HB Public Law and Buckinghamshire complete merger of legal teams

Legal staff at Buckinghamshire County Council have from the beginning of this month joined HB Public Law, making it the largest local authority legal practice in the country with 150 lawyers.

HB Public Law was set up in 2011 through the combination of the legal teams at Harrow and Barnet Councils. It has since gone on to strike deals with the London Borough of Hounslow and Aylesbury Vale District Council.

Hugh Peart, Shared Service Director, said: “HB Public Law’s success shows that it’s possible to improve the quality of service and the satisfaction of both clients and staff while also reducing costs.

“Our model is the right choice in difficult times, but is no austerity option – Buckinghamshire will receive a service with the best features of in-house support; strong working relationships and lawyers that understand their local patch, but also ones that can draw on the kind of expertise and specialist knowledge that innovative councils need to drive improvement.”

Buckinghamshire and Harrow already have shared service arrangements in place. The county council provides Harrow with Organisational Development services and agreements are in place to share HR services.

The county council said it expects to realise up to £2m savings per year to 2019/20 through shared service arrangements. 

Cllr John Chilver Buckinghamshire’s Cabinet Member for Resources said: "We want to find ever greater efficiency from back office functions on top of the considerable savings we’ve already made by sharing senior posts and support services. We’re delighted that HB Public Law can now contribute to this ongoing commitment to save taxpayers thousands."

HB Public Law is hiring: Click here for more information.