A one day comprehensive guide to the in depth legal and practical considerations of working with and supporting Council committees. The course is aimed at experienced democratic services officers, committee clerks, junior lawyers and any officers who attend and/or and advise committees.
In this training course we will discuss the principles of decision-making and the meaning of executive and non-executive decisions. We will also consider all the issues you might face in supporting and advising committees, including advising on interests, bias and predetermination, the principles of free speech and judicial review of decisions. We will consider practical examples and discuss the relevant legislation and case law.
Key topics will include:
At the end of the course, you will have an improved and in-depth knowledge of the legislative, procedural and practical issues to consider when advising or supporting your committees.
The course is aimed at democratic services officers, committee clerks, junior lawyers and any officers who have experience of attending and advising committees. The course is aimed at officers with at least 6 months’ experience of advising committees. It is a stand alone day but can also be combined with the first day for officers new to dealing with committees – Committees Basic Survival Guide.
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
