
The 'Chocolate Snowman Appeal' is an amazing initiative that Anthony Collins Solicitors' (ACS) employees take part in every year.
For as many local authority vehicles that exist, there are reasons for creating them, and more. There are, though, some trends that develop:
Despite some of these drivers, the local authority company does have its critics. Those critics might say that a Teckal vehicle is simply a method by which to circumvent procurement rules. On the face of it, a Teckal vehicle has no innate purpose; part of the Teckal test is that the company must be run with a degree of control, which is similar to that which the local authority holds over its own departments. Given the restraints, the critics argue, why bother? Avoiding proper competition hardly demonstrates best value.
Those same critics might argue that a trading company, within which a local authority seeks to make a commercial return for the provision of services, is a misdirection of councils’ attention away from core service delivery, which will do nothing more but leave those core services under- resourced.
Both arguments lack depth and miss the fundamental point about the companies that local authorities set up. Rarely is the intent simply to be compliant with law or policy; where that is the case, the company may well be set up to fail. Frequently, though, there is a recognition that the real purpose behind setting up a local authority company is to impact cultural change:
Of course in each case, councils need to consider governance and legal compliance – for example councils should be conscious of the need to make arrangements with their companies on an arm’s length basis to protect against the risks of appearing anti-competitive and attracting the attentions of the Competition and Markets Authority, or breaching State aid rules.
Whether it’s a Teckal vehicle, a trading company or a joint venture, local authority companies give opportunities for new ways of working; transformational changes which are difficult to replicate within an organisation. They can offer the chance for a dedicated focus on a service area; a new lease of life for a team demoralised by budget cuts; a chance for threats to become challenges to be met; and an injection of expertise and knowledge from outside the organisation. In short, they can offer much more than mere compliance with law and policy; they can offer real cultural change to the benefit of the entire public sector.
For more information on this topic, please visit our website or contact Gayle Monk.
The 'Chocolate Snowman Appeal' is an amazing initiative that Anthony Collins Solicitors' (ACS) employees take part in every year.
The Building Safety Bill (the Bill) is said to be the most significant and wide-ranging change to the regulatory environment for higher risk building (HRBs) for over 45 years.
On 4 November 2020, the Restriction of Public Exit Payments Regulations 2020 (the Regulations) came into force; exit payments for the public sector were capped at £95,000.
The case was brought by the Official Receiver who sought disqualification orders under section 6 of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 (CDDA 1986) against the seven trustees of Kids Company and its CEO. It illustrates well the tension between the role of a fulltime paid CEO of a large charity and the role of its board as voluntary trustees/directors.
At the end of 2020, The Charity Governance Code was updated or 'refreshed' as it is termed on its website.
Anthony Collins Solicitors is today (Thursday 11 February) revealing the scale of its social impact during 2020.
In their first podcast of this series, current and future trainees will discuss their journey and route to securing a training contract at Anthony Collins Solicitors.
A recent prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive ("HSE") demonstrates the importance of organisations regularly inspecting, maintaining, and if necessary, repairing or replacing street furnitur
This is the second in our series of ebriefings on the Government's Green Paper: Transforming public procurement. The first one on public procurement principles can be found here.
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