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Breakout 11:30–12:30 Breakout: What Should We Stop Doing - Sustainable Leadership in Unrelenting Times North East Madaline Hoskin, Chief Technology Officer, North Yorkshire Council Read More Previous Senior local government leaders are very good at starting things. We launch programmes, initiatives, restructures and reforms at pace. What we are much less practised at is stopping. After years of sustained pressure, from austerity, reorganisation, demand growth and ongoing transformation, many leaders are exhausted, even if they don’t say it out loud. Too often, the behaviours that burn leaders out are the very ones that are implicitly rewarded: constant availability, personal heroics, absorbing risk, shielding others at all costs, and carrying more than any one role reasonably should. This session is rooted in lived experience of leading through large scale organisational change and system complexity. It focuses on a simple but uncomfortable leadership question: what do we need to stop doing in order to remain effective, human and worthy of trust? This is not a session about resilience frameworks, productivity tools or doing more with less. It is about the conscious leadership decisions that shape organisational culture every day what we model, what we tolerate, and what we quietly reinforce. The session combines short provocations with structured reflection and facilitated peer discussion. Participants are invited to examine their own leadership behaviours, the signals they send to their organisations, and the unintended consequences of “always on” leadership. Rather than offering another model or checklist, the session creates space for honesty, shared learning and practical reflection. Participants will leave with one clear, personal commitment to stop doing something that no longer serves them, their teams or their organisation. Next

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Breakout 15:30–16:30 Breakout: Connected Devolution: Implications for Local Government Leadership North East Previous As councils respond to increasing financial pressures, evolving governance arrangements and growing demand for public services, local leaders are being challenged to deliver transformation at scale while maintaining outcomes for communities. This session explores the findings of the Connected Devolution White Paper, examining how governance, collaboration and service delivery are changing across local government and what this means for council leaders navigating an increasingly complex operating environment. Drawing on the paper's research and recommendations, the discussion will explore opportunities and challenges around organisational readiness, financial sustainability, accountability, digital capability and the role of technology in supporting effective place-based leadership and long-term transformation. The session will also provide an exclusive preview of Connected Prevention, Localis' forthcoming research paper, which examines how integrated local digital systems and data-driven approaches can support preventative, place-based public service reform and improve outcomes for residents. Next

Breakout 11:30–12:30 Leading with control: AI, LGR, and the path to high-quality services in times of change South West Previous Local government reorganisation and AI adoption are reshaping how services get delivered. This session is about staying in control during times of rapid transformation, from applying AI in ways that protect and improve service quality, and building the process management and data-driven decision-making that support leaders during high-stakes change. We will cover how culture shapes whether transformation holds, and how to bring teams along the journey. Next

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Breakout 11:30–12:30 Breakout: Cyber Resilience in Transition: Securing Public Services Through Reorganisation and Digital Disruption North West Chief Executive, Cyber Centre of Excellence Read More Previous This session lead by Kurtis Toy, Chief Executive of the Cyber Centre of Excellence, will explore two critical dimensions of cyber resilience: maintaining cyber security through periods of local government reorganisation and strengthening preparedness for large-scale digital disruption through the principles of the UK’s Analogue 72 initiative. As councils and public sector organisations undergo structural change, they face increased cyber risk arising from system migrations, organisational integration, changes in governance, third-party dependencies and evolving operating models. The discussion will examine how organisations can maintain strong security, resilience and service continuity during periods of transformation, while ensuring that critical services remain protected and accessible. The session will also consider the Analogue 72 framework, which addresses a fundamental question: how can society continue to function during the first 72 hours of a severe nationwide digital disruption? Participants will explore the concept of minimum viable societal functions, organisational readiness to operate in degraded conditions, and the importance of governance, public communication and cross-sector coordination when digital systems are unavailable or untrustworthy. Bringing these themes together, the roundtable will examine practical approaches to building resilience before, during and after major disruption, drawing on lessons from local government transformation, international resilience models and emerging cyber threats. The discussion will focus on how public sector leaders can strengthen preparedness, protect essential services and support whole-of-society resilience in an increasingly complex digital landscape. Next

Breakout 11:30–12:30 Breakout 6: Coming Soon Main Plenary Previous More information to follow. Next

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