With a packed agenda that tackles the essential challenges behind LATCos, including how they are run, how to set them up, and the benefits to operations, the conference is driven by experts in the field and will provide attendees with expert takeaways. Register your place here.
The Main Auditorium will be the primary location for the majority of the day, with Workshop sessions during twice (once in the morning and once in the afternoon) in Breakout Rooms, plus networking breaks and refreshments available in the main Foyer.
Your ticket gets you access to all areas of the conference, including the Workshop Sessions for in-depth and detailed discussions, as suggested by our 2026 delegate feedback.
Thursday, April 15, 2027
Keynote: The View of LATCos from Westminster
The Current Landscape for LATCos
A data-led overview of the LATCo market today — how many are in operation, which sectors and service areas are seeing the most growth, and the emerging trends shaping the model's future.
The Impact of Local Government Reorganisation on LATCos
A panel session on the practical realities of what the government’s devolution and LGR agenda means for LATCo contracts and governance. Although LGR has been delayed pending the outcome of the review, the process of joint working is well developed and cannot be undone. Timed around the vesting of new shadow authorities in Surrey this is one of the most immediately relevant sessions on the day
Coffee Break and Networking
The Council Perspective: How to set up a LATCo and What You Need to Get It Right
Councils and LATCos discuss the reasons for deploying the model and early-stage deployment and development.
The Two-Way Relationship: LATCos and Councils Working Together
A panel session on how councils, once they have created their LATCos, manage the ongoing relationship including contracts, governance and finance.
Speakers
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Jackie Wright Chief Delivery Officer Public Sector Partnerships Services -
Helen Davis Shareholder Liaison Manager Bristol City Council -
James Gilbert Director Corporate Services Boston Borough, East Lindsey District and South Holland District Councils -
Lewis Ducket Chief Executive Public Sector Partnerships Services
Lunch and Networking
Workshop A: Legal Contracts & Procurement
This session will provide hands-on experience handling disputes and exit planning and utilising the Teckal exemption to avoid formal tendering.
Speakers
Sponsored by
Workshop B: Governance in Practice
A practical look at who should actually sit on the board, including the balance of Executive vs. Non-Executive Directors, and managing conflicts of interest. How to establish transparent, non-bureaucratic reporting lines back to the parent council to ensure oversight without stifling commercial agility.
Sponsored by
Workshop C: Ensuring Commercialism While Balancing Social Objectives
Winning private sector work; pricing competitively; dealing with scrutiny and council obligations; and monitoring performance.
Sponsored by
Transition time
Delegates choose one of the following workshops
Workshop A: Legal Contracts & Procurement (Repeat)
This session will provide hands-on experience handling disputes and exit planning and utilising the Teckal exemption to avoid formal tendering.
Sponsored by
Build the Future. Then Deploy the Tech
New technology can feel like the answer. But what if the real problem is how the organisation works? Will new technology simply digitise today’s problems? When Bolton Cares needed to replace its digital care record system, it resisted rushing to market and instead clarified its ambition, understood the needs of its people, redesigned its target operating model, and only then defined the technology required.
This workshop shares that honest journey with speakers from Bolton Cares and Keystream Consulting, offering practical lessons on aligning strategy, operating model and technology so that technology transformation strengthens the organisation of the future rather than hard-wiring the past.
Speakers
Sponsored by
Workshop D: Environmental Services and Waste Management
Sponsored by
Coffee Break and Networking
Workshop B: Governance in Practice (Repeat)
A practical look at who should sit on the board, including the balance of Executive vs. Non-Executive Directors, and managing conflicts of interest. How to establish transparent, non-bureaucratic reporting lines back to the parent council to ensure oversight without stifling commercial agility.
Sponsored by
Workshop C: Ensuring Commercialism While Balancing Social Objectives (Repeat)
Winning private sector work; pricing competitively; dealing with scrutiny and council obligations; and monitoring performance.
Sponsored by
Workshop D: Environmental Services and Waste Management (Repeat)
Sponsored by
When LATCos Don't Go to Plan: Honest Lessons in Failure and Recovery
Honest insights from where a LATCo didn’t go to plan, what went wrong, and what others can do to avoid the same pitfalls.
Closing Town Hall: The Delegate Agenda
Instead of a pre-scripted presentation, the hosts or facilitators of the day’s "Hosted Tables" are invited onto the main stage to form the closing panel. The session is framed as a review of the biggest challenges, debates, and "lightbulb moments" that came directly from the delegates that day.