Delivering vital services, managing limited resources and dealing with system, political and technological change and impending reorganisation. The strategic in-tray for local authority leadership teams is overflowing right now.

How leaders manage those competing challenges came under the spotlight at the Solace East Midlands Symposium 2026 in the Chesterfield, itself the home of another significant change in the governance jigsaw, the East Midlands Combined County Authority.

The event confronted the challenge of seemingly constant transformation head on with some thought-provoking sessions under the banner of Leading with purpose: Innovation and impact in public services.

Do communities fully understand the impact of these challenges? How local authorities communicate them came under the spotlight in the initial keynote speech, delivered by our own Stuart Baird CIPR Fellow, whose career in public sector communications has taken him all the way from 10 Downing Street to NHS boardrooms before launching BakerBaird with Richard Baker 10 years ago.

The key? To stay ahead of the curve, leaders need to involve comms at the start of the decision-making process so that the gaps that can sometimes open up between policy planning and public perception don’t develop into a gulf of misunderstanding that corrodes trust and influence.

We’ve been privileged to work alongside leaders and communicators in local and regional government on projects across the East Midland and beyond. In a world where delivery is sometimes struggling to meet expectation – and the reasons why aren’t always easy to see – they need to be in the same room.