Local authority lawyers should lose their ‘cautious’ reputation, according to the new chair of Solicitors in Local Government (SLG).

Guy Goodman told the SLG’s annual general meeting in Warwick last week that the profession faces a battery of immediate challenges, including changes to the code of conduct and to councils’ use of well-being powers.

Goodman, the solicitor and monitoring officer for Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service, said government research into well-being powers sets out ‘the enormous influence in our authorities but also reminds us of the responsibility that goes with it. If we have a cautious tag then now is the time to lose it.’ Last year, council lawyers were told they were not using the powers at their disposal (see [2008] Gazette, 11 December, 3).

Goodman, who has taken over from Suzanne Bond, wants SLG members to discuss the future direction of legal departments from the starting point of recognising their value. ‘The law is not a back office function. It is an integral part,’ he said.

One of Goodman’s first jobs will be to respond to proposals to require senior council staff to disclose salary, bonuses, pensions and compensation payoffs.

Goodman said he will also be addressing the cost of practising certificates for council solicitors. ‘Local government solicitors pose a low regulatory risk and therefore we should not have to bear the full costs of regulation,’ he said.