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Communities and Local Government (CLG)

Communities and Local Government is the department with responsibility for local and regional Government, housing, planning, fire and resilience, regeneration, social exclusion and neighbourhood renewal. The Department is at the heart of the Government’s ambition to create sustainable communities for all.

The Department’s aim is to create prosperous, inclusive and sustainable communities for the 21st century - places where people want to live - that promote opportunity and a better quality of life for all.

Work of the Legal Team

Introduction

The Legal Directorate is headed by its Solicitor and Legal Adviser and includes about 60 lawyers who advise Ministers and administrators on legal issues arising from the Department’s policy. We are heavily involved in implementing that policy through statutory instruments and Acts of Parliament.

Our work covers many aspects of public law including Human Rights, Devolution, Equality and Discrimination, Freedom of Information, European law and international environmental law.

We advise on litigation, including judicial review, although we instruct TSol (Treasury Solicitors) to conduct litigation for us. Our lawyers also attend meetings in Brussels, Geneva, the Regions and Government Offices.

The Legal Directorate

Our work is generally unlike anything you will find in private practice. Whether it is proposals to reform town and country planning controls, proposals to intervene in a failing local authority or setting up a regeneration scheme, the Department’s lawyers are there to provide advice.

The Directorate’s lawyers are organised into six divisions. These are:

· Constitutional and European
· Employment, Commercial and Specialist Drafting
· Housing and Land
· Local Government
· Planning
· Regeneration

Each division is headed by a Deputy Director, and has between six and ten lawyers. The Directorate is assisted in its work by the Legal Support Services Unit.

Benefits & Rewards

Communities and Local Government is committed to continuing professional development. Our lawyers are actively encouraged to take up training opportunities as they arise - both within the GLS and externally. We also run a series of in-house lectures and workshops.
Salary is dependent on experience. All lawyers are eligible to join the Civil Service Pension Scheme and receive a generous paid leave allowance. We also provide season ticket loans.

Legal Trainee & Pupillage Opportunities

Training with a Government Department is very different from being with a private firm of solicitors or set of chambers.

Communities and Local Government can offer a variety of training seats so that you will be able to gain experience in a wide range of areas of law. A legal trainee in the Department could work in any one of the divisions in the Legal Directorate.

What’s the work likely to be?

You might, for example, have a seat in a Division working on implementing new legislation where you would gain experience of drafting a Statutory Instrument. This would be an excellent way of improving your drafting skills and would give you the satisfaction of producing your own piece of legislation. Alternatively, you could have the opportunity of working with policy colleagues on a particular issue leading to drafting instructions for Parliamentary Counsel (the people who draft Bills) on provisions in an CLG Bill.

To gain litigation experience, the Department could arrange for you to spend a seat with a department which conducts litigation, often TSol (Treasury Solicitors). TSol (Treasury Solicitors) is a Government Agency which provides, among other things, litigation services to those government departments that do not conduct their own litigation and which we instruct to act for us in litigation. You would gain “hands-on” litigation experience and come into contact with a variety of clients and other lawyers. You might even be involved with high profile appeals to the Court of Appeal and House of Lords.

What about training?

Right from the start of your training contract you will be given responsibility for your own work whilst always having the support of your managers and colleagues. This will let you learn from the experience of others whilst allowing you to use your own skills and knowledge to make a real contribution to the work of your team.

Communities and Local Government also provides a variety of training opportunities. As well as completing the courses required by the Law Society or Bar Council, you could attend courses at or run by the National School for Government on topics such as working in a Bill team. In addition, Legal Directorate organises a full in-house training programme with regular seminars and workshops on topics of specific interest to the Office’s lawyers. There are also regular opportunities to attend training sessions at other government departments, including the TSol (Treasury Solicitor) comprehensive training programme.

How do I find out more?

Legal Trainees and Pupil Barristers are recruited through the GLS Legal Trainee Scheme. In the 2007 competition we recruited two trainee solicitors to commence in 2009.

If you are interested in training with Communities and Local Government and you would like to know more about potential options, get in touch with us at:

Legal Recruitment
DCLG Legal Directorate
Zone 8/K10
Eland House
Bressenden Place
London
SW1E 5DU

E-mail : legal.recruit@communities.gsi.gov.uk

Qualified Lawyer Vacancies

Vacancies for posts in this Department are advertised through the central GLS scheme. All vacancies are posted on the Civil Service Recruitment Gateway (this link will open in a new window).

Location

Our lawyers are based in Eland House, Bressenden Place, London.

Our offices are equipped with modern ICT equipment, and all lawyers have desktop access to a number of online legal databases and the internet. We also have a dedicated Legal Library. Lawyers work in a friendly, informal atmosphere. Working hours are flexible.

Further Information

Read about what it’s like working as a lawyer in CLG.

You can also visit the Department’s website: www.communities.gov.uk.