Buckinghamshire County Council and a joint venture between Barnet and Harrow borough councils have been given licences to operate as ABSs, alternative business structures. Kent, Lambeth, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire are also considering the option. Bethan Evans of Bevan Brittan said: ‘The financial pressures on local authorities mean a lot are looking at different approaches to commercialisation to get additional revenue…The pressure to commercialise has come at the same time as legal-services deregulation.’ Source: Financial Times