SPOTLIGHT
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What now for deprivations of liberty?

What will the effect of the postponement of the Liberty Protections Safeguards be on local authorities? Local Government Lawyer asked 50 adult social care lawyers for their views on the potential consequences.
SPOTLIGHT

A zero sum game?

The number of SEND tribunal cases is rising and the proportion of appeals ‘lost’ by local authorities is at a record high. Lottie Winson talks to education lawyers to understand the reasons why, and sets out the results of Local Government Lawyer’s exclusive survey.

Birmingham secures further panel place on NHS trusts framework agreement

The legal department at Birmingham City Council has secured another panel place on the high-profile Health Trust Europe framework agreement.

The local authority had already achieved high rankings on the Contract and Commercial Law (2nd), Other Law (1st) and Employment Law (2nd) panels, which were unveiled in September.

It has now been appointed to the property law panel, again in second position. The appointment means that Birmingham's legal team was selected for all the lots it applied for.

Health Trust Europe covers up to 70 NHS trusts in the Midlands and South East. The framework agreement is set to last for an initial three years, with an option to extend for a further 12 months.

John Wynn, Assistant Director at Birmingham, said the appointments were “a unique achievement for any in-house local authority legal services department”.

Wynn, who leads the legal team on practice development/income generation, said picking up work in this way was part of the department’s five-year strategy “to revolutionise the way high quality legal services are delivered for the public sector by the public sector”.