10 December 2013
Royal College of Surgeons, London
For full details of the programme and booking, see here.
2013 will be a year that housing lawyers do not forget for a long time. With our profession, our funding and our clients’ rights under ruthless attack it can seem an impossible task to keep representing those who need us. This year’s conference aims to inspire hope and to provide practitioners with the tools and confidence needed to fight back and survive.
Our panel session will tackle the important and ever growing area of disability and the Equality Act, whilst the seminars will cover a range of areas including managing private landlords, costs, welfare benefits, disrepair, homelessness and housing outside the Housing Act. The underlying theme of all our sessions will be how to manage the changes in order to keep helping our clients.
The 2013 conference is also an opportunity to meet and forge links with others in housing law. There are still a lot of us, both in private practice and in the not for profit sector. We all face the same challenges and what better way to survive than to join forces; so come along, learn from each other and share ideas and a festive drink at our Christmas social, which will follow the conference.
Keynote speakers:
Campbell Robb, Chief Executive, Shelter
Jan Luba QC, Barrister, Garden Court Chambers
Panel:
Martin Westgate QC, Barrister, Doughty Street Chambers
Anne McMurdie, Solicitor, Public Law Solicitors
Helen Mountfield QC, Barrister, Matrix Chambers
John Verge, Regional Business Manager (South), Golden Lane Housing
Delegates will have the opportunity to submit questions to the panel in advance. A Twitter #hashtag will be set up for the conference where up to date information will be posted.
Seminars on:
Costs and consequences post Jackson
Dealing with Private Tenancies
Disrepair. Past, present and future
Homelessness
Benefit reforms
Housing outside the Housing Acts
The conference is aimed at all those involved in practising housing law, whether acting for tenants and occupiers of housing or local authorities and social or private landlords. It is relevant to solicitors, barristers, paralegals and advisers in the voluntary, public and private sectors, together with academics and policy workers in the housing and social welfare fields.
The conference is an accredited course for both solicitors and barristers and is designed to offer information and training for all levels of practitioner.
Bar Standards Board Accreditation: 6 hours
Law Society Accreditation: 6 hours
We hope that you will be able to join us.
Keynote speakers
Campbell Robb became the Chief Executive of Shelter in January 2010. Before that he was the first Director General of the Office of the Third Sector in the Cabinet Office, responsible for leading the Government’s work with the third sector. Working closely with ministers and at the highest levels across Whitehall, the unit worked to change the nature of the relationship between the third sector and the public sector. Campbell was previously Head of Campaigns and Director of Public Policy at the National Council of Voluntary Organisations, where he was responsible for coordinating NCVO’s external relations, policy and research work.
Jan Luba QC is a barrister practising from Garden Court Chambers in London. He was called to the Bar in 1980 and in 2000 was made a Queen’s Counsel. He specialises in Housing Law with particular emphasis on housing management law, homelessness and housing conditions. Jan has considerable experience as a housing law trainer and has written widely on housing issues in both the legal and housing press. He sits part-time as a Recorder in the Civil Courts and at the Employment Appeal Tribunal.
Panel
Martin Westgate QC is a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers. He is a public law specialist who regularly appears in and advises in judicial review applications and statutory appeals. His work covers a wide range of subject areas including employment, housing, travellers, care in the community, benefits, health service provision, prisoners’ rights, education, local government and planning. He has lectured on the subject, is a contributor to JR, and co-author of a series of updates on public law for the Legal Action Group. The other main areas of his practice are housing and social welfare, employment (with a particular emphasis on discrimination) and medical law.
Anne McMurdie is a solicitor at Public Law Solicitors, specialising in public law, human rights, community care and housing law. Anne worked previously at Anthony Gold Solicitors, where she qualified as a solicitor in 2001. Prior to that, she had worked in the voluntary sector for many years, notably for Women’s Aid, SHAC and the Terrence Higgins Trust, where she specialised in housing law. She has particular expertise in the housing and support rights of people subject to immigration control, including asylum seekers, and has trained regularly on this area of law for Shelter and Legal Action Group.
Helen Mountfield QC is a barrister at Matrix Chambers. She is particularly well known for cases concerning discrimination and equality questions as they arise in public law, employment, commercial and other contexts and has been involved in many of the major cases on public sector equality duties. She frequently represents the Equality and Human Rights Commission and has appeared in many leading cases in human rights and civil liberties both in this country and in Strasbourg. She is co-author of the Blackstone Guide to the Human Rights Act 1998 and edits the White Book on Human Rights.
John Verge joined Golden Lane Housing in 2000 and has since been involved with leading on innovative housing solutions for people with a learning disability across the country. John currently leads the development and operational team in the south of England. He has managed major high profile schemes, including the re-provision for people moving from inappropriate long stay hospital placements, and worked on a national programme to utilise private rented sector housing opportunities.