Havant contracts with Southampton and Fareham Legal Services Partnership for legal services

Havant Borough Council has resolved to outsource its legal services to the Southampton and Fareham Legal Services Partnership (SFLSP) after hearing that the partnership would "eliminate" the cost of recruiting in-house lawyers.

The news follows Havant's decision to withdraw from its joint management agreement with East Hampshire District Council earlier this year.

In March 2022, councillors at Havant voted to scrap its 12-year partnership with East Hampshire and create a "financially sustainable standalone council" so it could pursue its "newly refreshed priorities".

At the time, Havant said it planned to put in place separate senior management structures by July, but the separation was delayed.

Following a report delivered to Cabinet earlier this month (7 September), Havant decided to outsource its legal services to SFLSP, the legal services arm of Southampton City Council.

Mark Watkins, the Chief Legal Officer who authored the report, told the Cabinet that SFLSP "have the size, scale, and team expertise to provide a holistic service".

Watkins marked it as the preferred option, stating that a fully outsourced model "would immediately eliminate" the requirement and cost of having to staff up an entire "in-house structure".

"Once outsourced, tailored arrangements with SFLSP would be made with regards to such matters as the sealing of contracts, committee attendance and covering for the monitoring officer when away on leave", he added.

Watkins also explored the options of making the interim agreement with East Hampshire permanent, establishing a fully functioning in-house team, or externalising all legal work to commercial firms.

However, he recommended the partnership with SFLSP because joining the SFLSP would provide access to a legal team "who have expertise that cannot be provided in a value for money fashion by an in-house team given the breadth of requirements required to service the council's evolving business needs in a legal advisory context".

Havant is to recruit a Chief Legal & Monitoring Officer to provide the council with guidance and governance advice to colleagues and elected members.

The Chief Legal Officer will oversee the new contracting arrangement between Havant and Southampton, "ensuring a high standard of work is provided and the contract is a success".

Adam Carey