Legal

Legal Services cannot act as solicitors for members of the public or recommend them to particular firms of solicitors. The Law Society of England & Wales maintains details of all solicitors and specialist law firms. The Law Society is able to assist members of the public in finding appropriate solicitors.

Our Section is able to provide legal services to public bodies (such as other local authorities, Parish Councils, Housing Associations and universities).  If you would like more information on this, please go to the page "Legal Services".

The Team looks after the legal aspects of the Council.

In particular it handles:

• Property matters including the buying and selling of land, the grant and renewal of leases, and general property advice.
• Planning advice.
• Civil litigation and public enquiries.
• Environmental Health advice.
• Data Protection and Freedom of Information enquiries.
• Advice on all aspects of Licensing and handling Appeals.
• Prosecutions.
• The preparation of Contracts.
• Land ownership enquiries.
• Advice to Officers and Members on the Constitution and the Members Code of Conduct.
• Advise and training to Parish Councils on the Members Code of Conduct.
• Employment advice including representation at Employment Tribunals.
• Presentations to other departments dealing with case updates and new legislation.

In addition the Team provide legal advice to the following :

• Standards Committee and its Sub-Committees.
• Scrutiny Committee.
• Development Control and Environmental Protection Committee.
• Planning Committee.
• Licensing and Safety Committee its Licensing Sub-Committees.
• Homelessness Review Committee.

The Team is managed by Gareth Owens who is Assistant Council Manager Monitoring Officer)
gareth.owens@shrewsbury.gov.uk

The team leader is Chris Gordon, Senior Solicitor
christopher.gordon@shrewsbury.gov.uk

The Assistant Solicitors are

John Hosker
john.hosker@shrewsbury.gov.uk

Graham White (Deputy Monitoring Officer)
graham.white@shrewsbury.gov.uk

Louise Prince is our Legal Assistant
louise.prince@shrewsbury.gov.uk