Being in a position of leadership within a local authority continues to bring significant challenges, particularly amid the ongoing financial, political, and organisational pressures facing local government. Strong, creative, and ethical leadership is needed now more than ever — not only from Monitoring Officers and senior leaders, but also from those stepping into leadership roles for the first time.
Wherever you are in your career and whatever your aspirations, developing leadership skills is vital. Whether you are a Head of Legal, Monitoring Officer, Deputy Monitoring Officer, or team leader, strengthening your leadership approach will enable you to guide others confidently through uncertainty and make a greater strategic impact within your organisation.
The LLG Leadership Conference 2026 will explore what effective leadership looks like in modern local government - from building resilience and fostering inclusive teams to navigating governance challenges, supporting staff wellbeing, and driving innovation in times of change.
This fully remote conference will feature a series of sessions and thought-provoking discussions on the most pressing issues currently shaping leadership in the sector. Topics will include:
The full programme and speaker line-up will be announced soon. This conference offers an invaluable opportunity to gain insights, share experiences, and develop practical leadership strategies to support your authority’s success in 2026 and beyond.
Leading the firm’s governance work for local government, Claire acts as a crucial sounding board for all levels of local government, advising monitoring officers and members, helping them to make informed legal decisions.
Equipped with over 20 years of in-house experience, Claire advises local authorities and their companies on regulatory governance matters, reviews constitutions, governance arrangements and decision-making. She is in high demand to undertake standards investigations and is well regarded for providing member training. Her depth of experience across county, district and unitary local councils has shaped her extensive knowledge of local government challenges. Claire is able to guide authorities across the country on what they can accomplish and more importantly how to go about doing it. She also leads our local government reorganisation work, alongside Matthew Gregson.
Claire takes pride in offering practical and timely advice to officers and working as a team to support their work. For her, Anthony Collins is the perfect workplace, allowing her to fulfil her passion as a local government lawyer again.
Bethan Evans Governance Training and Consultancy, GOV TC
Beth is a recognised expert in local authority governance and decision-making, having worked in this field for over 40 years. She was an in-house lawyer for nearly 20 years, at four different councils in England, culminating in roles as a County Solicitor and a Director of Corporate Services in a unitary authority.
Beth led the Welsh Local Government Agency responsible for improvement and development in the 22 unitary councils in Wales (and the regional employer) for three years from 1998.
In 2001 Beth moved to a role as a partner with Bevan Brittan LLP, a leading national law firm, where she led the local government team for 17 years, for 4 years of which she was Senior Partner of the firm. The firm has, for many years, been ranked Band One legal advisors for local authorities.
Legal 500 rankings 2017 – UK Local Government Law
Bethan Evans is the “undisputed leader in the field”.
In 2016, Beth left her legal role and set up her current business (GOVTC Ltd) as an independent governance trainer and advisor. She is an experienced and highly regarded practitioner in this field. She specialises in member and officer development for local authorities and also investigated code of conduct complaints. Beth has a wealth of practical experience which enables her to bring these insights to her training. She delivers training on topics such as standards of conduct, effective scrutiny, chairing skills, member/officer relation, social media for members, LGR, effective speaking as a councillor and pre-election readiness for officers.
Beth has provided sessions for over 120 councils over the last 7 years, including county councils, unitary councils, London boroughs, combined authorities, districts, and parishes.
Beth works extensively with LLG on their programme of governance related sessions and on training for Monitoring Officers. Beth is also an LGA Associate.
Robin has been Chief Executive at Calderdale Council, in West Yorkshire, since June 2017 and Calderdale's Place Lead for West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board since July 2022. He is responsible for leading both the Council's and Calderdale place's workforce, supporting system leadership across the area with public, private and voluntary sector leaders in support of Calderdale Vision 2034 and overseeing a major regeneration programme across the borough's market towns.
Currently he is President of Solace (Society of Local Authority Chief Executives) after being lead spokesperson for Solace for Economic Prosperity from 2020-24.
Robin was previously Director of Communities and Business Change for Calderdale, leading the redevelopment of the multi-award-winning restoration of the Piece Hall and new Central Library in Halifax and prior to that worked in local government, the Probation Service and the voluntary sector in East London. Robin is an honorary life member of the Faculty of Public Health, a Non-Executive Director of the Northern Housing Consortium and a Trustee of Belong.
Amy Harhoff is the first permanent Chief Executive of the East Midlands Combined County Authority. Amy joined EMCCA from her role as Corporate Director for Regeneration, Economy, and Growth at Durham County Council, where she led major initiatives for the past four years. Her extensive leadership experience also includes senior roles at Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, South Yorkshire Combined Authority, and Transport for Greater Manchester.
Working alongside Mayor Claire Ward, Amy is driving forward EMCCA’s ambitious agenda, focused on improving transport, housing, skills, employment, and climate resilience. Her leadership is rooted in collaboration and delivery, bringing together local authorities, businesses, and communities to unlock the region’s full potential.
With a clear vision for inclusive growth, Amy is harnessing the East Midlands’ strengths, from world-class universities and global industries to a thriving visitor economy and rich cultural heritage. Under her leadership, EMCCA is building a more connected, skilled, and sustainable region - one with a strong identity and shared purpose.
Amardeep is a Partner at international law firm Trowers & Hamlins.
He is the firm's National Head of Public Sector and advises government, public bodies and SMEs on transformation or business critical projects.
He is nationally ranked as an expert in his chosen field (Chambers UK) and has also been recognised for his market-leading expertise by legal research experts, Acritas, who have designated him as an 'Acritas star'.
Amardeep has extensive experience across a range of sectors including digital technology, leisure, transport, health, education, outsourcing, regeneration and aviation. He advises on complex procurements and the ethical issues arising from the adoption of AI across businesses and the public sector.
Will is Venn Group’s national lead for permanent legal recruitment, specialising in the design and delivery of high-impact recruitment campaigns for local authorities during a period of rapid transformation. He has supported councils through restructures, skills shortages and evolving governance models, providing clear, evidence-based insight into the legal recruitment market. Will takes a consultative, partnership-driven approach, working closely with local authorities to represent their unique culture, priorities and identity in an increasingly competitive landscape.
Tom has nearly a decade of experience supporting local authorities to secure senior interim Law and Governance leaders at moments of significant challenge, change and public scrutiny. Working closely with chief executives, monitoring officers and political leadership, he specialises exclusively in high-impact interim appointments where judgement, credibility and pace are critical. Tom brings a deep understanding of the governance pressures facing the sector and is known for his calm, insight-led approach - helping organisations navigate complexity through the quality of the people they appoint.
Connie has built a strong reputation for a collaborative, consultative approach and a detailed understanding of the public sector legal market. She works closely with local authorities across the UK to deliver tailored recruitment solutions that support both short-term requirements and long-term workforce planning. Passionate about supporting legal professionals at every stage of their careers, she provides honest market insight and practical guidance to help individuals navigate and succeed within the evolving local government legal landscape.
Naomi is Head of Health and Justice and Head of the Manchester Advisory team. She has over 18 years' experience of representing local authorities, healthcare providers, police forces, private custodial service operators, private probation service providers, care homes on inquests (including Article 2 inquests) and public inquiries.
In addition to working within private practice she has worked in-house within both a large police force and a global insurance company and has therefore been able to develop a detailed understanding of clients' risks and objectives.
Naomi specialises in inquests and public inquiries. She represents clients in both the public and private spheres.
Her work is typically high profile and complex and requires careful management of reputational risk. Naomi's cases often attract public scrutiny and involve complex legal issues.
Naomi enjoys working closely with clients and draws upon these strong relationships to achieve the desired results.
Instructed by a police force on the resumed inquests into the Hillsborough Disaster.
Acting for a healthcare provider on a high profile inquest relating to a triple homicide.
Instructed on a number of public inquiries including the Brook House and Lampard public inquiries.
Naomi is an active member of the firm’s corporate social responsibility initiatives and is passionate about mentoring.
2006
College of Law, York: LPC
Cardiff University: LLB
Aneeka Muneer is currently the President of LLG and Head of Litigation / Deputy Monitoring Officer at Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council. Aneeka also delivers LLG training on regulatory prosecutions. Aneeka has worked in local government since 2006, qualifying in criminal and civil litigation teams. She has been a magistrates court advocate for local government for over 15 years and continues to undertake regulatory prosecutions and advisory work in the area of enforcement for regulatory environmental work.
Aneeka is also the regional lead for prosecutions for LLG SAA, Yorkshire and Humberside.
Deborah Evans was appointed in 2018 as the first Chief Executive of LLG. Having started her career in local government at Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, she has since gone on to work in senior roles across the legal sector, including the in-house legal team of a major retailer; as a Practice Director of a law firm; in management at the Legal Aid Board; Chief Executive of the Legal Complaints Service, and most recently as Chief Executive of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers.
Deborah has also been involved with digital claims resolution platforms such as Claims Portal and MedCo.
John is currently the Legal Manager at Leeds City Council. Previously John was an Assistant Solicitor at Leeds City Council, specialising in Procurement and Commercial Contracts. After a short spell in private practice, he started his local government legal career in 2013 as a Legal Apprentice, before moving between various local authorities and gaining experience in a wide variety of areas, and eventually qualifying in June 2021.
Outside of the Council, John is an active member of the Leeds Junior Lawyers Division and a member of the Procurement Lawyers Association.
Nichola is the Strategy and Commissioning Manager, Legal and Democratic at Warwickshire County Council, and also a Director of Warwickshire Legal Services Trading Limited. Nichola is passionate about developing new talent in the sector as the way forward to ensure a long-term future for lawyers in local government. She believes this can be achieved by providing a space for those motivated towards public service, providing exceptional technical and leadership training and support, together with recognising the importance of wellbeing. Nichola celebrates her 25th anniversary of admittance to the roll this year.
Principal Legal Officer, Leeds City Council
Rosemary has specialised in civil litigation from the outset of her career and has housing law experience spanning 20 years. She has experience of working in-house for Housing Associations and also Local Government, and is currently the Housing Disrepair Team Leader at Leeds City Council and a Law Society Housing Law Committee member and current Chair. Rosemary is also a member of the SHLA, a member of the Law Society Education and Training Committee and also Board Member for Chartford Housing Board (which is part of Horton Housing, a small Housing Association in Bradford).
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