First Law

22 Council Consortium - first joint procurement of barristers and solicitors

Law Society Gazette and Counsel - Thursday 29th October 2009

In the autumn of 2006 four local authorities engaged First Law to assist in forming a consortium to purchase external legal services; By March 2009, joined by two further authorites, work to the value of 3.5m pounds had been placed with the successful consortium firms; The consortium is now seeking to award a new framework agreement for the provision of legal services from both solicitors firms and barristers chambers.

The consortium now comprises 22 participating public authorites in the North West of England, including metropolitan, unitary, borough and district councils as well as a police authority and a passenger transport authority and may include additional public authorites in the North West.

The consortium has been formed to collaborate in the procurement and provision of quality legal services to their authorities.  They wish to maximise efficiencies and increase the effectiveness of the external legal support they require to supplement their in-house provision.

The participating authorities, in alphabetical order, are:

Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council

Burnley Borough Council

Bury Metropolitan Borough Council

Carlisle City Council

Cheshire West and Chester Council

Chorley Borough Council

Halton Metropolitan Borough Council

Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council

Liverpool City Council

Merseyside Police Authority

Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive (operating as Merseytravel)

Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council

Pendle Borough Council

Preston City Council

Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council

South Lakeland District Council

South Ribble Borough Council

St Helens Borough Council

Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council

Warrington Borough Council

West Lancashire District Council

Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council