Childcare Lawyer (Career Graded)

Please apply online via the link provided.

How do we sum up Barnsley Council? Well, we’re a double award-winning, high-performing council with a growing economy, a thriving town centre and some truly impressive outcomes in our communities. This is why we’ve been awarded Council of the Year for 2023 by the Local Government Chronicle (LGC) and The Municipal Journal (MJ). 

Our excellent core service has been a key part of our win; we’re so proud of what we’ve achieved not just for the council but for our partners and Barnsley. 

Our legal service recently won in-house legal team of the year at the Yorkshire Legal Awards recognising the progress made over the last 12 months and the significant impact of the service.  

We’re impressed. Are you? It’s the perfect time to join our excellent team.

About the Post: 

Barnsley Council is an award-winning team and one of the biggest employers in the borough, supporting around 243,000 people. There’s so much happening in our thriving borough, and your talent will help us make Barnsley the place of possibilities.  

As a Council we pride ourselves in being an inclusive employer where a people-centred culture is at the forefront of supporting our people’s well-being, motivation, and productivity. 

We understand the importance of flexibility, and we offer a range of flexible working patterns to aid a work life balance that accommodates individual needs.  

As a modern employer we actively remove the barriers to employment.  Whether you are looking for a part-time opportunity, a working parent or carer, living with a disability or long-term health condition, we welcome and value your application to join our team. 

This a new post to join an already established and caring Child Care team.

The main duties of the successful Childcare Lawyer will include:

• Handling a caseload of mainly Public Law Child Care cases and pre-proceedings matters.

• Undertaking advocacy on behalf of the council.

• Advising Children’s Social Workers face-to-face and in writing, on all aspects of relevant legislation. We handle a variety of cases so you will have the opportunity to grow your knowledge and experience in some of the more niche areas!

• Prepare all legal documentation relevant to the caseload, and in particular prepare a wide variety of court documents, advise on child protection law, and assist the Senior Social Care Lawyers and Principal Lawyer in relation to the most complex or specialised matters as and when required.

• Carry out legal research.

Experience required for the Childcare Lawyer role:

• Qualified Solicitor, Barrister or Legal Executive (with the appropriate rights or the willingness to achieve such)

• We’re not expecting candidates to have experience in all of the above, but exposure to one or more areas would be beneficial

The Childcare Lawyer joining this team will enjoy the following benefits:

• Legal assistant support at a rate of 2:1

• Fantastic training and development opportunities

• Competitive salary

• Excellent local government pension scheme, including the option to contribute to an Additional Voluntary Contribution Scheme

• Flexible and hybrid working.

• Generous annual leave allowance, increasing with length of service and an additional 5 discretionary days used for Christmas shutdown

• Flexi time and use of up to 5 banked flexi days per year

• Car lease scheme, salary sacrifice for a brand new car!

• Salary sacrifice scheme for extra annual leave, cycle to work, home electronics and childcare vouchers.

• Discounts on car parking, rail travel, eating out, leisure attractions and gym memberships.

• Family friendly policies including; excellent maternity, paternity and adoption entitlements.

• Discounts on parking

Interested in applying for the Childcare Lawyer role?

This is a brilliant opportunity for an experienced Childcare Lawyer to join a Legal Team with a great reputation. We will invest in your growth so even if you do not have local authority experience we still would like to hear from you.