David Daycock

David Daycock

Barrister

Born and raised in Port Talbot, David attended Glanafan Comprehensive School before reading law at Aberystwyth University.

After University, David lectured in law and whilst lecturing, was called to the Bar by Gray’s Inn in 1987, before leaving full time teaching to join Swansea City Council as an in-house advocate in 1990.

David transferred to become a Solicitor in 1992 and progressed to become Head of Legal Services and Monitoring Officer, managing a large team of over 50 Solicitors and Barristers (which became the first in Wales to achieve LEXCEL accreditation in 2000) before taking early retirement in 2010. David then worked part time as clerk to Mid and West Wales Fire Authority, and as a consultant with Geldards, Clarkslegal and RHEnvironmental.

During his career in local government, David was Vice Chairman of Legal Wales, Vice Chairman of the Institute of Licensing UK and Chair of ACSeS  Wales.

David was always keen to practise as a Barrister and transferred back to the Bar, and joined Iscoed Chambers in 2011.  However, David maintains his link with the public sector as he continued in his role as part-time Monitoring Officer and Clerk to Mid and West Wales Fire Authority, where he advises on Fire Authority administration and governance.

Throughout his career, David has maintained a keen interest in teaching and research and was a Visiting Scholar at Wolfson College, Cambridge in 1992. He obtained an LLM in Public Law at Bristol University in 2010 and has had articles published in the Cambrian Law Review and the Wales Law Journal. He is currently an Associate Professor at Swansea University responsible for co-ordinating Professional Legal Education and also teaches planning and public law.

Practice

David has considerable experience in all aspects of public law, Including corporate governance, probity issues, committee clerking and general local government administration. He also has a strong background in regulatory enforcement and prosecutions, licensing, employment, planning and election law and the law relating to town and community councils.

He is an experienced lecturer and trainer on a range of areas relating to local government and public administration, and has been a regular speaker at the Solicitors in Local Government weekend school and the Institute of Licensing Annual Conference.  He also provides training for the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health and the Local Government Association.                                        

Other interests

David is married with three children, and is a keen rugby and football supporter. He also plays golf and the guitar, and is a published author.

Areas of Experience

Public Law

  • Advising on corporate governance issues
  • Code of conduct/probity issues
  • Review and application of constitutions
  • Advice to Monitoring Officers/Head of Legal on management and    issues
  • Employment and disciplinary issues regarding public sector employees
  • Advice on committee procedures/clerking meetings
  • Election law

Licensing

  • Past Vice Chairman of the Institute of Licensing
  • Clerking licensing committees
  • Advocate at appeal hearings
  • Advisor of licensing matters/contributing editor The Licensing Review
  • External examiner on the University of Birmingham's certificate in licensing law

Planning

  • Clerking planning committees
  • Advocate at planning inquiries
  • Advisor on planning, rights of way, village green matters

Election Law

  • Advisor on election law and former acting Deputy Returning Officer

Employment Law

  • Clerking and appearing at in-house disciplinary proceedings
  • Advocate at employment tribunal
  • Experienced advisor on public sector disciplinary matters e.g. at Chief Executive/Senior Fire Officer level

Fire Authority Law

  • Clerking and advising at Fire Authority meetings
  • Advising on Fire Authority management and administration
  • Fire safety prosecutions