Prof Rosalind Searle will draw on evidence from her psychological research, including that with the public sector, to make the case for how and why trust matters in organisations.  She will outline the bases for trust, and the differences between low trust and distrust.  She will alsoshow the value of identifying the distinct trust levels within organisations in order to better target communications, and for more effective change management.

Prof Jo Silvester will then examine leadership in a political context drawing on her psychological work with political parties, the House of Commons and civil servants.  She will explore the specific challenges of leadership in a setting that demands transparency, yet careful negotiation and balancing of conflicting interests among different stakeholders, particularly in the context of change.

Delegates will then discuss these inputs, and how this can help us understand how to implement the recommendations from the Feb 2018 Insight Report from the Departmental sponsorship of Arm's Length Bodies Lab.