Mirza F. N. Ahmad

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Brief Profile : Mirza F. N. Ahmad, MBA LLM Barrister

Chief Legal Officer, Birmingham City Council

Chairman, Bar Association for Local Government & the Public Service

Lead Officer (Ethical Governance) for Association of Council Secretaries & Solicitors

Professional details:

Mirza Ahmad was Called to the UK Bar, by Gray's Inn, in July 1984 and he became Chairman of the Bar Association for Local Government and the Public Service in April 1998 (www.balgps.org.uk). He is also a member of the General Council of the Bar for England & Wales and, in June 2005, Mirza was named by the Local Government Chronicle as one of the 'Top 5 Lawyers in UK Local Government'.

On 2nd November 2005, Mirza was awarded the Association of Council Secretaries & Solicitors', very first, 'Award for Excellence 2005'., and, on 3rd February 2006, his Department was "commended for Innovative Policies" (in the large business category of employer with more than 250 staff) in the Birmingham & Solihull Best Business Awards for the Development of Worklife Balance 2005.

In March 2006, his department was ‘commended’ for the Municipal Journal’s Legal Achievement Award 2006 and Mirza has been named as ‘The Lawyer of the Month - April 2006’ by the Black Lawyers Directory - (www.mirzaahmad.freeserve.co.uk/lawyer_of_month.htm). On 31 July 2006, Mirza was featured in “The Lawyer” Magazine - (www.mirzaahmad.freeserve.co.uk/TheLawyer-MAhmad.htm).

Managerial details:

As Chief Legal Officer (& Monitoring Officer) for Birmingham City Council, he manages the Legal & Democratic Services Department of over 300 staff. On 14th March 2005, his Department attained ‘The Legal Team of the Year Award 2005’ in the Local Government Chronicle's Excellence Awards. Under his leadership, his Department was ‘Highly Commended’ in the same awards in 2004 and has attained Investors in People, ISO 9001:2000 Quality Assurance and Law Society’s LEXCEL Practice Management Standards. He is a trained assessor for the EFQM Excellence Model (European Foundation for Quality Management) and became the first local government manager, in 2000, to obtain a ‘3 star – excellent rating’ under the Government’s Best Value regime.

Educational details:

Mirza obtained his Masters Degree in Business Administration from Manchester Metropolitan University, in 1992, and his Masters Degree in Employment & Industrial Relations Law from the University of Leicester, in 1998. Mirza's LLM dissertation was on the "Employment Law implications of the Human Rights Act 1998 for UK Local Government". Mirza has published a 32 page handbook on the "Implications of the Human Rights Act 1998 for UK Local Government" (see www.balgps.org.uk).

National profile:

Mirza is a contributing author to Butterworth Tolley’s ‘Knights Guide to Best Value and Public Procurement - Law & Practice’ and a member of the editorial board for Butterworth’s Local Government Direct website. He has also contributed to the work of the LGA, LGIU, CIPFA (Best Value & Quality Forum on Legal Services), the Association of Council Secretaries & Solicitors (www.acses.org.uk) and the former Association of Metropolitan Authorities.

He was a member of the Office of Deputy Prime Minister’s Working Group, during 2004, looking at the modernisation of the “exempt provisions” of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 and, in October 2004, he became ACSeS’ Lead Officer for Ethical Framework Issues. He has spoken, at national conferences, on Corporate Governance, Ethical Framework, Freedom of Information, Human Rights and Best Value.

E-mail contact : Chairman@balgps.org.uk or Mirza_Ahmad@birmingham.gov.uk

Updated: 20th September 2006