b'4 Local Government LawyerThe end of more for less?Local government legal department workloads are on the rise, while budgets are stretched thin and a sector-wide financial crisis shows no sign of abating. Adam Carey looks at how legal departments are responding and asks whether they are nearing the limits of doing more for less. While the theme of this report is the Legal Department of the Future, it is the here and now that seems to be front of mind for local authority heads of legal.The financial landscape for local authorities has changed considerably since the last Legal Department of the Future (LDoTF) report in 2019.In the intervening years, council bankruptcies have become national news, with seven local authorities issuing section 114 notices in the face of insurmountable money issues. Table 1: In the foreseeable future, do you expect the overall volume of legal work generated Meanwhile, the headlines have been thickby your authority to: with further warnings from the sector about finances.The Local Government Association raisedIncrease significantly (10%) 56%the alarm earlier this year (February 2025), describing Whitehalls Local GovernmentIncrease slightly (5% to 10%) 36%Finance Settlement for the coming financial year as falling short of what is desperatelyStay more or the less the same8%needed.The association also warned that councilsDecrease slightly (-5% to - 10%)are facing an 8bn black hole in their budgets. So how has this impacted legalDecrease significantly (-10%)departments? What is evident from this latest LDoTF survey is that while legal departmentsreport wrestling with recruitment issues,Legal workloads are rising, while budgets have plateaued, the workloadputting even more pressure on snowed-undercouncils struggle to recruitcontinues to rise. legal teams. This years research suggests that while legal Just over half of the 83 heads of legal whoThese difficulties have forced heads of legaldepartments have made repeated attempts to took part in the survey said their workloadto find efficiencies through new recruitingmanage increasing demand, the fundamental is set to increase substantiallycontinuing astrategies, grow your own initiatives, andpressures show no signs of easing.trend seen in the LDoTF surveys carried outdeploying new legal technology. But afterThe majority (56%) of heads of legal in 2011, 2013and 2019, which all reportedmore than a decade of austerity and inflatingbelieve the volume of legal work is set to growing demand for legal services.workloadsare there any more efficiencies toincrease significantly, while a further 36% Meanwhile, departments continue tobe found? predict that it will increase slightly. None of'