Cities confirm legal merger

Manchester City Council and Salford City Council have started the procurement process to merge their legal panels for property and regeneration work.

A tender brief covering four lots was published this week to establish framework agreements to deliver commercial property, major regeneration, commercial regeneration and child care legal services.

The budget for the combined frameworks is between £3m and £5.5m. Up to 10 firms are expected to be appointed for three years.

The merger of the legal departments was announced in May 2011. As well as the law firms appointed to the framework, the legal departments will employ council staff based at both Manchester and Salford local authority offices.

The advisors will work on construction contracts, landlord and tenant disputes, highways and infrastructure projects, joint ventures, public-private partnerships and major or complex matters across a range of regeneration legal disciplines.

The procurement is being run through the North West Chest local authority website