Local authority (including leisure)

At Blake Morgan we specialise in local authority leisure, housing, education, waste and social care.

Headed by Penny Rinta-Suksi, a Leading Individual in the Legal 500 and industry name in local authority leisure, our ambition is to support unitary, district and county councils, as well as funders and contractors working in this market. Our mission is to aid our clients to achieve their vision and strategy through well planned and scoped, efficiently implemented, successful projects. We don’t just have experts who advise on the law – our team focuses on outcomes for our clients, and ensures we provide the most up-to-date, real-world solutions for our clients, at the right price for the job, whilst protecting their reputation and budget in a manner to withstand scrutiny.

Main areas of practice

Blake Morgan's local authority legal experts specialise in a number of areas such as leisure, libraries, housing, education, waste and social care.

Leisure projects

The team is particularly well known for its expertise in unitary and district council leisure projects with varying degrees of capital investment to include design, build, operate and maintain (DBOM) projects, local authority leisure contracts and leisure trust structures. The team has expert knowledge of the Sport England Standard Form documentation and the latest agency model being used to secure VAT savings.

Local authority procurement

Our expert lawyers advise on complex, innovative and high profile procurements for a range of public sector clients. This includes local government reorganisation (LGR), dealing with local authority companies, local authority Teckal and trading corporate vehicles, as well as service outsourcing in waste, education, and health.

Our clients

Our clients include Reading Borough Council, Oxfordshire County Council, Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames, the London Borough of Wandsworth, the Royal Borough of Richmond Upon Thames, Basingstoke and Deane Council, Dover District Council, Canterbury City Council, Thanet District Council, Gateshead Council, Wokingham Borough Council, Cardiff City Council and the Vale Of Glamorgan Council.

Knights Court 3

Penny Rinta-Suksi and Rob Jeffries are outstanding in the field of leisure management contracts.
- Legal 500, 2026

Their knowledge of commercial terms outweighs that of other legal firms.
- Legal 500, 2026

Penny and her team provided an outstanding service to us during a competitive dialogue process. They were always there to answer any questions and provide guidance, with both a speedy and insightful response at all times. I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending them to others.
- Pam Rowe-Jones, Wokingham Borough Council

Unrivalled knowledge in public sector leisure procurement.
- Legal 500

"Blake Morgan has a very good team, with many capable team members in the local government field.
- Chambers and Partners, 2025

Blake Morgan are very efficient, thorough and pragmatic in how they go about things.
- Chambers and Partners, 2025

The support we have received from Blake Morgan, particularly you [Penny Rinta-Suksi] and Rob [Jefferies], has been incredible and we simply wouldn’t have arrived at this point without your expert advice and input.
- David Evans, Mansfield District Council

We would also like to extend our thanks to you and your team for getting us to the point where we can transform leisure services in Reading and improve health outcomes for our communities. Your team are brilliant. I really appreciated the patience, clarity and understanding of our ambitions for this project from everyone who worked with us.
- Donna Pentelow, Assistant Director of Culture, Directorate of Economic Growth and Neighbourhood Services, Reading Borough Council

I must say thank you to you (Penny Rinta-Suksi) and your team for your invaluable support and advice on this procurement. I found the whole team at BM to be knowledgeable and responsive. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend you to other clients.
- Sue Markham, Principal Solicitor of Chiltern and South Bucks Joint Legal Services

I enjoyed working with Penny and the team at Blake Morgan. I found the service both proactive and responsive, with my team's questions being answered in a positive way, providing us with practical solutions and advice. We had a number of complex issues along the way that needed a quick turn around and we found that Blake Morgan really helped us, with the turnaround in pieces of work astonishingly fast and communication top.
- Phil Hughes of Fenland District Council

Penny is great at focusing the team on providing me with a solution and easily picks up and demystifies complex issues.
- Christine Parsloe of London Borough of Merton

Highlights

We supported Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council in its competitive leisure procurement, with the drafting of its procurement documents and Design Build Operate Maintain (DBOM) contract. We advised on the Outline Solutions stage documents and evaluation criteria and have also provided advice regarding bidders potentially entering into an agency model with the Council, following an update on the revised VAT treatment on in-house leisure services.

We supported the Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames on the re-procurement of their leisure services and their adoption of the leisure agency model. We supported the Council with bespoke provisions in the initial drafting of the Leisure Operating Contract. We also assisted with the ITT documents by reviewing these and advising on any areas of concern, and how they fitted in with the contract.

We advised Richmond and Wandsworth Councils on their strategic adoption of the leisure agency model, describing it as “a transformative approach to delivering local leisure services.” This matter was important to the client because it allows councils to retain strategic oversight and ownership of leisure assets while partnering with expert operators to manage day-to-day services.