Who we help
Built around the people who carry the risk
- 01
Monitoring Officers and legal teams
Where a decision has to survive challenge, and the internal team needs a second view that is candid rather than reassuring.
- Advice on contested or politically sensitive decisions
- Review of delegation schemes and constitutional documents
- Support on governance findings raised by audit or scrutiny
- A second opinion where the in-house view is being tested
- 02
Heads of Regulatory Services
Where the service is under pressure, the framework is dated, and change has to happen without losing statutory compliance.
- Operating model and structural review
- Risk-based prioritisation of regulatory activity
- Enforcement policy and proportionality frameworks
- Officer training and decision-making support
- 03
Licensing managers and committee support
Where determinations need to be defensible and the process needs to be consistent from one hearing to the next.
- Statement of licensing policy review and redraft
- Cumulative impact assessment and supporting evidence
- Committee procedure, report templates and reasons drafting
- Member and officer training on contested hearings
- 04
Markets, town centre and public realm teams
Where trading arrangements have accumulated over decades and no longer match how the place is actually used.
- Street trading designation review and modernisation
- Market rights, charters and byelaw analysis
- Consent categories, conditions and fee models
- Alignment of trading policy with regeneration objectives
- 05
Commissioning and procurement teams
Where the Procurement Act 2023 has changed the process and the internal machinery needs to catch up.
- Contract procedure rules and delegation review
- Exclusion and self-cleaning assessment frameworks
- Transparency notice mapping and ownership
- Evaluation, moderation and assessment summary practice
- 06
Combined authorities and arm's-length bodies
Where functions are shared, accountability is distributed, and the governance has to be legible to more than one organisation.
- Governance and assurance framework design
- Scheme of delegation across constituent bodies
- Regulatory functions transferred or shared between partners
- Programme governance for transformation work
Sectors
Organisations we work with
- District, borough, city, county and unitary authorities
- Combined authorities and mayoral bodies
- Central government departments and agencies
- Professional and sector regulators
- NHS bodies and other statutory organisations
- Arm's-length companies and public service partnerships operating in regulated environments
Engagement
How we work with you
Devol Legal is deliberately structured as a specialist practice rather than a general adviser. That means we are not the right choice for every instruction, and we will say so where a matter sits outside what we do well or requires a person authorised to carry on activity we do not undertake.
Where we are the right fit, the engagement is handled personally. There is no team of unfamiliar names between the person you brief and the person who does the work, and there is no incentive to extend an instruction beyond the point at which it is useful.
Initial discussion
Does this sound like your position?
An initial discussion is confidential and carries no obligation. It is often enough to establish whether there is a problem worth solving and what the proportionate response would be.