South Norfolk Council set to join shared legal team service
Saturday, February 18, 2012
11:03 AM
Plans to merge legal services with three other Norfolk councils are set to be approved by South Norfolk Councillors at a meeting on Wednesday night.
The district council is looking to join nplaw (Norfolk Public Law) from April 1 as part of cost savings and an efficiency drive.
The shared legal service already involves Great Yarmouth Borough Council, Norfolk County Council and Norwich City Council and has been hosted at County Hall since 2010.
A meeting of South Norfolk Council is being recommended to approve the proposal to join nplaw for the next ten years, but give the local authority an option to withdraw from the partnership after five years if it so wishes.
The district council, based at Long Stratton, is looking to make an additional £1m of savings up until 2015.
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8 comments
What has happened to my two attempts since this morning to cause Nelson to see the true state of affairs with nplaw? Do we just give up on this useless website?
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Nemesis
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Nelson, really, get your facts right. NPLaw spent £1.1 million on external firms of solicitors last year. If that is not "relying heavily on outside firms" then I am a banana.
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alecto
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Nelson, NCC’s expenditure on external firms of solicitors and counsel in 20092010 was £294k. By 20102011 this had increased to £1.1m. Even now, it is relying heavily on a London firm for advice in relation to the waste PFI contract. You probably noticed, if you are a lawyer, that it was Cory Wheelabrator’s own solicitors who largely provided NCC’s defence to the recent judicial review claim, despite the fact that their clients were only an interested party. And then there is the issue of conflict of interest. What happens when South Norfolk finds itself in a legal dispute with NCC, as West Norfolk is at the moment?
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Nemesis
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Nelson, NCC’s expenditure on external firms of solicitors and counsel in 20092010 was £294k. By 20102011 this had increased to £1.1m. Even now, it is relying heavily on a London firm for advice in relation to the waste PFI contract. You probably noticed, if you are a lawyer, that it was Cory Wheelabrator’s own solicitors who largely provided NCC’s defence to the recent judicial review claim, despite the fact that their clients were only an interested party. And then there is the issue of conflict of interest. What happens when South Norfolk finds itself in a legal dispute with NCC, as West Norfolk is at the moment?
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Nemesis
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Nemesis: not true - nplaw does not rely 'heavily on external firms' and has a breadth of expertise to rival most firms in Norfolk. Plus considering the fees external firms charge, outsourcing isn't as cost-effective as using an in-house firm like nplaw
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Nelson
Monday, February 20, 2012
SNDC past legal decisions make this move a promising start to a new future and hopefully a cheaper one to South Norfolk counciltax payers.
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ingo wagenknecht
Monday, February 20, 2012
Despite the fact that nplaw is eighty-strong, it still relies heavily on external firms of solicitors. South Norfolk might do better by cutting out the middle man and simply outsourcing its legal work direct to one or two external firms. The range of available expertise would also be wider.
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Nemesis
Sunday, February 19, 2012
We're gettig a unitary authority by stealth! Bring it on!
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JCW
Saturday, February 18, 2012