Job Description

Job Details:

Salary range: \xc2\xa350,757 - \xc2\xa369,954
Work location: Kensington Town Hall, Hornton Street, London W8 7NX
Hours per week: 36
Contract type: Permanent
Closing date: 3 September 2023
Interview date: Week commencing 18 September 2023
Contact details for an informal discussion: Heidi Titcombe, Principal Solicitor, via email:

About Us:

THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF 809 CONNECTED BUSINESSES

Legal services in Westminster City Council is a world of extraordinary stories, where creative and enterprising people put local residents and businesses first.
Today, Westminster is the most connected borough in London. But, when David joined us in the mid-2010s, small businesses were still struggling to get connected to fibre. Without gigabit-capable broadband, some companies even resorted to biking memory sticks around the city, simply to share files with clients.

Although still in a junior role, David took the initiative and successfully made the business case for \xc2\xa32.8 million of European funding to support connectivity for small businesses across Westminster. Feedback from businesses has been overwhelmingly positive as the project has enhanced their communications with clients. The new connectivity allows them to make video calls and work remotely. As the pandemic hit and many more people needed to work from home, it became clear just how vital this investment had been.

Fast-forward a few years. Westminster is leading the way for connectivity, as a result of the project businesses are thriving, and David is heading up a service of his own responsible for delivery of the Smart City strategy.

The Role:

As a Senior Solicitor in our forward-thinking Bi-Borough Legal Service, you can make your own powerful contribution to the communities based in the boroughs of Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea.

Our Licensing Team receives and determines the largest number of licensing applications in the country. Alongside applications relating to highways and assets of community value, they therefore have a significant impact on the quality of life that our residents can expect, and the success of local businesses. As such, this is a career-defining opportunity to preserve the character and reputation of these boroughs, while allowing local businesses to thrive.

Handling high-profile cases that often generate a great deal of political and public interest, you will therefore attend weekly Licensing Sub-Committees for both councils, in which you will provide expert legal advice to Council Members and Officers on a wide range of licensing and enforcement issues. This could extend from the impact of proposed gambling and sexual entertainment venues, through to non-Licensing Act matters such as street trading. You will also be the first port of call for issues relating to highway initiatives such as pavement licences, so every day will present you with a great deal of variety - plus the chance to develop your legal and professional skills in a highly-regarded legal service.

Whether managing licensing appeals in the Magistrates\' Courts, dealing with Case Management Hearings or contributing to judicial reviews, you will have the support of collaborative and knowledgeable colleagues who are genuinely committed to making a difference to our local communities - though it is important that you can handle your cases with minimal supervision.

Please refer to the for more information

About You:

This is a fantastic opportunity to make your mark in two high-profile Councils. Here, you will find a uniquely collaborative team who are passionate about delivering the most effective and efficient legal services, so you will excel with us if you are a dynamic team-player who can act on your own initiative. While the role is undoubtedly exciting, it can also be challenging when balancing the needs of multiple priorities, so you will need to be deeply organised with the capacity to manage your own workload, and your communication and negotiation skills will be second-to-none.

As an experienced Licensing Solicitor or Barrister, we will expect you to have significant licensing knowledge, with practical advocacy experience of appeals and judicial reviews. A good knowledge of Local Government law and Member\'s interests is essential, and if you also happen to have experience of assets of community value and highways matters (such as pavement licenses) that would be a big bonus.

What We Offer:

Westminster is an amazing place. We are home to more than 200,000 residents from all backgrounds, over 50,000 vibrant and vital businesses and three-quarters-of-a-million people work in Westminster. Westminster City Council\'s strategy is to work towards a Fairer Westminster. A Fairer Westminster is one in which our communities are at the heart of our decision-making and help to determine the city\'s future. By working directly with our communities and other partners, we can build a more inclusive city that celebrates our diverse communities, and where residents, workers and visitors from all backgrounds will feel welcome and safe.

At Westminster City Council, we pride ourselves on being an inclusive workplace and employer of choice. We encourage and welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that, at all levels, represents the communities we serve. We champion equality, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued, has a sense of belonging and is empowered to be their best, that is the Westminster Way. To find out more about how we do this visit

As a forward-thinking Council we appreciate that people work in different ways, therefore our staff benefit from working a range of flexible working patterns as well as Agile working.

The Council is a Disability Confident Employer. If you have declared a disability in your application, we guarantee an interview if you meet the essential criteria of the job. If you are invited for interview, you will be asked if you need any reasonable adjustments in order to attend, and we will make these wherever possible.

The Council is committed to achieving diverse shortlists to support our desire to increase the number of staff from underrepresented groups in our workforce. We especially encourage applications from a global majority background and, while the role is open to all applicants, we will utilise the positive action provisions of the Equality Act 2010 to appoint a candidate from a global majority background where there is a choice between two candidates of equal merit. If you are from a Global Majority background you can self-declare this to the hiring manager as part of our positive action commitments.

Westminster City Council