I am delighted to share that, I have recently accomplished my training placement at Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA Group), from 31 August 2022 to 9 September 2022. The Tees Valley Combined Authority is the combined authority for the Tees Valley urban area in England consisting of the following five unitary authorities: Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees, covering a population of approximately 700,000 people.
My training was very helpful to me regarding my future aim to work within the local and national government authorities’ legal department. During my training I was able to observe the following activities:
- Evaluated ‘Bids for Legal Services’ request for quotation and share my opinion.
- An informal meeting of Councillors at a Tees Valley Local Authority
- Review of NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) documents for TVCA Group
- Advised on the development of new internal policies and procedures including TVCA Group Anti-Modern Day Slavery arrangements, plus various policies relating to the Teesside Airport Foundation (A charity).
- Attended various management meetings in relation to Legal, Governance, Procurement and Business Support functions.
- Learned about handling of Freedom of Information requests and Internal Reviews.
- Participated in project meetings including office health and safety and the Commencement Meeting of a significant major legal project.
- Advised on working in a professional office environment, covering diary management, meeting booking, meeting planning and visitor hosting, use of the IT system, The handling and processing of documents and internal authorisation process.
Opportunities like this are not always available for me to access. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my mentor Peter Judge MBE (TVCA Group Chief Legal Officer) and his Secretary for arranging this training and the team TVCA for being welcoming and exceptionally helpful to accommodate my needs in the training process.
This experience will certainly help me in my legal and professional career going forward and enable me to explore the options for my future as a Barrister. Thanks, everyone for your kind support always.
