Welcome to the Midlands Region of LLG
We cover local authorities in:
Here you will find information on what is happening in the Midlands area.
To join any of the regions go to "My LLG" hub and "My regions" tab where you can also see the regions that you are a member of.
We need your help!
LLG wish to provide meetings and events which reflect the wants and needs of our membership. Please click the link below and complete the short survey to give us an insight into our Midlands Region. Thank you.
Board update
The Board met on the 26th July just before the summer break to conduct the board business but also to hear the initial findings and recommendations from the governance review which we have been undertaking internally.
Amongst discussion as to the arrangements and location of the Governance Conference (of which you will hear more of in September) and Spring Conference, I am also delighted to announce the appointment of Isabelle Alajooz, Legal Manager & Deputy Monitoring Officer at North Herts Council as the new Housing & Regeneration National Lead for LLG. Many congratulations to Isabelle who I welcome to the team with grateful thanks. Housing is of course high up on both the central and local government agenda and the Lead role is incredibly important as a result. The Board also determined to formally adopt the Shared Services Group as a formal National Lead group and advertisements for that position will go live in September. Of course, all National Leads are currently eligible to stand for the National Lead Board Director position when it becomes vacant in 2026.
In terms of the governance review, it was both pleasing and reassuring to hear that our governance is good, but we are presently considering some recommendations to determine how we move from good to great. Its vitally important as with your own authorities that governance is never taken for granted; and this temperature check was really welcomed. We will be considering options at our strategy day in the autumn, and we then be in a position to involve you, the membership, in a period of consultation to help shape our trajectory and future ambitions.
May I take this opportunity to wish you a lovely summer. Whilst the work doesn’t stop, we all need to take time to look after ourselves and recharge where possible. I very much hope you are able to take the time to do just that,
Best wishes
LLG team
Midlands' Regional Update
Dear Midlands Members
The Board met on 26th April and was kindly hosted by Weightmans at their London office.
The day started with a training session by William Sharpe from Weightmans on the Roles and Responsibilities of LLG Board Directors which was extremely informative not only for our new directors, but as a useful reminder for existing directors.
The LLG Board then heard from CEO, Deborah Evans, on the operational activities at LLG. This included the Monitoring Officer roundtable, the Code of Governance, the Statutory officer development programme, the expansion and impact of Work Experience Week 2024 and the finalists for the LLG Awards 2024(click for shortlist).
Board members were presented with a summary of feedback received on the Code of Practice on Good Governance for Statutory Officers consultation. LLG have discussed the main themes from the feedback with Solace and CIPFA and hope to launch the Code at the Spring Conference in June. Incidentally the Board also received the programme for the Spring Conference and you can read about the impressive line-up here. Additionally, if you are a Junior (less than 5 years PQE), applications are open for LLG’s Junior Bursary Scheme, which you can apply for here.
The Board went on to discuss the establishment of a professional body for Monitoring Officers. This continues from initial discussions at previous meetings. We can happily share that progress is being made and the working group have reached agreement on the fundamental principles of the professional body. We will be sharing our thoughts through consultation with the membership in the coming months.
Following on from the success of LLG’s Inspire programme, LLG are now turning its attention to how it might assist Junior lawyers or those new to local government law to develop more fully in their understanding of the legal landscape. This is an exciting new development, and I will report more as this workstream progresses.
If you are interested in getting involved in the work of LLG – please do contact me via the membership email – membership@llg.org.uk
Best wishes
Nylah Clarke-Mills
Dear All
Please find below an update from the LLG Board meeting on 23 February.
The meeting received the quarter end finance report for 2023 together with the budget update.
Following on from the previous Board meeting in December 2023, the finalised version of the strategic plan for 2024-2027 was shared, which was supported by the Board. The five agreed strategic objectives are as follows:
LLG’s CEO, Deborah Evans, reported progress against these strategic objectives along with an operational update which was welcomed by the Board. The operational update covered further work on the role and responsibilities of the Monitoring Officer following on from the LGIU & Browne Jacobson research paper on the changing role of the MO, guidance published to members within LLG’s position statement on practicing certificates, publication of the Members Planning Code of Good Practice , the launch of Work Experience Week 2024 and LLG’s upcoming LLG Awards.
The Board considered a report about progress with LLG Becoming a professional body. That’s certainly a lot of work and we have now set up a sub-committee to consider it.
Elections Conference
In view of the upcoming local and Police Commissioner elections, LLG are holding an online elections conference on 1st March 2024. This interactive event will run from 9:30-4pm and you will hear from specialist speakers who delve into the second wave of Election Act changes. Throughout the day you will also have the opportunity to ask questions and share your own experiences.
For more information and for booking information click here
https://llg.org.uk/book-event/?id=c18d4635-e694-ee11-be37-002248c8ed56
LLG Board update
There will be a vote for next year’s Deputy Vice President and I would encourage you all to exercise your vote to make sure you get the people you want to represent you on LLG.
You are encouraged to attend the LLG AGM which will be held online 12 Noon on 17 April. It would be good to have as many of our members as possible there.
Kind regards
Nylah Clarke-Mills
Executive Assistant Regions
Scheduled regional meetings for Midlands:
The LLG Board met on Friday, 8th December, in the heart of London, to set the budget for 2024. Finding the right balance between maintaining affordability for our members amidst challenging financial times for councils, and ensuring LLG’s long-term viability to continue delivering the benefits of membership and a strong national voice was a key focus of the discussion.
The Board adopted LLG’s 2024-2027 strategy and workstreams, emphasising our commitment to promoting exemplary governance, building a sustainable profession, fostering an inclusive and welcoming community, encouraging regional engagement, and using our voice to shape national debate.
The Board received a paper on elections at LLG and will shortly be announcing exciting opportunities to contribute to LLG’s growth and success. These include positions such as Deputy Vice President, Junior National Lead, and Regional Director for Eastern. If you’re interested in exploring any of these roles, please feel free to contact Helen McGrath, LLG Executive Director of Policy & Governance, for an informal and confidential discussion. Helen@llg.org.uk
Following the resounding success of our Governance Conference in Sheffield, the Board has voted to bring our Spring Conference to Leeds in 2024. Stay tuned for further announcements regarding the location of our 2024 Governance Conference.
The Board meeting was held alongside the LLG Juniors Day, which proved to be a tremendous success as it allowed attendees the opportunity to connect with like-minded professionals from different stages of their careers. We would like to extend our thanks to Womble Bond Dickinson for hosting both events, especially in such spectacular offices with a view of Tower Bridge and the Tower of London.
We are planning some exciting sessions in the New Year for the Midlands Region with the kind assistance of our corporate partners. We will also be looking for keen volunteers to help us to move forward with plans for more regional networking groups to provide support and opportunities to all of our members. If you have been involved in the past, or would like to become involved in the future, please reach out!
Nichola Vine,
Regional Director - Midlands
Introduction from Midlands Regional Director
REGIONAL UPDATE
At the LLG AGM this year, the company resolved by membership vote to bring the Branches into the direct control of the company and consolidate the regions. This was done in order to ensure parity of service within the regions and provide targeted supported whilst ensuring greater accountability and transparency for our grass roots membership across England and Wales.
Following open elections, I was elected as the Regional Director for the Midlands Region.
In order to ascertain which Region, you now fall within, I attach a map which shows the new boundaries.
A BIT ABOUT ME
I am currently Head of Legal and Governance at Warwickshire County Council and Deputy Monitoring Officer. My career has given me the opportunity to work in both the public and private sectors and to represent a wide range of clients.
I applied for the role of Regional Director for two key reasons: Firstly, I believe very strongly that the work lawyers do is critical to ensuring that local authorities can provide the support and services that our communities need, and secondly, I wanted to play my part in addressing the increasing challenges facing lawyers in local government to build a better and more resilient future for those coming into the sector.
My background is in projects and construction work but my work in local government allowed me to expand my horizons into many interesting and diverse areas of law, and brought opportunities to deevelop strategically and as a leader. I believe the broad grounding in law and governance that a career in local government gives is hugely valuable and creates well rounded lawyers with experiece that is significantly more hands-on than many other sectors. Attracting strong new talent is critical to ensuring the resilience of our sector and I very much hope we can work together to innovate and support each other in developing that resilience.
In order to address the challenges we face, it is really important that we understand what is important to you so that we can provide support and training in areas of benefit and value to you, and to enable LLG to continue delivering best practice and advocating for the membership, and for the sector as a whole.
MOVING FORWARD WITH THE REGION
I am absolutely delighted to represent our Region and I am really keen to hear your thoughts on how we might better serve your interests locally. I am also particularly keen to hear from anyone running local groups within our Region and learn about the support which could be offered to ensure these vital meetings continue to take place.
I am currently devising a communications strategy along with my fellow Regional Directors to ensure that we are able to both disseminate information from the Board and enable a mechanism to feed back up from the grassroot membership. Between us, we are also considering in-person and remote events/training, relationships with framework providers and joint working opportunities, regional bursaries to attend LLG Conferences, and links to educational establishments to grow succession within the profession. If you have any other ideas or thoughts, then please do not hesitate to contact me at insert preferred email address and please copy in membership@llg.org.uk
I very much look forward to creating a vibrant, engaged and networked region.
Best Wishes
Nichola Vine
Nichola Vine as the Midlands Regional Director
Tom Mcelholm - Junior Lead Midlands
