legal challenge. This will safeguard the pension rights of many loyal employees up and down the country. Clearly not seeing enough litigation in our "day jobs", the board are also taking legal action regarding virtual meeting provision. Such action is not necessarily typical of the board, and we do not take it lightly. However, we are ultimately a membership body and our job on the board is to promote your interests. Our board are also here to support you in upholding good governance and democratic participation. We hope it provides reassurance to know that we are doing so. On a happier note, we're also working on some exciting projects like graduate recruitment and our first ever virtual work experience week this summer. Likewise, we're implementing a full programme of online training and courses, until we're all able to meet again safely in person (although worryingly I've been told I look better with a mask on….) We do hope that you're able to become involved in some of that activity.

Kieran McGaughey, Commercial Solicitor, Newcastle City Council

Stronger together. Cliched but true. LLG is there for you- and we are stronger together.

The relentless ever evolving change in local government law and practice during these unprecedented times led to a discovery of new ways of working and exposed the truth on capability beyond the 'norm'. The global pandemic forced each government arm to work on a larger collaborative scale and lawyers in local government were no exception.

The recent loss of the local government seat on the Law Society council now places a greater need on local government lawyers to proactively become involved in LLG as their representative body.

The regional SAA group in my area has provided an amazing network and sound board for the new ways of practice in the specific field. The SAA provided a 'team' outside of the local government I work in – with shared problems, shared ideas and shared best practice; often addressing issues and concerns that no-one in my own team had practical experience of.

The vision for local government legal practice is brighter if we support our common work outside our authority, become involved with the regional group, share ideas through the forum and actively become involved whether regionally or nationally.

Aneeka Sarwar, Solicitor, Bradford Council