Agenda item

To consider entering into an agreement and consequential arrangements to expand the One Legal Partnership.  

That the One Legal Shared Service arrangement with Cheltenham Borough Council and Gloucester City Council be continued subject to the approval of a business case (including the financial case) by the Chief Executive in consultation with the Lead Member for Corporate Governance:

1.      to approve the joining of Stroud District Council’s legal service function with One Legal;

2.      to accept the delegation of Stroud District Council’s legal service functions in accordance with Section 101 of the Local Government Act 1972 and under Part 1A Chapter 2 Section 9EA of the Local Government Act 2000;

3.      to accept the transfer of Stroud District Council staff under the principles of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 on 1 April 2020, or such other date as is agreed; and

4.      to delegate authority to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Lead Member for Corporate Governance, to enter into a Section 101 Agreement, other legal documentation and to take all necessary steps to implement 1-3 above.

96.1          The report of the Borough Solicitor, circulated at Pages No. 27-31, asked the Executive Committee to support the views of the Joint Monitoring and Liaison Group and to respond to the commitment made by Stroud District Council in recommending that, subject to the approval of the business case by the Chief Executive, the expansion of the One Legal partnership as proposed be agreed.

96.2          The Borough Solicitor explained that the One Legal service had commenced in 2009 between Cheltenham and Tewkesbury Borough Councils with Gloucester City Council joining in 2015. The opportunity had arisen for Stroud District Council to join One Legal and it was felt this was something that should not be missed. The new agreement would be for a 10-year period with a break clause after five years. Stroud District Council had already resolved to join One Legal, subject to the approval of a detailed business case, and that should be completed within the next few days - it was noted that the expansion of the partnership was not based on savings but more on resilience of the services and better opportunities for staff. The recent meeting of the Joint Monitoring and Liaison Group had welcomed the proposal which would continue to be hosted by Tewkesbury Borough Council. The Borough Solicitor explained that Stroud District Council did not have many staff but there was still a need to assess the work and decide how to distribute the budget i.e. were more posts required.

96.3          A Member expressed the view that One Legal had been a marvellous example of the way to work in partnership and was not surprised that another authority wanted to join; he questioned whether it would continue to be the case that the partnership would not actively seek out further partners and whether all staff would be located at Tewkesbury Borough Council Offices. In response, the Borough Solicitor confirmed that the partnership did want a period of consolidation but equally, if other authorities wanted to join, that would not necessarily be ruled out; the staff structure lent itself to more authorities joining which offered opportunities and the Joint Monitoring and Liaison Group had always supported growing the service. In terms of staff, their place of work was Tewkesbury Borough Council but all staff in One Legal had to provide a service to all partner offices. Currently there were four officers in Stroud who had all been there for a number of years so there were concerns about travelling to the main office; the business case included a small disturbance allowance to account for that and the staffing would have to be considered carefully and kept under review as necessary. Another Member agreed that the expansion of the partnership was a sensible idea but expressed concern about One Legal’s current situation with vacancies in its structure. In response, the Borough Solicitor advised that there was a recruitment process underway with a closing date for next week – she hoped there would be some good quality candidates among the applicants. She felt there was never a perfect time to expand but there was a need to take the good opportunities when they were presented which was what was happening with Stroud District Council joining the One Legal partnership. The staff vacancies were a reflection of the whole market but One Legal had been running the service with a combination of locums and casual staff and that had been working well to date. She was of the view that the inclusion of Stroud District Council into the partnership by 1 April was the deadline which was being worked to. The Borough Solicitor felt that having some vacancies carried over from Stroud District was not a bad thing as the structure did not necessarily fit well with One Legal and vacancies offered scope to align this. The current advertisements for posts did not, pending implementation of the arrangements, refer to Stroud District Council being part of One Legal; however, going forward that could open up a further pool of candidates. In terms of the risks of not filling vacancies, the Borough Solicitor indicated that any risks arising from recruitment difficulties were borne by the One Legal partnership. Having a greater range of staff allowed the partnership to ‘grow its own staff’ which was a great way forward.

96.4          The Borough Solicitor confirmed that the decision was actually a matter for Executive Committee rather than being a recommendation to Council, accordingly it was