Hugh Flanagan

Hugh acts for a wide range of local authorities and much of his practice involves local government issues either directly or indirectly. He has particular experience of advising in relation to vires, governance, trading powers, procurement issues, local authority companies and joint working issues.

Hugh is the author the local authority procurement section of the Westlaw Insight encyclopedia.

Recent work includes:

• Advising on joint working arrangements between a group of local authorities concerning parking charges and compatibility with executive arrangements in place under the Local Government Act 2000.
• Advising a group of local authorities on the scope for jointly setting up and providing services through companies under the Local Government Acts, in particular the trading powers under the Local Government Act 2003 and the well-being powers under the Local Government Act 2000 (junior to Mark Lowe QC).
• Procurement disputes relating to breach of the Public Contracts Regulations 2006. Recent work includes advising on a proposed land sale by a local authority imposing works obligations on the purchaser, and assisting the Department of Health in relation to a large scale claim alleging illegality in a tender process.

While working as a Judicial Assistant in the UK Supreme Court, Hugh assisted with the leading procurement and vires case of Brent LBC v Risk Management Partners Ltd [2011] UKSC 7 (whether local authorities have power to set up companies for the provision of mutual insurance and whether those arrangements breached procurement law).