b"16 Local Government LawyerFigure 7: What difference has the imposition of IR35 on locum solicitors made to your use ofoften not guaranteed indefinitely for locums? successful candidates and, as was pointed out by a number of respondents to the careers section of the survey, can lead to Increased locums use signicantly 0% resentment amongst existing staff.Even with market supplements and Increased use of locums moderately 2% the pension advantages, public sector pay freezes have left local authority lawyer Made lile dierence 79% salary packages some distance behind those offered to those with similar post-qualification experience in private practice. Reduced use of locums moderately 17% Moreover, the lack of significant differential between pay and other benefits offered by Reduced use of locums signicantly 2% individual local authorities means that there is little incentive to move jobs for financial reasons.Ask not what your staff can do for you For most councils short on desk space,The structure of most legal departments the viability of hot desking is dependentmeans that promotionand higher pay One of the questions in this years surveyon a successful flexible working scheme.is often only open to those prepared to asked what steps could your employer takeBut flexible working is not only seen as atake on management responsibilitythere to improve the working environment forsolution to the lack of workspace in councilis little financial reward for developing you? Offhand comments ranged from theoffices; where flexible working is beingtechnical expertise. Consequently, in the light-hearted (Move the busker on fromimplemented, our respondents hailed theirmore in-demand disciplines, experienced outside our office) to the angry (Listenability to work from home and choose theirlawyers can also earn significantly more !!) but in reading the more consideredhours as an important counter to the payby working as a locum than permanent responses a clear set of requests begin tosacrifices necessary for working in localstaff, despite the effect of the IR35 changes emerge.government: to the tax status of locum lawyers which Nobody is demanding trendy offices withMy employer offers good flexibledeemed many to be employees for taxation bars, ping pong tables and bean bags dottedworking to make up for the fact paypurposes rather than contactors. According about the work floor. Local governmentincreases are unlikely and we do not getto respondents to the heads of legal survey, lawyers responding to our survey have theirbonuses. They need to maintain this flexiblethe imposition of IR35 has not dented the eyes set on more conservative changes toworking arrangement. use of locum lawyers by local authorities, the office environment. In particular, manyThe ability to work from home andonly made it more expensive (FIG 7).suggested that the adoption of open-planchoose your hours is slowly becomingThe lack of supply has been exacerbated offices has led to crowded and noisycommonplace in local government, butby local authorities cutting back on training spaces which hinder the focus needed forstill, three-quarters of those referencingcontracts in recent years. The current pool legal work. Break out spaces that wouldflexible work are still waiting for it to beof in-house solicitors in local government offer quiet areas for working are suggestedimplemented at their councils with a lack ofis around 4500, yet there were only an here but still, the chorus of lawyers wishingIT often cited as the primary barrier. average of 83 new training contracts per to get rid of horrid open-plan officesFinally, the number of comments callingyear over the three years to 2017, according overpowers the compromising voices. for better administrative support haveto the Law Society. Hot desking appears to be causingshot up since the last time this survey wasAs the age profile of solicitors in local issues in the office environment too. Oneconducted in 2015 and gripes over the lackgovernment is quite high compared to the respondent noted that tensions rise overof support staff and facilities were amongstlegal profession as a whole, this in-flow of territorial claims with staff claiming certainthe most prevalent in this years survey. trainees is inadequate to compensate for desks for themselves. Many would preferIn return, many suggest, the productivitythose leaving or retiring.their own desk but where hot-desking isbenefits would outweigh the cost.This gap has always existed to some not likely to go away, some respondentsextent but in the past, it was made up by suggested that a solution could lie inhiring junior lawyers from private practice increasing the number of desks available. a source which is less fertile than it once If increasing desk space is not possible,was and not just for financial reasons, as one commenter said that an increase [in]one head of legal told the survey: The key working from home flexibility was essential.perception that I've had to overcome [with"