1. What rate do you pay for seeking advice or services from any Joint Legal Team(s) administered/managed/run by other Boroughs, for example Reading Borough Council and what is the process for recording and invoicing at Wokingham Borough Council ?

A purchase order is raised by Wokingham Borough Council to enable Reading Borough Council to invoice. Reading Borough Council send Wokingham Borough Council a monthly breakdown of their legal activities’ expenditure. Reading record all the costs which have been incurred and we review this to check it is correct before purchase orders are raised and invoices paid.

Rates for 2023/24 vary depending on worker completing the request. Below are the hourly rates.
1. Team Leader: £91.62
2. Principal Lawyer: £86.45
3. Senior Lawyer: £79.88
4. Lawyer: £72.32
5. Paralegal: £58.73
6. CPO: £49.47

2. What is the total spend by Wokingham Borough Council to seek advice and/or services from any Joint Legal Team(s) administered/managed/run by other Boroughs, for example Reading Borough Council for financial year end for 2022, 2023 and 2024 to date, broken down by department (area) or group cases of work
Reading Joint Legal Team

2022/23:
SEND: £94,170
Adults: £94,754
Children: £1,032,833
Total: £1,221,757

2023/24:
SEND: £229,242.04
Adults: £210,351.24
Children: £1,204,192.44
Total: £1,643,785.72

For 2024/25, we have not yet paid any actuals due to queries regarding forecasting and issues with finance systems.

3. What is the total spend by Wokingham Borough Council in-house Legal Team on matters related to housing and/or homeless applicants, broken down by vulnerable, disabled and non-disabled group cases of work for financial year end for 2022, 2023 and 2024 to date.
2021-22: £3,815.00
2022-23: £18,778.50
2023-24: £16,084.00

The overall figure is for all instructions we have worked on that have been logged under housing. The figures listed are the section relating to homelessness but we cannot break these down any further in reporting.

4. What is the total spend by Wokingham Borough Council in-house Legal Team on remuneration for in-house Barristers and outsourcing external Barristers for financial year end for 2022, 2023 and 2024 to date, broken down by department (area) or group cases of work?
2022:
Landmark Chambers: £2,000
Six Pump Court: £3,500