Max Caller CBE, Lead Commissioner for Birmingham Council 

In this plenary session, Max will share his experiences from a long career in local government and subsequently being appointed as Lead Commissioner at Birmingham Council after their S114 notice.

Andrew Corbett-Nolan, Chief Executive, Good Governance Institute 

Financial challenges are nothing new for the public sector; the need to satisfy seemingly insatiable demand with what seem to be ever-dwindling resources is hardly news to those charged with leading our public services. In recent times, however, it seems that a steady stream of councils and NHS trusts, among others, are veering from challenge to crisis, with central government intervention and financial freezes implemented to avoid such crises maturing into catastrophe. What is driving this apparent surge of financial distress? Can it be money alone? Poor leadership? Have we simply become accustomed to a level of service quality that we are simply not prepared to pay for? There is probably something in each of these factors, but what about the role of governance—and more specifically in this context, poor governance?

Following the earlier sessions, there will be an opportunity for delegates to discuss in small groups what they’ve heard and how this applies to their own organisation.

Is your policy going to fail? How you can tell and what you can do about it 
Dan Bristow, Director, Wales Centre for Public Policy (WCPP) 

Across numerous policy fields, many instances illustrate how implementation challenges have caused policies to fall short of their intended outcomes. In collaboration with the Centre for Evidence and Implementation, WCPP undertook a review to understand the latest thinking on the policy-implementation gap and identify how insights from implementation science can be integrated into policy work. Their report describes seven implementation support approaches, and their role in reducing policy ambiguity and increasing alignment to context. It outlines how and when these can be employed to mitigate policy failure – and show that it is possible to make up ground or compensate later for approaches that were not employed sufficiently at earlier stages.

Having the right skills around the table 
Kate Carr, Arc: Making the Difference and Governance and Policy Ambassador for the Institute of Directors, Wales

We often hear about what can go wrong when boards and committees don’t have the right skills or knowledge of an organisation, and the detrimental impact this can have. So how do we ensure we get this right? Kate will share her experiences and tips on how to support improvement at board level.

Cost of Failure – Can you afford to miss the opportunities that great risk management provides? 
Nigel Ireland, Barcud Shared Services 

In this practical workshop Nigel will explore some of the recent developments in risk management and how enhancing your risk management processes could help you reduce the risk of failure. Through real-world cross-sector examples and the opportunity to work through scenarios, he will demonstrate how an often bureaucratic, admin-heavy process can evolve into a value-adding tool for both management and governing bodies that helps to improve decision making, focus the use of resources, increase efficiency and help to reduce the impact of or even prevent potential failures.