Founded in 2011, the South London Legal Partnership (SLLP) is the in-house legal service for the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and the London Boroughs of Merton, Richmond upon Thames, Sutton and Wandsworth.

SLLP is committed to being a high performing in-house shared legal service which plays an essential part in the achievement of the priorities and objectives of our five local authorities for the benefit of their communities.

The partnership has 150-160 staff and a turnover of £1 million. Over 1 million people are represented by the constituent councils. Operating at scale has enabled it to recruit and retain excellent staff and to provide a consistently high standard of service to our five Boroughs.

We are seeking a candidate with excellent skills and experience in regulatory and enforcement matters, including  Licensing.  You will have a track-record of conducting a range of criminal prosecutions for local authorities in the Magistrates’ and Crown Courts, including conducting advocacy in the former. 

Reporting into the Assistant Head of Law for this area, you will be part of a friendly and collegiate in-house team and will be involved with a diverse range of matters acting for our Boroughs, as prosecutor or complainant, in all types of regulatory enforcement and compliance including food safety, trading standards, health and safety, blue badge, dangerous structures, planning and highways, environmental, CIL recovery etc.  In the licensing context, you would act as legal adviser to licensing sub-committees and represent the committee on appeals.   A thorough knowledge of criminal practice and procedure, as well as local government legislation is essential.

This role will require the ability to provide a range of legal support to help ensure the successful delivery of the initiatives across all Boroughs.  A key skill will be an ability to ensure the delivery of constructive and timely legal and constitutional advice and assistance to Council, Committees, Elected Members and senior management across the organisation therefore this role requires previous local government experience. 

You will be managing a small team of lawyers, so management experience is required along with excellent skills at independently establishing priorities and managing deadlines across the Team. 

SLLP’s Vision & Values include a commitment to improving services through the development of our staff in an inclusive and supportive environment. We aim to attract and retain a workforce which reflects the diverse communities we serve.

If you think you have the skills/experience we are looking for and share the same values, then we want to hear from you.

Further information can be found at  https://join-sllp.com.

To discuss the role further please contact David Fellows at David.Fellows@merton.gov.uk

Closing date: 19 March 2025

For further information or to apply, please click on the 'Enquire/Apply' button below.