Bar contracting group and ACSeS run research project on use of barristers
The Bar Council’s recently-established Local Government Contracting Group has joined up with the Association of Council Secretaries and Solicitors to launch a research project into local authorities’ use of and attitudes towards barristers and chambers.
The survey has been designed to find out:
- The extent to which ACSeS members and their local authorities use the Bar
- The ways in which they do so, whether by contract or instructions in the traditional manner
- How ACSeS members currently perceive the Bar and the chambers that they use
- Any perceived barriers holding back the Bar and chambers from further modernisation, and
- Any suggestions that ACSeS members may have on how the Bar and chambers can improve their delivery of legal services to local government.
The survey has been organised by Dr Mirza Ahmad, chairman of the Bar Association for Local Government and the Public Service and a member of the contracting group.
Dr Ahmad, Corporate Director of Governance at Birmingham City Council, will analyse the results and produce a report. He said: “The survey is geared to assist the Bar Council to better understand what local authority legal departments feel about barristers and chambers, their fee structures and tendering generally. It is about the Bar being more savvy about what the customer wants.”
The contracting group is chaired by Michael Todd QC, Vice-Chairman of the Bar and head of Erskine Chambers, and held its first meeting two months ago.
Todd said: “I am delighted that we have established this working group, which I hope will go some way to building stronger and enduring bridges between local authorities and the Bar. As well as providing information on what the Bar can do, we are here to listen and to understand what local authorities consider when procuring legal services so that we can adapt to meet those requirements.”
ACSeS members can complete the online questionnaire ACSeSBarSurvey. The deadline for completion is 15 May.
Last month the Bar Standards Board, which regulates the Bar in England and Wales, decided in principle to allow barristers to apply to conduct litigation, potentially opening up a new stream of work. The regulator also said it would also seek to regulate “advocacy-focused” business structures, legal disciplinary practices and barrister-only entities.
Dr Ahmad said: “Employed barristers have been allowed to conduct litigation, once they have been authorised by the Bar Standards Board, for a number of years. Allowing barristers in chambers to do that will be about what is the most cost effective provision of service and if that happens to be from chambers, then so be it.”
