Legal Practice
The in-house Legal Practices provide legal advice and support to whole Council. Advice is not provided to the general public. The Legal Practice is managed by the Solicitor to the Council. The advice and support the Legal Practice provides includes:
- Corporate advice on the Council's Constitution
- Planning Inquiries and prosecutions
- Tree Preservation Orders
- Road Closure Orders
- Miscellaneous Highway matters
- Compulsory Purchase Orders
- Licensing
- Criminal cases in the Magistrates Court
- Possession cases in the County Court
- Housing advice, including Tenancy issues and Homelessness
- Bylaws
- Human Rights
- Contracts and Procurement
- Employment Law
- Data Protection and Freedom of Information
- Environmental Information Regulations
- Conveyancing (sales/purchases of land, properties, etc)
- Mortgage Redemptions
- Car Loan Agreements
- Debt Recovery
The legal practice achieved Lexcel accreditation in December 2001 and has been re accredited each successive year to date. This is a quality mark awarded by the Law Society as the Governing body for the legal profession and demonstrates good client care and file management.
The Solicitor to the Council is also the Monitoring Officer. The functions of the Monitoring Officer are as laid out in the Council's Constitution.