The MJ and law firm Trowers & Hamlins earlier this month organised a debate with chief executives to discuss some of the legal issues arising in the Localism Bill. Phil Cooper reports.

If a SWOT analysis had been called for on the relative merits of the Localism Bill at The MJ/Trowers & Hamlins round table discussion the legislation would clearly have occupied both the ‘opportunities' and the ‘threats' columns with ‘threats' scoring more heavily.