Helen Bradley, LLG Vice President and National Lead Board Representative and Director of Legal & Democratic Services, Durham County Council

Helen trained as a solicitor in Local Government and has nearly 20 years’ experience in working at both district and unitary level. Helen initially specialised in civil and criminal litigation, obtaining Higher Rights of audience in the criminal courts. Since becoming a Deputy Monitoring Officer and subsequently a Monitoring Officer, Helen has specialised in all aspects of local authority governance but has a particular interest in the Standards Regime.

Helen is currently Head of Legal & Democratic Services and Monitoring Officer, Durham County Council.

Anita Bradley, LLG Deputy Vice President, LLG Southern Director and, Director of Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer at Oxfordshire County Council

Anita Bradley is the Director of Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer at Oxfordshire County Council, a position she has held since January 2021. With over 36 years of extensive legal experience, Anita has a varied career in both private practices, most recently as a partner in Browne Jacobson LLP and in local government settings.

Amardeep Gill, Trowers & Hamlins

National Head of Public Sector, Amardeep is a recognised expert advising all levels of government, public bodies and UK and international businesses on transformation and business critical projects including joint ventures, public/private partnerships, complex supply chain arrangements, regulatory matters and large-scale procurement exercises.

He has extensive experience across a range of sectors including digital technology, leisure, transport, health, logistics waste, major events, housing, education, outsourcing, regeneration and aviation.  He has advised governments and companies on AI projects since 2019: "AI and the broader technological industrial revolution is starting to have a profound impact on local economies.  The government has an ambitious agenda for the adoption of AI which is filtering down across the sector, but in order to deliver such change we need to be conscious of the infrastructure needs necessary for a rapidly changing world".  

Catherine Newman, Sharpe Pritchard

Catherine trained Cheshire County Council, and then worked as a solicitor in local government for 15 years. She gained experience at a district and a metropolitan councils before spending 12 years at Cambridgeshire County Council. Catherine joined Sharpe Pritchard in 2010 and became a partner in 2017.

Catherine advises numerous local authority and central government clients. Her practice straddles public law and commercial/procurement matters. Clients value her focused and practical approach. Catherine’s commercial work includes advising contract drafting to include realistic and enforceable performance regimes and then on holding suppliers to account on these.

Catherine Stephens, Interim Head of Law & Deputy Monitoring Officer, East Midlands Combined County Authority

Chris Plumley, Trowers & Hamlins

Chris specialises in large scale public sector regeneration and mixed use development projects. With over 20 years' experience he is particularly noted for unlocking stalled developments.

He works alongside commercial, surveying, financial and property teams to plan and prepare the structures and governance for large scale projects. He will then lead a legal team to deliver complex projects from inception to completion.

Chris has many years of experience working collaboratively alongside developers, senior officers, in-house lawyers, politicians and other professional advisers within the public, private and emergency sectors. With many large scale and politically sensitive projects to his name Chris has established a national reputation within the regeneration market. He has helped clients on major property development projects to devise commercial and risk mitigated structures and ongoing project management.

Clare Liddle, Chief Legal and Monitoring Officer, Cumberland Council

Dan Kayne, founder of O Shaped

Dan Kayne is founder of O Shaped, a client led, people focussed organisation that exists to make the legal profession better for those who are in it, those who use it and those who are entering it.  

He has 25 years’ experience in the legal sector, both in private practice and in-house, including 7 years as a General Counsel at Network Rail.

O Shaped started out as a passion project for Dan when he was building his team at Network Rail and realised that the most successful legal service providers consisted of well-rounded (O Shaped) professionals who combined excellent technical legal ability with strong people and business skills. 

Such was the success of O Shaped both at Network Rail and externally, Dan decided to leave his GC role at Network Rail in April 2022 to focus exclusively on driving the O Shaped mission forward.  Since then, O Shaped has worked some of the leading law firms and corporate legal functions  in  the  world,  helping  them  to  embed  an  O  Shaped  approach  to  legal  services delivery.

Darren Hooker, Capsticks

Darren Hooker is a Partner and Head of the Social Housing Governance Team at Capsticks. Darren specialises in advising RPs, public sector bodies and charities on corporate governance and regulatory issues. Darren has particular expertise in corporate restructuring, including the establishment of new entities, the consolidation of groups and the merger of organisations. Darren has also worked on many of the biggest mergers within the social housing sector.

Duncan Tringham, Partner, Freeths

Duncan is a leading advisor on complex real estate projects. He specialises in public/private collaborations and has supported several high profile developments from new garden villages to urban regeneration schemes. Duncan is also a director of a property development company set up to deliver zero carbon homes in the South West and has advised on a variety of natural capital, sustainability and clean energy schemes including habitat banking vehicles and heat networks.

Ed Hammond, Deputy Chief Executive, Centre for Governance and Scrutiny

Ed Hammond leads our research programme as well as delivery of major governance and scrutiny reviews. This includes public and private sector clients, with a focus on core work in local government. His recent work has involved the provision of specialist governance improvement support to a range of councils, including Kensington and Chelsea, Thurrock, Croydon and Liverpool. Ed also leads on the support of councils to innovate in the sphere of governance and community participation, having led the secretariat supporting the independent Newham Democracy Commission, whose work led to the establishment of the UK’s first standing citizen’s assembly.

Ed has provided technical support on constitution change and renewal to a number of local authorities, having recently worked for Northumberland, Southampton and Southend amongst others. This has involved support for dialogue with councillors and senior officers about the renewal and redrafting of major elements of council constitutions, as well as leading on the redrafting itself. As well as engaging with the technical detail of constitutions’ legal compliance he also works to understand and act on the need for improvement in councils’ political and organisational dynamics. Improvement in this area is an important part of making any constitutional changes “stick”.

This advice and expertise on constitutional arrangements extends to formal governance change, and as well as having written the only detailed practical guide on the process and practice of governance change for English authorities, he has provided practical support to nearly two dozen authorities who have considered their options in this regard since 2012.

Ed has also produced guidance for councils on a range of matters relating to overview and scrutiny, having started his career in this space twenty years ago. He provided technical advice to DLUHC in drafting the 2019 statutory guidance on overview and scrutiny and is currently advising Government on the development of the new Scrutiny Protocol for combined authorities. He has been working with government on the implementation of new arrangements for health scrutiny, further to the Health and Care Act 2022. In 2023, a major priority of Ed’s work is a deepening of the support provided to councils on financial oversight and scrutiny.

Elly Hanna, Head of Communications & Engagement, Venn Group

Elly leads communications and engagement at Venn Group, driven by a strong belief in purpose and positivity. She focuses on making messages clear, inclusive, and impactful. Whether it's running effective campaigns, using new technology, or building strong partnerships, Elly works to make sure Venn connects with as many people as possible. She creates communications that are easy to understand, tailored to the audience, and focused on getting results—always keeping in mind the unique needs of each client and candidate.

Emma Beynon, Anthony Collins

Emyr Thomas, Sharpe Pritchard

Hannah O’Brien, Bevan Brittan

Hannah is a Solicitor in the Local Authority team at Bevan Brittan and qualified in September 2024. She has experience of assisting on a variety of commercial and contractual matters in sectors such as leisure, health, education and large scale commercial projects. Hannah regularly assists in advising on the governance interface within these projects and also on ad hoc governance related queries from local authorities.

Jade Gorrod, Senior Manager of Local Government Legal for London and the South-East, Venn Group

Jade has worked at Venn Group since 2008, recruiting lawyers across all industry sectors and specifically into local government since 2012. Jade has taken an active interest in providing social value across many Councils, including delivering workshops to adult learners at Councils including Westminster and Southwark, attending schools, and presenting a sponsored award at the Heart of Newham, which recognises exceptional employees. An active volunteer for the Young Woman’s Trust since 2017, Jade has helped young women with their CVs through the Charity’s Work It Out scheme and delivered webinars to build up the confidence of young female job seekers.

Jeff Dana, President of IMLA & City Solicitor of Providence, Rhode Island, USA

Joanna Boaler, Head of Democracy and Transparency, Essex County Council

Joanna Boaler is the Head of Democracy and Transparency at Essex County Council; she has worked in governance roles at Essex for over 20 years. Joanna leads the democracy team including member support, in addition to being responsible for the information governance activities of the council. Joanna is a deputy monitoring officer and the statutory scrutiny officer.

She previously served as a director of the Association of Democratic Service Officers and was an active regional representative prior to becoming director.

Joanna is involved in her community, particularly with the local school and in her village climate partnership

Jonathan Goolden, Wilkin Chapman Rollits

Linda Jones, Chief Legal and Monitoring Officer, Westmorland and Furness Council

A dynamic and results-orientated leader with strategic and commercial skills gained over nearly 30 years of working within all tiers of Local Government and the voluntary sector.  Currently the Chief Legal and Monitoring Officer at Westmorland and Furness Council and Lead Officer for the Armed Forces,  Linda has, during her time in Local Government, held the roles of Deputy Chief Executive and Acting Chief Executive. Possessing an in-depth knowledge of the legislative and governance framework and experience of key local Government and voluntary sector work. A proud public servant whose key qualities are commitment, excellent communication and negotiating skills, attention to detail, ability to act quickly and hit the ground running, solving mission impossible, resourcefulness, sense of humour, fierce loyalty and renowned for having infectious enthusiasm and dedication.

Linda is a passionate advocate for our Armed Forces and has delivered significant change in the way that Councils and partners support Armed Forces Families. Linda was invited to Downing Street in 2014 for her transformative work and, in 2016, was a finalist in the Soldiering On Awards. Working with Councils and partners, Linda secured nearly £2 million in funding for transformative armed forces projects. 

Marion Robinson, Weightmans

Marion joined Weightmans in 2021, having previously spent 14 years working for In-House Local Authority Legal Teams as a Senior Solicitor.

Marion specialises in all aspects of Public Law, with an emphasis on Childcare - regularly acting for Local Authorities in matters relating to Child protection, Children with Disabilities, Deprivation of Liberty cases, Judicial Review applications, Serious Case Reviews, LADO procedures, Independent advice to IROs and provision of any Policy Advice requested.

Marion has advocacy experience in the Magistrates, Family Court (County) and High Court, and works on the Local Government Children & Adults Out of Hours Emergency Advice Line.

Mark Heath, VWV

Mark Heath has over 30 years of service within the public sector. He has acted for a variety of clients including local authorities, fire and rescue authorities, combined authorities and public authorities bodies or statutory bodies discharging public functions. He was, until December 2016, working at Southampton City Council where he was Solicitor to the Council (and Monitoring Officer) for 20 years. Subsequent to that, he held the positions of Director of Place and subsequently Chief Operating Officer at Southampton. Mark has also served as the Local Returning Officer at Southampton from 1994 until September 2024, held various regional returning officer roles during this time, served on several groups convened by Government and the Electoral Commission on electoral law, policy and practice and has undertaken various inquires and reviews into electoral issues across the UK as well as lecturing and writing on the topic.

Meera Phull, Brighter Minds

Meera is a mental health and wellbeing specialist, passionate about helping professionals feel your best.
Our mental health is such an important part of our overall health and wellbeing. When professionals feel mentally well, they have a more satisfying, productive working life. By integrating mental health awareness into your workplace, you can boost employee wellbeing and enhance the overall performance of yourself and your team

Michael Graham, Reading Borough Council

Michael is the Assistant Director of Legal & Democratic Services at Reading Borough Council.

Nathan Holden, Freeths

Nathan leads Freeths’ Local Government Practice and is an expert in Local Government Law. On a day-to-day basis he advises local authorities on a diverse range of matters including: participating in joint venture arrangements; on powers relating to land disposals, compulsory purchase, trading, procurement and subsidy control.

Paul Hoey, Hoey Ainscough Associates Ltd

Paul Hoey is Co-director at Hoey Ainscough Associates which supports councils on governance issues, particularly related to member conduct. They have carried out training, investigations and tailored support for over 400 authorities. Paul is the acknowledged national expert on the local government standards framework, having previously worked at the Standards Board for England, and co-wrote the LGA Model Code and supporting guidance, along with a range of guidance documents to support the parish sector’s Civility and Respect campaign.

Perry Holmes, Wiltshire Council

Peter Ware, Browne Jacobson

Peter is the head of Browne Jacobson’s Government practice. Specialising in contentious and non-contentious procurement matters, Peter supports public and private sector clients to get the very best out of their regulated procurement activity.  Prior to joining Browne Jacobson, Peter was a special projects adviser for Nottinghamshire County Council, meaning he really understands the pressures faced by in-house counsel.

On the subject of Devolution, Peter comments, ““The scale of these sweeping reforms chimes with the government’s assertion this is a ‘devolution revolution’, which has potential to transform local government into a simpler, more efficient system.  The creation of strategic authorities and enhanced powers for elected mayors should ensure that every region has a seat at the table nationally, while also removing complexity and duplication in a system that has become a complicated patchwork of arrangements. If the general public and businesses have a better understanding of how local government works, they will be more likely to engage with it.”

Peter is also the Finance and Membership Secretary of the Procurement Lawyers Association, and on the editorial Board for Lexis Nexis Local Government and a regular public speaker. 

Phil McCourt, Bevan Brittan

Joining local government in 1988, Philip is both a chartered secretary and solicitor and was first a monitoring officer in 2000.

He is a past president, long been involved with LLG(ACSeS) and has assisted in leading the drafting of a number of model publications, including the Code on Good Governance for Local Authority Statutory Officers and the Members’ Planning Code. He is the current author of ‘Knowles on Local Authority Meetings’ and editor for LexisNexisPSL on local authority governance.

Philip joined Bevan Brittan in 2022, where he specialises in governance, constitutional drafting and providing support on monitoring officer issues.

Raechel Slattery, Sharpe Pritchard

Raechel is an experienced commercial lawyer specialising in projects and procurement matters who advises many local government and central government clients on complex outsourcing projects and commercial work. Raechel qualified in 2010 and was promoted to Partner at Sharpe Pritchard in 2022.

Raechel has extensive experience of leading large scale procurements where timely and commercially focused advice is required to ensure the projects meet their objectives. Raechel is currently advising a number of local government clients on range of commercial and procurement matters. Raechel has particular experience in advising on enforcement of contracts as regards contractor performance and considering termination options.

Rebecca Gilbert, Capsticks

Richard Bailey, Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman

Richard has worked for the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman for nearly eight years, over five of which have been as an Assistant Ombudsman. Before that Richard was a police officer for nearly a decade. He is the programme lead for the LG Ombudsman working to implement AI into the organisation, something they have been engaged in for over a year.

Away from the role with AI, Richard manages one of the LGSCO’s investigation teams, providing advice and input on more complex cases, responding to legal challenges and identifying opportunities to maximise the insight and influence derived from our investigations.

Rupert Beloff

Mr Rupert Beloff - Joint Head of Chambers at 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square

Rupert is a specialist in electoral law and is ranked as a leading junior in the field by Legal 500. He advises returning officers, election officials, local authorities and candidates on issues relating the whole spectrum of election law and has appeared in the divisional court on election petitions. Rupert is frequently retained by returning officers during elections to provide urgent advice on issues that arise. He is a regular writer of articles on election law that have appeared in a variety of publications.

Sarah White, WBD

Sarah White is a specialist in the field of town and country planning law, with a practice spanning both contentious and non-contentious instructions. Sarah acts for local authorities and developers and prior to joining WBD, Sarah worked in-house for local authorities in London and the South East, including Guildford Borough Council where she held the post of Monitoring Officer.

Sarah often deals with large and complex projects that require her to co-ordinate inputs from multi-disciplinary teams. Sarah draws on her extensive local government experience to offer clients real added value; thanks to her local authority insight, Sarah has a comprehensive understanding of the competing priorities, conflicts and political backdrop to planning and highway matters.

Sophie Mallon, Bevan Brittan

Sophie is a Senior Associate at Bevan Brittan, specialising in local authority commercial projects and contractual law. Sophie has extensive experience providing strategic legal advice and support on high value and large scale projects. Her practice includes advising on all aspects of project delivery from negotiation and implementation as well as internal decision making to drafting of commercial contracts. Sophie has experience of corporate governance law including advising on delivery models and specifically regarding decision making in relation to wholly owned local authority companies.

Sophie McFie-Hyland, Anthony Collins

Stephanie Rickard, VWV

With over 20 years' experience advising on and managing complex and high value procurements and projects, Stephanie advises on all aspects of a procurement process as well as on bringing and defending procurement challenges. Stephanie also advises on subsidy control, grant funding applications and ancillary competition law issues.

Stephanie acts for public sector organisations, universities and research organisations, healthcare professionals and other bidders.

Stephanie's aim is to work find practical strategies and risk-based solutions. She understands the need for high quality advice, delivered in a friendly and approachable way. She has a particular focus and interest in advising clients in the public sector and higher education sector.

Stephanie's experience includes advising overseas bidders on navigating their way around the UK procurement rules and how to complain if the rules are not followed. She also has experience advising on the procurement process and documentation for international projects.

Stephen Wanless, IKEN

Tanya Corsie, IKEN

Tiffany Cloynes, Capsticks

Tiffany Cloynes is a Partner and Head of Local Government at Capsticks. She has an excellent reputation and substantial experience of acting on large scale, complex regeneration and infrastructure projects and is recognised as a leader in her field by clients and the legal press. Underpinning this experience is extensive knowledge and practical experience of both public and administrative law.

Timothy Straker KC

Timothy Straker KC – Joint Head of Chambers at 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square

Timothy Straker KC has a wide ranging public law practice. He has made many appearances in courts at the highest level in England and Wales and overseas. Timothy has acted in multiple election petitions in England, Wales and Trinidad and Tobago, which operates under a similar regime. He has advised on elections and related matters in multiple jurisdictions including Scotland, Guyana and Asian jurisdictions. He recently led in the Supreme Court when that court (exceptionally) considered the boundary between party and personal expenses.He has appeared in the vast majority of the most important election cases of the last twenty five years, starting with successful appearances for the returning officer in the ‘Literal Democrat’ case, which directly led to the creation of the Electoral Commission. Principally he has acted for returning officers throughout the country and been closely involved in elections since 1995. He has acted for the Greater London Authority and Transport for London ever since those bodies were created. He sits as an election commissioner.

Tom Hoult, Venn Group

Tom leads our Executive/Interim practice for Law and Governance roles within Local Government. With 8 years’ experience of connecting Legal Professionals with Local Authorities throughout England and Wales, Tom utilises his knowledge to deliver interim and consultancy appointments at short notice. Candidate and client satisfaction is key to the way that he builds and individually tailors processes to suit a varied range of requirements. Keen to contribute to the sector in additional ways, Tom is proud to support LLG’s Members and Conference Attendees with what he hopes will be a useful session for all.