Agenda item

(To receive a report by David Coleman (Chief Legal Officer), which invites the Board to consider a report on Legal Services Lincolnshire, which is being presented to the Executive on the 7 January 2020.  The views of the Board will be reported to the Executive as part of its consideration of this item)

Consideration was given to a report by the Chief Legal Officer, which invited the Board to consider a report on Legal Services Lincolnshire which was due to be presented to the Executive on 7 January 2020.

Following feedback received from the Board and the Executive in May 2019, the report proposed that three Directors be appointed to the company. It was proposed that the directors be the Chief Legal Officer, who would also act as the Compliance Officer for Legal protection; the Executive Director - Resources, who would also act as the Officer for Finance and Administration and the Executive Director – Commercial.

Members were also referred to Appendix B to the Executive Report, which detailed the Shareholders agreement which regulated the relationship between the Council as sole owner and the company itself. The Shareholder Agreement maintained that the business of the company would be to continue business as a legal services provider to the wider public sector. Members were advised that any change to the definition of the business of the company was a reserved matter under the Shareholders Agreement and therefore could not happen without the consent of the County Council as the owner of the company. It was proposed that the Executive Councillor for Community Safety and People Management be appointed as the representative to act in the name of the Council for all purposes connected with the company.

The report suggested that the new company report progress to the Board on an annual basis, as well as interacting with the Council in various other ways.

Following an assessment, it was proposed that a cash flow facility of £30,000 would be sufficient to support the company in its early stages.

Members were invited to ask questions, in which the following points were noted:

·         The proposed new company would be able to provide services to other public sector organisations in addition to the current district council partners.

·         The articles of association stated a minimum of two directors to provide flexibility within the constitution for the shareholders to decide on the actual number of directors. The Shareholders Agreement made it clear that that would be three.

·         There would be no change to how Lincolnshire County Council obtained its legal services, and the team would remain employees of Lincolnshire County Council.

·         There was a protocol that the company would operate under if a conflict of interest ever occurred. The company would operate under the same rules as any other solicitor's practice regarding conflicts of interests. If there was a shared aim between the clients, then the company could potentially represent both of them. However, if there was a contentious issue which the clients could not agree on, the company would be unable to act and each client would be required to obtain their own solicitor.

·         The company would provide indemnity to an officer if any liability or costs arose from proceedings where the officer was acquitted or was successful.

·         References to 'the Council' referred to Lincolnshire County Council as a shareholder. As it was an Executive function, the Executive Councillor for Community Safety and People Management would be exercising his delegated authority in taking decisions on behalf of the Council.

·         There was a potential opportunity to make an income from the company. However, this would be subject to capacity within the team to take on extra work on top of the work they currently provide for Lincolnshire County Council and district council partners.

·         There was a need for more regular monitoring of the company, especially during the initial set up phase and if any issue arose.

Following a request from the Board, the Chief Legal officer agreed that a report would be brought back to the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board in six months' time to report on the company's establishment, followed by the proposed annual reports as set out in the Shareholder's Agreement. This was in addition to the Board's power to call for additional reports as appropriate.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the Board supported the recommendations to the Executive as set out in the report;

2.    That a summary of the above comments be passed on to the Executive in relation to this item.