Partnership secures Councils legal expertise

Date published: 04/10/2004

Specialist legal services will be provided better for local Councils, with the creation of a new partnership between Rochdale Council Legal Services, three other Greater Manchester authorities, and a specialist legal firm.

Rochdale, Bury, Oldham and Stockport Councils have appointed Cobbetts as their preferred legal supplier, in a unique deal that sees all four council's enter into a joint legal services partnership, the first of its kind in the public sector.

The partnership enables the four Councils to purchase legal services jointly. All four will make use of the legal expertise and advice of the Cobbetts' team across the firm's practice groups.

The agreement enables Rochdale to obtain specialist expertise that may not be available within Legal Services. This can help particularly where services are particularly busy, where conflicts of interest may arise or where it makes good sense for one person to act on behalf of all the partners, for instance on new legislation affecting local councils.

Pooling legal resources and sharing knowledge and expertise in this way saves money for Council Tax-payers.

Lead Member for Corporate Management, Councillor Ian Duckworth said "The agreement with Cobbetts will enable Rochdale Council and our partners to further develop the excellence of our in house legal teams, whilst providing enhanced legal services to our Councils."