Legal Services
Legal Services
Nottingham City Council’s Legal Services Team is pleased to be able to offer a package of legal advice and assistance to head teachers. This package is only available to maintained schools and is intended to provide a basic level of support from qualified lawyers in relation to:-
o A broad range of school policy matters.
o Anti-social behaviour on school premises
o Parental disputes
o Other general legal issues such as simple contract queries, or early stage referrals where we may be able to help stop matters from escalating to court proceedings
In appropriate cases we may be able to provide you with template letters, emails or policies which you can tailor to your specific needs or assist in the interpretation of court or other legal documents that you may be presented with.
Employment advice and support is not provided as part of this package but will continue to be provided in association with the Council’s HR Advisory Services package as appropriate. Additional legal fees for representation in Employment Tribunals will be chargeable in such circumstances.
Legal Services will continue to support our schools as best as we can however please be aware that the following services are excluded from this package as detailed below.
In the event that the Legal Services team has capacity some of these services may be offered at an additional charge at the discretion of the Head of Legal and with fees to be agreed on a case by case basis.
This package excludes the following:
o All litigation and pre-action protocol work such as civil, contractual and debt disputes. We will provide and initial view and where appropriate provide advice where we believe you may need to seek further, alternative legal representation.
o Representation at courts or tribunals
o Advice/representation in relation to
- any hearing or meeting of the school governors, exclusion appeal panels or advice where the matter relates to actual or potential exclusion of a pupil or the appointment suspension or removal of a governor.
- personal injury claims or any other matter, which is or should be covered by the school's insurance cover. Legal assistance on these matters should be covered by your insurance arrangements.
- licensing or planning applications.
- criminal defence work, eg Health and Safety prosecutions.
- property disputes.
- access to school files/ data protection/GDPR/Information Governance issues.
- Special Educational Needs
In addition Legal Services will not be able to advise/assist where there is a conflict of interest between a school or its staff and the City Council.
Contact
Name: Beth Brown
Title: Head of Legal and Governance
Service Area: Legal Services, Strategy & Resources
Tel: 0115 87 62196
e-mail: beth.brown@nottinghamcity.gov.uk
