As the Deputy Vice President for Lawyers in Local Government and the National Lead for Planning and Environment Law I am a definite champion for Local Government lawyers and the rewarding careers our sector provides.
I qualified as a solicitor in 2005 and have worked within the public sector (Local and Central Government) throughout my career. Currently, I am employed as the Head of Commercial and Contracts at the London Borough of Tower Hamlets having moved across from the Government Legal Service where I worked for the Rail Major Projects team within the Department of Transport. My role is both exciting and dynamic. We are delivering a significant volume of affordable housing for London, and have various capital programmes underway – including lots of tall tower development in Canary Wharf. So there is plenty of really interesting work and challenges in Tower Hamlets – there is never a dull day!
My first foray into local government was as a trainee Legal Executive at the London Borough of Islington. This was a useful entry point as the ILEX (Institute of Legal Executives) provides a flexible, vocational, route into the profession which is welcomed by the majority of local authorities. It enabled me to work, building up my practical legal experience, whilst undertaking my studies, and suited my personal circumstances at the time. However, after a period of time I decided to qualify as a solicitor following the traditional modus operandi.
Post-graduation, I joined the Constitutional Support Team at the London Borough of Southwark. This was a unique period in Local Government law from a constitutional perspective as it chimed with the advent of the introduction of the Localism Act 2000. Governance was changing from the old ratification committees to the new executive arrangements model. I worked on all the committees with members and gained a solid grounding in local government governance from that experience. From this role I moved on to a position in the Property Team in Southwark Legal Services.
This collective experience assisted me in securing a training contract at Buckinghamshire County Council where I was granted a six-month dispensation from the Law Society accredited for my previous practical legal experience. This is another positive feature of qualifying in local government and meant I completed a reduced training contract of 18 months. I found my training contract really interesting and was given a lot of responsibility from the outset, in terms of running my own caseload of matters, and undertaking some significant pieces of advice. My last seat was in the Planning Team and involved a controversial three-week public inquiry concerning the development of a bypass through a village. There was significant objection to the scheme which entailed getting up to speed on an array of complex matters at pace. That’s where my interest in planning was born!
At the end of my training contract, as luck would have it, a planning lawyer position in Southwark opened up. I applied, was successful, and returned there to practice for another 10 years reaching senior solicitor level. Throughout this period, I was fortunate enough to have been at the coal face of delivering a myriad of strategic developments and facilitating the adoption of robust planning and neighbourhood planning policies. One of my highlights in the later part of my Southwark career was my involvement in the Thames Tunnel National Infrastructure Project from pre-submission of the Development Consent Order to its making by the Secretary of State. This gave me a taste for infrastructure projects, which I went on to develop a few years later.
After a fulfilling career at Southwark, I wanted to find the next position up and secured a role at Bracknell Forest Council as Assistant Borough Solicitor (Place) for the following two and a half years. This was another interesting role involving a focus upon urban extensions (new towns) and the town centre redevelopment. It provided fantastic work and excellent projects. Planning work in London tends to involve a different type of strategic planning, like estate regeneration, whereas this role involved trying to secure comprehensive development across expansive sites, often on land in multiple parcels ownership. It involved a lot of novel and complex scenarios requiring tricky drafting and often difficult negotiations.
Following a successful stint, and the delivery of a number of landmark projects for Bracknell, I decided I wanted to return to London and was keen to get more involved in national infrastructure planning. I applied for a specialist planning lawyer role with the Government Legal Department (GLD), and joined the Department for Transport where I spent the next two years. Essentially, this entailed facilitating the implementation of Government policy and safeguarding the Secretary of State’s position against legal risk(s) relating to the High Speed Rail (HS2) project, the newly formed East West Rail project, the OxCam Arc, and various National Infrastructure Projects upon behalf of the Transport and Works Act Unit)
I found that all the skills I had acquired over years of Local Government work were perfectly transferable. Normally in GLD lawyers can be placed in any Ministry, but they specifically wanted a planning lawyer for this post which was fantastic.
As much as I enjoyed my time in Central Government, I missed Local Government work. Briefing Ministers and working consistently on projects of national significance was a very rewarding experience, but in local government you’re always involved with members, and you have a chance to see tangible results very quickly, which suits me because I am quite impatient! So my next move was to Tower Hamlets as the Head of Commercial and Contracts.
My role entails heading up the Contracts and Commercial arm of Legal Services, comprising three legal teams (Planning, Property and Regeneration and Contracts) with responsibility for approximately 17 members of staff.
It is a dynamic role which involves facilitating the regeneration of the Council’s key strategic sites, and delivering the Capital Programme and corporate ambitions - at pace. The borough has experienced rapid growth in recent years which has created an unprecedented volume of development within the Isle of Dogs and the West of the borough.
The Council is also undertaking an ambitious house building programme, some facilitated through innovative company structures, to ensure the most competitive return and funding streams. Additionally, the Council is currently working upon a number of large Council wide procurements for IT and the transfer of its entire waste function in-house which entails a myriad of complex legal issues.
I have strategic oversight over the contracts and commercial legal work of the authority. I act as a conduit between my corporate directors, the mayor, members, client departments and our internal lawyers. The role is also aimed at creating a more collaborative Commercial and Contracts legal unit. There are three separate teams but the work crosses over. If we have big capital delivery scheme in progress, we’ll need to procure contracts and I will oversee that, and all the property and planning legal work that follows. It’s my job to have hands on oversight of what’s happening on all the capital projects.
Additionally, I am the custodian of strategic advice, complex and novel cases. I lead on all complex litigious areas within my discipline such as judicial reviews and s288 challenges.
Local Government work offers autonomy, flexibility, creativity, and a dynamic working environment. If you’re fearless it’s great! There’s nowhere to hide – in a good way. It gives you another skill set and builds your confidence from the start.
I also enjoy the collaborative and collegiate environment of Local Government. You’re always bouncing off a multi-disciplinary, collective team of technical experts within the organisation: corporate directors; heads; and our specialist lawyers. All the Corporate Directors I work alongside at Tower Hamlets are great and provide me with a lot of opportunities, in terms of my scope, personal development, and the confidence they place within me.
There is a great energy with the organisation. I want to get up in the morning and do my job because we’re all pulling in the same direction. Yes, there are challenges but there is also passion, commitment, and focus upon creating positive outcomes. There is a tangible link between the contribution of our lawyers and delivering the corporate aspirations of the authority.
Ultimately, it’s about why you are actually doing the job. I really enjoy the delivery side of our work. The mayor’s catch phrase is “to deliver at pace”. What is lovely is the transformation you see when delivering projects that ultimately benefit the community. It raises aspirations and attainment. It enables people feel proud of their area and to take ownership in the true devolution sense. I enjoy playing my part in delivering this kind of place making to create something tangible and long-lasting.
Gosh - I’m really proud of various wide-ranging projects which I have been involved in over the years. My most recent high profile successful win has been the Westferry decision (May 2020) which in involved a s288 challenge against the decision of the Secretary of State for Ministry for Housing, Communities, and Local Government on the ground that he exercised bias in his approval of a significant 1 billion pound planning scheme. The Secretary of State consented to judgement, which is a magnificent win for the Council! It is crucially important to hold decision makers to account and scrutiny.
My work on the New London Bridge Quarter is also memorable. This included the London Bridge Station redevelopment, where I led on the expedited judicial review that was determined by way of a rolled-up hearing in the Court of Appeal. Additionally, leading on the s106 negotiations for the Shard, being one of the most iconic buildings in the UK and internationally, also raises a smile wherever I see it.
It was also really rewarding to work on the Thames Tunnel and Northern Line Extension infrastructure projects. My role was to ensure the concerns of residents were heard and addressed whilst securing a multi-million-pound compensation package. Safeguarding significant essential mitigation for residents impacted by the scheme made the hard work worthwhile.
In Local Government you’re effectively your client’s “One Stop Shop”. You have so many competencies going into what makes a Local Government lawyer. You need to understand Local Government governance and legal restrictions. This is all layered with the general public law duties and the requirement to ensure decisions are both lawfully consulted upon, rational, and ultimately fair. Additionally, there is the political side and the nuances that follow when advising members, who are democratically elected and accountable. I believe this is the essence of how we directly serve local communities, whilst being on hand to make sure decision making is legally robust, and advise in relation to various legal specialisms.
You tend to wear a lot more hats than in the private sector. Local Government law and practice offers a kaleidoscope of fascinating features that to keep you on your toes.
Understanding organisations is critical. You want to make sure you develop really strong skills in understanding how an organisation works from a strategic point of view. That can start at a junior level. What is the governance model, what are the key relationships? You want to learn to manage relationships positively - emotional intelligence is really important. I would add that positivity and a strong work ethic radiates and you’ll quickly earn the respect of your peers.
Look for diversity and flexibility. Do what you can to find ways of trying different areas of law, whether through projects or secondments. Local Government does provide these opportunities – you can move from commercial to safeguarding. The ability to switch to different disciplines will enable your confidence to flourish. Above all, be prepared to work on issues where you are less confident, and expose yourself to those new disciplines. Key skills are always transferable.
Try and get experience in negotiation, drafting, and handling meetings. Learn to work with a wide range of stakeholders at different levels of seniority. This will help you become a fluid communicator.
And always remember, mistakes sometimes provide the best lessons! On day dot in Local Government you’re right at the coalface. Everyone makes mistakes – you will learn from them. And you’ll develop fast because you’ve had your hands on real work from the beginning.
Something everyone should be more aware of is the governance piece. If you’re a childcare lawyer or in employment, you don’t touch the governance side so much as you do in planning. The very nature of planning decisions is that they can be controversial and often high profile: advising in the public arena of the committee and understanding the constitution is vital. I’ve always been a champion of the Diploma in Local Government Law and Practice having held the role of Chief Projects Assessor for 3 years. I would recommend those seeking a career in Local Government to consider undertaking the course. Aside from the Diploma, make sure that when you join you take advantage of any training you can, and understand the political nuance. I would add that Lawyers in Local Government offer a mentoring and bursary scheme which funds training which is open to all members so worth exploring further.
When you possess a strong sense of determination and self - you just do it! But local government is very flexible and supportive. That’s been an important feature of my career to date. The way we work is very agile and mobile – most of us have access to laptops and are able to work remotely to ensure it doesn’t impact on the service. And by providing and encouraging that flexibility the authority is rewarded tenfold by way of employee commitment. There must be understanding and trust on both sides. As a working mum I am really grateful for that.
Certainly, it can be tough juggling parenthood and work but I would always advise people not to be discouraged. You just adapt. I think the current lockdown arrangements have only demonstrated that flexible working can work out perfectly well. The “new normal” will only highlight this further in my view with a reduction in traditional office/desk based working across the board.
The way we work across Legal Services has significantly changed since the COVID-19 lockdown. Firstly, we are all working remotely which has worked quite well but can present its own challenges from a technological and caring responsibilities point of view. Lawyers have had to adjust to virtual hearings, getting up to speed with e-bundling and the new way of communicating with clients via Zoom or Teams platforms.
Our Planning and Licensing Committees are now held virtually in line with the new Regulations, which has involved a lot of joint effort, but are being effectively rolled out.
Generally, there has been a major increase in the CV19 advice required in the commercial teams concerning the general public law requirements governing consultation and public participation. Further, we are dealing with a substantial number of requests to re-negotiate contractual terms, seek CIL holidays, reliefs and phased payments from rents and s106 obligations. Obviously, upon the return to the “new normal” we expect to see an increase in the resumption of delayed and suspended Planning Inquiries and Court hearings. It may be the case that these will all now proceed in the virtual space.
I anticipate the long lasting impact will be the need for lawyers in my teams to remain agile, work smarter and collaboratively to safeguard precious resources against competing demands. This work will be undertaken against the backdrop of funding cuts and the economic and social fall-out from the pandemic. Exciting times!
