LGSS Law Ltd are pleased to announce that we have formed a new strategic partnership with Northants CALC to deliver legal advice to the Association and to be Northants CALC’s preferred partner for providing Parish Council legal advice within Northamptonshire.

Northants CALC is a not for profit membership organisation who provide representation, training and advise to the parish and town councils of Northamptonshire. They offer their members a resource of vital, operational information and facilitate communications at all levels of the Parish network, including district, county, regional and national.

Danny Moody, CEO of Northants CALC and Fiona McMillan, Head of District Law at LGSS Law Ltd signing the partnership agreement

LGSS Law is a social enterprise law firm, one of the first of its kind to be established in the UK. We have a different structure to commercial law firms and are unique as we are wholly owned by Cambridgeshire County Council, Central Bedfordshire Council and Northamptonshire County Council. We don’t have “Partners” which ensures we are run for the benefit of the clients we serve and any profits we make go back to our owner councils to be invested in other council services.

LGSS has extensive experience of dealing with the issues that face Parish Councils, Parish Councillors and Clerks. As well as our owners we also work for over one hundred client organisations from the public and not for profit sectors including a variety of District, Borough and Parish Councils, Clinical Commissioning Groups, Foundation Trusts, Charities and Fire Services.

With our local authority background we are uniquely placed to understand the local government context for Parish Council legal issues and the legal framework in which they operate. We can advise on points of law and procedure in relation to governnance and administration of Parish Councils and will help resolve disputes over a wide range of issues including;

• Employment Advice
• Governance & Procedural Issues at Council Meetings
• Code of Conduct & Ethical Standards for Parish’s Councillors
• Village Greens
• Land and Property Issues
• Allotments
• Contracts and Procurement
• Parish Planning Powers
• Affordable Housing
• Interaction with Charities
• Dealing with Freedom of Information Act & Data Protection Issues
• Community Projects
• Village Halls

Fiona McMillan, Head of District Law at LGSS Law, said;
“We are delighted to have formed this new partnership with Nortants CALC. We have a very experienced team of Lawyers who can advise on all aspects of Parish Council work and we believe we can offer much more competitive rates than high street firms who may not have the local government experience that we do.”

Danny Moody, Chief Executive at Northants CALC, said:
“Northants CALC provides a desktop legal enquiry service to member Parish and Town Councils, and that sometimes requires the support of qualified, experienced Lawyers. This new partnership with LGSS Law will ensure that we can deal with every enquiry authoritatively and in a timely manner. And when Councils require legal representation, for example for land transfers, employment issues or to settle disputes, we aim to help LGSS Law to be able to provide appropriate market-sensitive quotations to member Councils. This partnership with LGSS Law will provide a real boost to our membership offer”.