Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Page 8
Page 9
Page 10
Page 11
Page 12
Page 13
Page 14
Page 15
Page 16
Page 17
Page 18
Page 19
Page 20
Page 21
Page 22
Page 23
Page 24
Page 25
Page 26
Page 27
Page 28
Page 29
Page 30
Page 31
Page 32
Page 33
Page 34
Page 35
Page 36
Page 37
Page 38
Page 39
Page 40
Page 41
Page 42
Page 43
Page 44
Page 45
LocalGovernmentLawyer The Legal Department of the Future February 2016 37 Working in local government is like being a spectator to the experience of politics plotting and intrigue - like Game of Thrones without the decapitation The bad what dont local government lawyers like about their jobs A range of issues struggle to score more than five out of 10 including the manageability of workload 5.8 the quality of leadership 5.6 job security 5.4 IT and research facilities and professional development opportunities both scoring 5.3 compared with 5.6 and 5.5 respectively in 2013. Unsurprisingly there were many responses to the question of the worst aspects of working in local government many of which are directly related of the funding cuts affecting local government. Chief amongst these is the erosion of support services and facilities in many offices which some respondents say are diminishing the efficiency of legal teams while cuts to client departments are also having the effect of pushing work towards lawyers that could be more done more cost-effectively elsewhere. Declining funding means more and more admin being done by the lawyers which is less cost-efficient and leads to the wrong people doing the wrong jobs a false economy says one. A lack of staff in client departments means that clients try to push their jobs on to the lawyers. Meanwhile open-plan offices and especially hot-desking attract quite a lot of criticism. I resent working in a call centre environment with an unseemly early morning scramble for desks which indirectly discriminates against employees with primary child care responsibilities. Job security is also a worry for many as is the frequent reorganisation to which some departments have been subjected. The list of woes felt by many respondents is summed up by one who observes Over the last years the workload has dramatically increased and through a combination of cuts to the legal service itself as well as to client departments the pressure of the job has become much more telling the workload and pressure is becoming closer and closer to that experienced in private practice with working hours far exceeding contracted hours but with little incentive or reward to actually undertake the additional strain. Whilst workload and pressure has become and continues to become far closer aligned to commercial practice the financial rewards have remained at very much public sector levels causing ever increasing dissatisfaction with work-life balance and general job satisfaction. More fundamentally responses to this question picked up widespread concern about the diminishing status of local government in the public eye and its effects. There is the general feeling that the current Government thinks very little of local government generally says one. This does affect one of the rewards of working for a local authority which is that feeling of doing something worthwhile for the community. The lack of funding is now starting to have an impact with funding for future investment in the fabric of the council and also the community now being very hard to find. The status of legal teams within their Working in open plan is like being a galley slave without the drums. Declining funding means more and more admin being done by the lawyers which is less cost-efficient and leads to the wrong people doing the wrong jobs a false economy. The workload and pressure is becoming closer and closer to that experienced in private practice...but with little incentive or reward to actually undertake the additional strain.