Resources Department

Legal Services

Our Legal Service is an internal support service organised around a small team of corporate legal officers, with responsibilities either for all legal needs of specific client services, or for council-wide legal functions.

The internal legal service is primarily concerned with the specification and management of clients' legal business, and most casework and advice is delivered under contracts with private solicitors.

There are 2 services based at Barking Town Hall:

Legal Services

Objectives:

To monitor the activities and the legal processes of the council and its services to ensure legality, consistency and best practice
To contribute corporate legal advice and services to the development and implementation of corporate policies

Please note: We do not provide legal advice to members of the public. We only provide advice to departments within the council.

Therefore if you do require legal advice you can contact your local Citizens Advice Bureau who can offer free advice and even help you locate a solicitor.

Monitoring Officer

The Monitoring Officer provides support to Members and Client Services by:

Giving legal advice
Specifying legal services to meet the requirements of the council and its services
Procuring or providing services which meet the specification and are efficient and competitive