Agenda item

Report of The Chamberlain.

Members received a Report of the Chamberlain concerning internal services charging with the Corporation.

The Chairman asked the Comptroller as to whether the legal department at the Corporation were, in principle, supportive, of an internal trading account being created for legal services. The Comptroller responded that he was supportive, although there were a few areas where it would difficult to scope the full value of legal services (e.g. child protection). Overall, the initiative was welcome, as it created a situation “where officers would have a greater appreciation and understanding of the financial cost of utilizing the Corporation’s legal services”.   

Members were supportive, emphasising that internal charging for legal services made the most sense to begin with. The Deputy Chairman suggested that officers should report back to the Committee with a progress report in twelve months.

A Member queried what policy the Corporation had for using external lawyers. In response, the Comptroller confirmed that this was on a case-by-case basis; when the legal services department lacked particular experience and/or capacity, external lawyers were engaged. It was also worth pointing out that independent counsel was sought throughout the year for a variety of issues.  

RESOLVED – that Members approved the following:

·         the creation of an internal trading account for the provision of all legal

services by the Comptroller and City Solicitor.

·         Delegated authority to the Chamberlain to amend budgets to facilitate the legal

services internal trading account.

·         the principle that work above business as usual which requires additional corporate support service resource should be charged to the department/programme and to receive a further report on the detailed implementation.