Online - Setting Up and Running Local Authority Companies: Practical Challenges

This course takes time to explore a number of the practical aspects of setting up and running local authority companies. It will be delivered by highly experienced lawyer, consultant and trainer Bethan Evans who, during her 40 year career in the law and local government, has been involved in the establishment and operation of numerous LA arm’s length bodies including trading companies, Teckal companies, LLPs and Children's Trusts. Beth was also a non-exec director of a council-owned energy company for two years.

The course will assume that delegates have a grounding in the basics of the law and governance relating to the setting up and operation of council companies. We will build on this knowledge by taking time to reflect on three particular aspects of this (sometimes) challenging topic. We will focus on:

• The issues to consider and highlight when your council is considering setting up new entities such as companies - the business case, the governance questions and the important considerations which must be tackled

• The conflicts of interests and governance tangles which can be problematic in the operation of council companies

• What to do if things go wrong - this could stem from a failure to deliver the business plan, a change in market conditions, a loss of political support etc.

In all these situations we will use practical mini scenarios to look at what needs to be addressed, what we can learn from recent reports on problems with corporate entities in the public sector and the role of the legal officers in ensuring probity and good governance.

The course is aimed at Monitoring Officers, DMOs and any legal officer involved in the setting up, running or review of LA corporate bodies.