A one day comprehensive introduction to the legal and practical considerations of working with and supporting Council committees. The course is aimed at new democratic services officers, committee clerks, junior lawyers and any officers who are new to the role of advising and supporting committees.
An introduction to the Council/committee structure, including the purpose and composition of committees and how they fit into the work of the Council. We will move on to consider an overview of decision-making, including the different types of decisions committees can make. We will include discussions on issues such as dealing with interests, public access to committee information and the types of committee information that should/should not be published, minutes etc. The day will include practical considerations of your role, including how best you can support councillors who sit on committees. We will cover the basics of the relevant legislation and discuss practical examples of issues you might have to deal with, including discussion of relevant case studies.
Key topics:
At the end of the course, you will have a good introductory knowledge of the committee process and how it sits within the overall Council; including a clear overview of the powers of committees, the rules relating to them and your role in supporting/advising them.
The course is aimed at new democratic services officers, committee clerks, junior lawyers and any officers who are new to the role of attending, supporting or advising committees. The day is a stand-alone session, but attendees can also decide to progress to the session – Committees Advanced Survival Guide – which is aimed at people with at least 6 months’ experience of advising and supporting committees.
Estelle qualified as a solicitor in 2001. She was a family solicitor before working in local government for 18 years. She has been head or director of law and monitoring officer for several local authorities. Estelle moved to Wilkin Chapman in 2022 as a Regulatory Partner. She advises on a wide range of issues including constitutional matters, committee procedures, councillors’ conduct, decision making and powers, planning, housing and all aspects of local authority governance. Estelle brings her personal experience and a pragmatic approach to the challenges that councillors and officers face in balancing their duties to the council and the public.
Jonathan is a solicitor, and a regulatory and public sector partner at Wilkin Chapman Rollits, a top 200 law firm with a national local government practice. He has worked in, or for, local government for over 30 years and was a Monitoring Officer for 6 years.
Jonathan has investigated many hundreds of cases of the alleged misconduct of local government councillors, including many of the most complex and politically high profile. Jonathan was a member of the core drafting team for the modular constitution for English councils and undertakes a range of public, administrative and regulatory law advice for local authorities, academies, NHS bodies, charities and also companies in the chemical, logistics and offshore renewables sectors.
He has been an Independent Person and is also a Deputy Monitoring Officer in two local authorities and a Monitoring Officer to a national park authority. He was an advisor to the Committee on Standards in Public Life in relation to its 2019 report on Ethical Standards in local Government and was a co-author of the LGA model code and guidance.
He is an independent lay member of the Standards Committee of a Welsh County Council.
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09:30 - 14:45
Online
