Local Government Lawyer is pleased to present the first ever Legal Zone at the Guardian's Public Procurement Show. Local Government Lawyer will be running a series of seminars in the dedicated Legal Theatre, focusing on the key issues facing procurement lawyers and professionals.

Attendance is entirely free-of-charge. To register, please click on following link: Public Procurement Show.

Programme

Tuesday 14 June

10:30 - 11:15 Is this for real? Dealing with low bidders

How can commissioners evaluate the ability of low tenderers to fulfil the contract and how can they safely reject low bids without becoming embroiled in legal action?

Speaker: Parishil Patel, 39 Essex Street

11:30 - 12:15 Up for the challenge? How to make tenders challenge proof

• Pointers when drafting OJEU advertisements.
• The need to publish all measures of assessment.
• How to provide reasons for a decision to disappointed bidders.
• What are 'reasonable' criteria?
• How to ensure equality of treatment between bidders
• How to amend a contract without making a 'material change' which would spark a re-tender.

Speaker: Ceri Delemore, Geldards

12:30 - 13:15 Fit for the future? The barriers to successful restructuring

• How to define the aims of restructuring, the objectives and drivers for change.
• Barriers to successful restructuring, how to address them.
• Analysing the issues, what is achievable within what time frame.
• Distinguishing work practices, employment terms and conditions, policies, and relevance of collective agreements.
• The process of altering terms and conditions and risks resulting.
• TUPE, a help or a hindrance in restructuring?
• Planning the process, the ground to cover.
• How to live with the aftermath. Does change ever end?

Speakers: Michael Sippitt, Clarks Legal and Steve Swayne, Kingsgate

13:30 - 14:15: Procuring shared services after LAML

The High Court's judgment in 2008 that a group of local authorities acted unlawfully on a joint procurement exercise created a significant obstacle to shared services arrangements and other forms of joint procurement. This year, however, this decision was overturned by the Supreme Court. How far does this protect future shared services projects from falling foul of procurement law?

Speaker: Rob Hann, legal director of Local Partnerships and author of Local Authority Companies and Partnerships

14:30 - 15:15 Time's up?

The procedures involved in public procurement are complex and the penalties for getting it wrong are high. How can public bodies ensure that they don't fall foul of procedure rules and time limits and what are the consequences if they do?

Speaker: James Findlay QC, 2-3 Gray's Inn Square

15:30 - 16:15 Commercial confidentiality vs the public's right to know

The Coalition Government has urged local authorities and other public bodies to be more transparent about how and where they spend public money. But where does the need for transparency come into conflict with commercial confidentiality?

Speaker: Fionnuala McCredie, Keating Chambers

Wednesday 15 June

10:30 - 11:15 Levelling the playing-field. Procuring from small business and the third sector

The government has appealed to the public sector to procure at least 25% of its goods and services from small-to-medium sized enterprises, while the call to include the third sector in the provision of services has also become louder. To what extent can public authorities discriminate in favour of small businesses or voluntary organisations when running a procurement exercise?

Speaker: Jack Hayward, Solicitor and Procurement Consultant

11:30 - 12:15 Procuring Services to Generate Revenue

Increasingly public sector bodies are providing services on a cash-neutral or even a profit-making basis.  This session will run through the options of how you can generate revenue through innovative charging and trading structures, thus freeing up resource to focus on other services.

Speakers: Chris Corney and Frank Jennings, DMH Stallard LLP

12:30 - 13:15 Dealing with suppliers in insolvency

As the recent demise of housing maintenance group Connaught recently demonstrated, the financial failure of a major contractor can create a major crisis overnight. This session will look at which point in the process the commissioner can pull the plug and re-let the contract, what interim measures it can take to ensure the continuation of service and the extent to which the financial health of a bidder can be taken into account at the procurement stage.

Speaker: Dan Butler, Weightmans

13:30 - 14:15 Smooth transfer: State aid and staff mutuals

One of the the Big Society's big ideas is the creation of staff and user-owned enterprises to take over  responsibility for public services from local authorities and the NHS. But is it really that simple or will a tender process be required each time a service is transferred outside direct public sector provision?

Speaker: Richard Auton, Walker Morris

14:30 - 15:15 Back to basics – strategies for re-negotiating contracts

Many contracts negotiated in happier economic times may not look quite so suitable in the present environment. Yet while it may appear that contracts are set in stone, there are a number of legal and other strategies that public bodies can take to ensure that even long-running arrangements can be made fit for the future.

Speaker: Ruth Connorton, Eversheds

Programme and timings may be subject to change. Please check this page for updates.

Please direct any enquiries to Derek Bedlow on 0207 239 4917 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Enquiries on exhibiting at the show should be addressed to Warren Green on 0203 353 2986 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.