LGA Conference 2026 – Fringe Activity

Registrations for our fringe sessions are now closed

In addition to our Innovation Zone sessions, we’re also facilitating four private discussions, details of which are provided below. Each session will take place at a nearby hotel and lunch and refreshments will be provided.

** Registrations for our fringe sessions are now closed **

Places are limited; please fill in the form below to tell us which sessions you’d like to join and we’ll confirm your place and send joining instructions.

If you would like any further information about these events, please contact [email protected].

Unlocking investment in social infrastructure: place, provision and long-term resilience
Tuesday, 7th July 12:20pm – 1:20pm (GMT)
Roundtable
In a complex environment of rapidly changing politics, public sector reform, and reorganisation, Chief Executives are also being asked to lead their places through a period of tightening finances, rising demand, and growing pressure on core services. However, many of the cost and outcome challenges councils face are rooted in an insufficient supply of the right social infrastructure: the homes, care settings, community assets, and service models that enable people to live well, stay independent, and access support earlier. This is partly driven by a lack of central government funding and investment in local places, demonstrated by underinvestment for almost a generation – with the UK ranking bottom of the G7 for infrastructure investment for 24 out of the last 30 years. This roundtable will explore how local government can take a more active role as the natural leaders of place. It will examine their role in shaping markets, crowding-inpatient capital, taking advantage of pension reform, and bringing forward investable propositions that deliver both social impact and financial resilience. It will focus on discussing and sharing the practical opportunities, barriers, and partnerships required to move from ambition to delivery.
Building a distinct national approach for the revolving door cohort
Tuesday, 7th July 12:20pm – 1:20pm (GMT)
Panel session
This panel session, hosted by Revolving Doors and Newton, will bring together senior leaders from local government, policing, combined authorities and national programmes to discuss and explore how we can create a more coherent, data‑informed response to the group of people who are repeatedly drawn into the criminal justice system due to unmet health and social needs. Panellists will share compelling evidence on how this group drives avoidable demand across housing, adult and children’s services, community safety and health, and how current fragmented budgets mask both the scale of the issue and the opportunity for savings. The discussion will show how a data‑informed, whole‑system approach can reduce duplication, improve outcomes and create space for reinvestment. Areas already taking this approach will share practical insight, what has worked, what conditions are needed and how local leadership can shape national practice. The session will offer a route into a wider cross‑sector movement, demonstrating how strong local alliances could influence HMPPS and help create a more coherent national model.
Preventing crisis: how do we reduce our use of temporary accommodation
Wednesday, 8th July 1:10pm – 2:10pm (GMT)
Roundtable
The temporary accommodation crisis is one of the most acute and visible pressures facing councils right now. There are currently over 132,000 households in temporary accommodation in England, which is almost three times what it was in 2011. As a result, costs have more than doubled in two years, with councils spending £2.8 billion in 2024/25. Many local authorities, often as part of a wider system or regional strategy, are seeking to shift their approach – from one of firefighting this growing demand, towards one focused on prevention. However, despite areas of good practice, there isn’t yet a clear and compelling sector-wide evidence base or clear return on investment which justifies shifting precious resources away from supporting people in crisis to investing in prevention. This roundtable will explore this complex topic. It will consider where different local authorities are on their journey, how they are tackling it across their council, and how they are working alongside system partners. In doing so, it will seek to convene and share good practice on the whole council, cross-system and collaborative conditions for prevention – asking what it might take to achieve a sustainable and scalable model across the sector.
Making Prevention Work: how to make prevention and early intervention work at scale across the public sector
Wednesday, 8th July 1:10pm – 2:10pm (GMT)
Roundtable
We all aspire to live happy, healthy lives, in thriving communities. But today, there are more people and families who are reaching crisis point or experiencing significant health and wellbeing challenges. Many public services are creaking under this pressure, spending increasing amounts on reactive responses. Combine this with rising costs and limited resources, and not only is this having a significant impact on people’s lives but is no longer financially sustainable. And while there are always opportunities for improvement, more fundamental, systemic change is also necessary. For many years, local exemplars have successfully demonstrated that prevention and early intervention must be central to this – as a way of sustainably improving outcomes for people and reducing the cost of public services. However, initiatives are typically localised – they struggle to scale or sustain. This is leading us to ask – how do we move from pilots to a sustainable model of public services that is preventative by design? This roundtable is an early starting point to what we hope will be a multi-year programme to explore and overcome this complex and systemic challenge. We’ll be exploring the perspective of local authority chief executives, as leaders of their place, on what a model of genuinely preventative public services might look like in ten years, and a possible roadmap to get there.