Birmingham chief: Law Soc consultation The legal chief of the UK’s biggest local council has slammed a “poor-quality” Law Society consultation on the role of monitoring ­officers, describing it as a “waste of money”.

Birmingham City Council head of legal Mirza Ahmad is refusing to take part in the appraisal.

The Law Society and Solicitors in Local Government (SLG) want to replace the position of monitoring officer with that of chief legal officer, as monitoring officers are not required to have legal qualifications.

In a letter to the Law ­Society Ahmad said: “A lot of money is being wasted on a consultation which will add little, if any, value to monitoring officers, local government or the legal ­profession. The key issue is whether or not the monitoring officer should be legally qualified and, on that simple question, the answer is a definitive yes.”

Law Society director of policy Mark Stobbs said: “The role of monitoring ­officers has grown significantly. It is an appropriate time to ask the question.”