Alison is a former Partner of Winckworth Sherwood who now acts as a Consulting Parliamentary Agent for the firm. Alison has some 40 years’ experience of the promotion of (and opposition to) private legislation for a wide variety of public and private sector bodies to confer particular statutory powers or authorise infrastructure. Associated with this, she regularly prepares and negotiates related agreements and similar documents dealing with implementation. By far the majority of the infrastructure projects with which she has been involved are connected with or form an integral part of regeneration schemes.

Alison advises on negotiations and drafting of protective provisions and undertakings for both promoters and objectors. These frequently go beyond the stage of provisions in the legislation and are detailed development agreements. Alison also has extensive knowledge of public law issues, regulatory regimes, human rights, transport, compulsory purchase and compensation and related areas of planning and environmental law.

Apart from private legislation, Alison is a legislative draftsman. As a past member of the Scottish Parliament’s external legislative drafting panel, and in the past  acting in a similar capacity for the Northern Ireland Assembly, she has been responsible for drafting a variety of Member’s Bills and related drafting work.

Experience

• Acting as parliamentary agent on the promotion of the Bills and Orders relating to railways, bank mergers and similar corporate changes, markets, bridges, local authority powers, constitution and property, schools, tramways and harbours, among other matters. In particular she was responsible for the controversial private legislation relating to the business vote in the City of London
• Promoting four private Bills in the Scottish Parliament to authorise major new railways
• Promoting Scotland’s only two transport and works (TAWS) Orders authorising regeneration and redevelopment of major railway termini
• Acting as Government Agent and with the firm’s Hybrid Bill team on the promotion of the Hybrid Bills to authorise HS1, HS2 and Crossrail and advising Government on hybridity and hybrid instruments.