Haringey Joins the LBLA as 17th London Council
This month saw the London Borough of Haringey become the 17th London Council to join the London Boroughs’ Legal Alliance (LBLA), marking another milestone in the success of this ground-breaking collaboration.
Established in 2009 with the support of Kennedy Cater, the LBLA has paved the way in the innovative procurement of its legal services and inter-authority best practice and efficiency initiatives.
It continues to lead the field in the cost savings it achieves, and the value for money provided in Greater London.
Helen Edwards, Client Services Director at Kennedy Cater adds,
‘In 2015 our members achieved demonstrable savings on barristers fees of over £700,000 and savings on Solicitors fees of £500,000, representing significant savings to our members and their local residents.’
Full membership of the LBLA was recently opened up to all London local authorities, and access to its Solicitors and /or Barristers Framework can also be considered. Please contact Helen Edwards, at Kennedy Cater for further details on 020 7702 6018 or email helen.edwards@kennedycater.com
Follow the LBLA story on Twitter @LBLegalAlliance, and on our Linkedin Showcase page
Membership of the LBLA
The following members are currently benefiting from the LBLA Frameworks:
- City of London Corporation
- HB Public Law (including the London Boroughs of Barnet, Harrow and Hounslow)
- London Borough of Brent
- London Borough of Camden
- London Borough of Ealing
- London Borough of Hackney
- London Borough of Hillingdon
- London Borough of Islington
- London Borough of Waltham Forest
- OneSource (including the London Boroughs of Havering & Newham)
- Tri-borough Shared Legal Services (including the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster City Council)
- London Borough of Haringey
In addition, the London Borough of Southwark has access to the LBLA Solicitors Framework.
Wellingborough Homes Joins Ever Expanding HALA
Wellingborough Homes is the most recent recruit to the Housing Associations Legal Alliance (HALA). The Northamptonshire based housing association joins this national alliance of social housing providers as its 10th member.
Established in 2010 HALA’s aim is to ensure greater value for money in the delivery of legal services to its members. This is achieved through the joint procurement of external legal services (including the establishment of the HALA Solicitors Panel), free of charge Value Added Benefits (including training), and through the sharing of legal knowledge and best practice.
Dave Lockerman, Head of Housing and Customer Service at Wellingborough Homes, said,
‘Reducing costs and driving efficiency for the benefit of our residents is one of our key strategic objectives. Joining HALA will, I believe, help us to achieve this goal on a longer-term basis. Yet what also attracted us to membership of this national group was the quality of the value added benefits. These not only include an extensive and often bespoke training programme for our employees but also the innovative social benefits that it opens up to our residents such as mock interviews for job seekers, and work placements.’
Helen Edwards, Kennedy Cater’s Director of Public Sector team comments,
‘We are delighted to welcome Wellingborough Homes to HALA which continues to go from strength to strength. The Alliance is now a force to be reckoned with, offering substantial discounts on the costs of legal services, with over 200 fixed fees currently negotiated. At a time when the social housing sector is being particularly squeezed we look forward to welcoming more new members to this proven framework.’
Housing Associations from across the UK are eligible to join HALA. Anyone interested in discussing the opportunities offered by membership should contact Helen Edwards on: 020 7702 6018, m: 07825 151908 or by email at helen.edwards@kennedycater.com
Autumn seminar hits the spot
On Wednesday, 11th November, the latest in our series of Seminars was held in the beautiful surroundings of Church House Conference Centre in Westminster.
The Autumn Seminar examined the issues involved in carrying out a Spend & Service review of legal services, and was delivered to a number of high profile delegates from Public Sector teams from across the UK.
This free seminar formed part of our rolling programme of events provided to help organisations in this increasingly squeezed sector. It focused on helping delegates understand how they can change the way they procure and manage their legal services to save on cost and drive up quality. Key topics covered included how to:
- accurately assess current position and expenditure
- consider possible alternatives
- move towards the final stage of making recommendations for change
The Seminar was led by our Head of Public Sector, Helen Edwards, who used interactive discussions based on a case-study to help empower delegates to go back to their organisations with a proper understanding of what they spend on legal services, how their services are provided and how they can actively make savings and improvements.
This was our final event of the year and and we are now planning our next one which will be held early in 2016.
Should you be interested in attending one of our future events please email Helen Edwards directly at helen.edwards@kennedycater.com
KC Act for LBLA in Procurement of Barristers' Framework
Read Helen's Article online at Public Law Today
The on-line magazine, Public Law Today, newly launched by the team behind Local Government Lawyer features an article by our Head of Public Sector, Helen Edwards. In Getting the Most from Your External Legal Suppliers (click to follow link), Helen outlines some of the ways public sector bodies can get more bang for their bucks
