Law & Governance
In an age of rapid regulatory evolution, organisations need governance frameworks that are robust and agile. According to the UK Institute of Directors (2025), boards that fail to understand the legal implications of emerging technologies face unprecedented reputational and financial risks.
Our law and governance training ensures leaders understand their legal obligations while creating governance structures fit for the digital age. We translate complex legislation into practical, actionable strategies.
Boards and senior leaders today are accountable for far more than financial performance. Digital transformation, AI adoption, cyber risk, and data governance have all become board-level responsibilities, yet many governing bodies lack the framework to discharge them confidently. This course equips board members, trustees, and senior officers with a clear understanding of their legal duties and the governance structures needed to oversee organisations operating in complex, fast-changing environments.
Topics include directors’ and trustees’ legal duties under company law, the evolving role of boards in digital risk oversight, accountability frameworks and delegation of authority, effective governance structures for technology adoption, managing reputational and legal risk at board level, and the principles of good governance across public, private, and charitable sectors.
Data protection is no longer a compliance function. It is a strategic and operational responsibility that touches every part of an organisation. This course gives professionals a practical grounding in UK data protection law, moving from legal principle to operational application in a way that is accessible without being superficial.
Topics include the six lawful bases for processing personal data, how to apply data protection principles in everyday decisions, data subject rights and how to respond to them, privacy by design and data protection impact assessments, managing data breaches from discovery to notification, and building a culture of data responsibility across an organisation.
Artificial intelligence regulation is moving at significant pace, and organisations that deploy AI tools face increasing legal and ethical obligations even before comprehensive legislation is fully in force. This course provides an accessible overview of the regulatory landscape, equipping delegates to understand how AI governance frameworks apply to their organisation and what responsible deployment requires in practice.
Topics include the EU AI Act’s risk classification framework and its implications for UK organisations, the UK Government’s pro-innovation regulatory approach and sector-specific obligations, algorithmic accountability and the right to human review, equality impact assessment of AI systems, governance requirements for automated decision-making, and building internal AI oversight structures that meet current and emerging standards.
Contracts govern almost every transaction an organisation enters, yet the rise of digital platforms, automated purchasing systems, and AI-generated terms has created new complexities that traditional contract law was not designed to address. This course gives professionals a practical understanding of how contract law applies in digital environments and where the risks lie.
Topics include the formation and enforceability of digital contracts, consumer and business contract terms and unfair terms legislation, risks in automated procurement and AI-generated contracts, liability in technology and data-sharing agreements, common disputes in digital transactions and how to reduce them, and reviewing and negotiating technology contracts with greater confidence.
Every organisation operates within a web of regulatory obligations. Understanding which regulations apply, what they require, and how to build proportionate compliance programmes is a core governance skill that most professionals have never been formally taught. This course provides a structured introduction to regulatory compliance thinking, applicable across sectors and industries.
Topics include the structure and purpose of UK regulatory frameworks, how to identify the regulations that apply to your organisation, designing and implementing a proportionate compliance programme, the role of compliance monitoring and assurance, working constructively with regulators, and managing regulatory risk and incident reporting within legal timescales.
Risk is inherent in every organisational decision. The question is not how to eliminate it but how to identify, assess, and manage it within a framework that protects the organisation and the people it serves. This course gives leaders and governance professionals a practical grounding in risk management and the legal liabilities that flow from poor risk oversight.
Topics include the legal basis for corporate and director liability in the UK, frameworks for risk identification and assessment, the difference between risk appetite and risk tolerance and why it matters, legal duties of care and negligence in organisational decision-making, insurance, indemnity, and risk transfer, and building a risk-aware culture without creating paralysis.
Organisations that make it genuinely safe for people to raise concerns internally are better governed, more legally compliant, and less exposed to public scandal. This course examines whistleblowing law, transparency obligations, and the governance practices that build ethical cultures rather than just documenting them.
Topics include the legal protections for whistleblowers under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, designing effective and confidential internal reporting mechanisms, the relationship between transparency obligations and reputational risk, Freedom of Information obligations in the public sector, managing whistleblowing disclosures without triggering victimisation claims, and embedding ethical standards in governance frameworks so that raising concerns becomes the norm rather than the exception.
ESG is no longer a voluntary reporting exercise for large listed companies. Regulatory expectations, investor requirements, and stakeholder pressure are driving ESG obligations deeper into organisations of every size and sector, including public bodies. This course equips delegates to understand what ESG means in practice and what their organisation is required to do.
Topics include the landscape of ESG reporting frameworks including the UK Sustainability Disclosure Requirements, directors’ duties in relation to environmental and social impact, the legal obligations arising from supply chain due diligence, embedding ESG into governance, procurement, and investment decisions, the Public Sector Equality Duty as an ESG-aligned framework, and measuring and communicating ESG performance with credibility.
Every decision made by a public body must be lawful, reasonable, proportionate, and procedurally fair. Administrative law provides the framework within which those decisions are made and challenged, and understanding it is essential for any professional working in or advising a public organisation. This course provides an accessible introduction to the principles of administrative law and their practical application in public sector decision-making.
Topics include the grounds on which public decisions can be challenged, the principles of rationality, proportionality, and legitimate expectation, procedural fairness and the duty to give reasons, the rule against bias in public decision-making, the impact of the Human Rights Act on public authority decisions, and practical steps to make public decisions that are legally defensible.
Judicial review is the mechanism by which the High Court scrutinises the lawfulness of public decisions, and the threat of it shapes how public bodies must approach every significant choice they make. This course demystifies judicial review, explaining the process, the most common grounds for challenge, and the practical steps organisations can take to reduce their exposure.
Topics include what judicial review is and who can bring it, the pre-action protocol and how to respond to a letter before claim, the four main grounds for judicial review including illegality, irrationality, procedural impropriety, and proportionality, the importance of documented reasoning and audit trails, how to brief legal advisers effectively, and learning from judicial review outcomes to improve decision-making practice.
Public bodies operate under a framework of statutory duties that are not optional, not discretionary, and not dischargeable by delegation. Understanding which duties apply and what they require is a fundamental responsibility for everyone working in a leadership, governance, or advisory role in the public sector. This course provides a clear and practical overview of statutory accountability across the public sector.
Topics include the distinction between statutory duties and powers, how statutory duties are interpreted by courts and ombudsmen, reporting and transparency obligations, the role of scrutiny bodies and audit in accountability frameworks, liability when statutory duties are not discharged, and embedding statutory compliance into governance and operational planning.
Ombudsman investigations are a significant source of reputational and legal risk for public bodies, yet the lessons they generate are rarely embedded into organisational practice as effectively as they could be. This course explains how ombudsman schemes operate, what they look for, and how organisations can both reduce the risk of adverse findings and use them constructively when they occur.
Topics include the role and jurisdiction of the main public sector ombudsman schemes, how investigations are triggered, conducted, and concluded, what maladministration means and how findings are applied, building complaint handling systems that meet ombudsman expectations, responding to findings and implementing recommendations, and using complaint and investigation data to drive genuine service improvement.
The Procurement Act 2023 came into force on 24 February 2025, creating the most significant reform of public procurement law since the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. With approximately £385 billion of public money spent through procurement each year, understanding the new regime is essential for anyone involved in commissioning, contracting, or managing public expenditure.
Topics include the core principles and structure of the Procurement Act 2023, the new competitive tendering procedures and when each applies, transparency requirements and the duty to publish procurement data, supplier exclusion and debarment under the new regime, the role of the Procurement Review Unit, and practical steps for aligning procurement processes with the new legal framework.
Awarding a contract is the beginning, not the end, of a public body’s responsibilities. Poor contract management is one of the most consistent sources of wasted public money, failed services, and legal dispute. This course builds the practical skills needed to manage public contracts effectively, monitor supplier performance, and intervene when things go wrong.
Topics include the legal obligations of contracting authorities after award, building effective contract management frameworks, performance monitoring and the use of KPIs, managing variations and change control within the legal framework, supplier risk assessment and contingency planning, and escalation routes when contract performance falls below the required standard.
The UK’s departure from the EU replaced the state aid framework with the UK Subsidy Control regime, creating new obligations for public bodies providing financial assistance to organisations. Getting this wrong can result in recovery action and reputational damage. This course provides a clear and practical introduction to the subsidy control framework.
Topics include the legal definition of a subsidy and what types of financial assistance are covered, the UK Subsidy Control Act 2022 and its requirements, the subsidy control principles that every award must satisfy, the role of the Subsidy Advice Unit and when referral is required, transparency and publication obligations, and practical approaches to assessing and documenting subsidy decisions.
Public procurement is one of the highest-risk areas for fraud, bribery, and corruption, and the legal obligations on organisations to prevent them are significant and enforceable. This course provides a practical understanding of the legal framework and the controls needed to protect integrity in public spending.
Topics include the Bribery Act 2010 and its application to procurement, the Fraud Act 2006 and common fraud typologies in public contracting, the corporate offence of failing to prevent bribery, proportionate anti-corruption controls in procurement processes, managing conflicts of interest at every stage of the procurement cycle, and responding to suspected fraud or corruption with appropriate legal and governance steps.
Accordion Sample DescriptionThe Freedom of Information Act 2000 gives the public a right to access information held by public authorities, and failure to comply generates complaints, tribunal proceedings, and reputational damage. Yet many public sector professionals handle FOI requests without formal training. This course provides a practical and accessible grounding in FOI law and good practice.
Topics include the scope of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and which organisations it covers, the right to access information and how requests must be handled, the 20-working-day response obligation, the main exemptions and how to apply them correctly, the public interest test and when it applies, proactive publication under publication schemes, and appealing refusals through the Information Commissioner’s Office.
The Environmental Information Regulations 2004 give the public a right to access environmental information held by public authorities, operating alongside but separately from the Freedom of Information Act. Many public sector professionals are unaware of the specific obligations EIR creates or how they differ from FOI in important respects.
Topics include the scope of the Environmental Information Regulations and what constitutes environmental information, the duty to provide environmental information proactively, how EIR differs from FOI including on exemptions and fees, the exceptions available under EIR and when they apply, the role of the Information Commissioner in EIR enforcement, and managing EIR requests in planning, transport, utilities, and environmental regulation.
Public sector organisations hold vast quantities of information, and managing it lawfully across its full lifecycle is both a legal obligation and an operational necessity. Poor records management generates FOI problems, data protection risks, and Ombudsman findings.
Topics include builds practical capability in information and records management. Topics include the legal framework for records management including the Public Records Act, the Retention and Disposal Schedule and how to apply it, managing information across physical and digital formats, compliance with UK GDPR obligations on retention and deletion, information governance frameworks and the role of the Senior Information Risk Owner, and preparing for information audits and regulatory inspection.
Subject access requests require public authorities to identify, compile, redact, and provide personal data within one month, in some of the most complex information environments in any sector. Most organisations receive more SARs than they handle well. This course builds the practical skills to manage them competently and lawfully.
Topics include the legal basis for subject access requests under UK GDPR, the one-month response obligation and the limited grounds for extension, identifying all personal data held across systems and formats, redacting third-party information correctly, applying exemptions proportionately, managing SARs involving sensitive or safeguarding-related data, and responding to complaints and ICO investigations arising from SAR handling.
Public confidence in institutions depends on the conduct of the people within them. The Seven Principles of Public Life, established by the Committee on Standards in Public Life in 1995 and reaffirmed repeatedly since, set the ethical standards expected of everyone in public office and public employment. This course explores those principles in depth and examines how to embed them in organisational culture rather than simply citing them in documentation.
Topics include the Seven Nolan Principles and their application in modern public service, the relationship between ethical standards and legal obligations, how ethical failures escalate into misconduct, regulatory sanction, and public scandal, practical tools for ethical decision-making under pressure, the role of leaders in setting ethical tone and culture, and the governance structures that support rather than undermine ethical behaviour.
Codes of conduct translate ethical principles into specific behavioural expectations, but their value depends entirely on how well they are understood, applied, and enforced. This course examines the codes of conduct governing public officials and elected members, the mechanisms for upholding them, and how organisations can create cultures in which the code is a living standard rather than a document nobody reads.
Topics include the legal and regulatory basis for codes of conduct in different public sector settings, the specific obligations of elected members including the Localism Act 2011 provisions, investigation and adjudication processes when the code is alleged to have been breached, the role of the Monitoring Officer and Standards Committee, managing politically sensitive conduct matters, and reviewing and updating codes of conduct to reflect emerging challenges.
Conflicts of interest are one of the most common and most damaging governance failures in public bodies, and they arise not from dishonesty but from a failure to identify, disclose, and manage situations where private interests interact with public duties. This course gives delegates the practical tools to recognise conflicts of interest in all their forms and handle them in a way that maintains integrity and public trust.
Topics include the legal definition of a conflict of interest and when it gives rise to liability, direct, indirect, and perceived conflicts and why all three matter, the duty to declare interests and the registers that support it, managing conflicts in procurement, grant-making, and planning decisions, the consequences of undisclosed conflicts for individuals and organisations, and designing governance processes that make conflicts less likely and easier to manage.
The line between legitimate relationship-building and corrupt influence can be difficult to identify without a clear organisational framework. This course gives professionals the knowledge to navigate that line confidently, protect themselves from allegations, and maintain the integrity of their organisation’s decision-making.
Topics include the Bribery Act 2010 and the corporate offence of failing to prevent bribery, what constitutes a gift or benefit in the context of public office, proportionate gifts and hospitality policies and how to apply them in practice, registers of gifts and hospitality and why they matter, managing supplier relationships without creating undue influence, and investigating and responding to suspected breaches of gifts and hospitality policy.
The Equality Act 2010 creates a comprehensive framework of legal rights and obligations that applies to every public body in how it employs people and delivers services. The Public Sector Equality Duty goes further, requiring public bodies to have active due regard to equality in every function they perform. This course provides a clear and practical introduction to both.
Topics include the nine protected characteristics and how they apply in public sector contexts, the difference between direct and indirect discrimination and when each arises, the duty to make reasonable adjustments, what the Public Sector Equality Duty requires and how to demonstrate compliance, equality impact assessment as a governance and decision-making tool, and the legal consequences of failing to discharge equality duties.
The Human Rights Act 1998 incorporates the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law, creating obligations on public authorities that affect how they make decisions, design policies, and deliver services. Most public sector professionals encounter human rights considerations regularly without always recognising them. This course provides an accessible and practical introduction to human rights law in context.
Topics include the structure of the Human Rights Act 1998 and the Convention rights most relevant to public services, positive and negative obligations on public authorities, how human rights considerations arise in housing, social care, mental health, and policing decisions, proportionality as the key analytical framework, balancing competing rights, and documenting human rights considerations in governance and decision-making.
Impact assessments are a core governance tool for identifying and mitigating harm before it occurs, yet many organisations treat them as retrospective justification exercises rather than genuine analytical processes. This course gives delegates the practical skills to design and conduct meaningful impact assessments across equality, data protection, and AI contexts.
Topics include equality impact assessment and how it supports compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty, data protection impact assessments under UK GDPR and when they are mandatory, AI impact assessment and the emerging frameworks for algorithmic accountability, integrating impact assessment into policy and service design from the outset, stakeholder consultation as part of the assessment process, and documenting and publishing assessments with transparency and credibility.
Public services must be accessible to everyone who needs them. The duty to make reasonable adjustments is proactive and anticipatory, meaning public bodies cannot wait to be asked before considering how their services may disadvantage disabled people. This course builds practical knowledge of accessibility obligations and what they mean in operational service delivery.
Topics include the legal basis for accessibility obligations under the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations, what constitutes a reasonable adjustment in service delivery and employment contexts, digital accessibility requirements for public sector websites and apps, designing inclusive services from the outset rather than retrofitting adjustments, communicating with and about disabled people with confidence, and managing requests for adjustments fairly and consistently.
Safeguarding is a legal duty for all public bodies, and the consequences of getting it wrong fall hardest on the most vulnerable people in a community. Understanding what safeguarding requires, how concerns should be reported, and how governance structures must support it is essential for every professional working in or leading a public service.
Topics include the legal framework for adult and child safeguarding, the roles and responsibilities of safeguarding leads and designated officers, mandatory reporting obligations and what triggers them, managing safeguarding referrals within multi-agency frameworks, governance arrangements for safeguarding including board-level oversight, and learning from serious case reviews and safeguarding practice reviews.
Public bodies can face claims of negligence where their decisions or omissions cause foreseeable harm to individuals. The law of negligence and the duty of care apply to public authorities in ways that both overlap with and differ from private sector contexts, and understanding the boundaries is essential for defensible decision-making.
Topics include the legal test for duty of care and how it applies to public bodies, the distinction between policy decisions and operational decisions in negligence liability, how to identify foreseeable harm in the design and delivery of public services, the role of documentation in defending negligence claims, insurance, indemnity, and risk transfer in public sector contracts, and learning from notable negligence cases involving public authorities.
Effective safeguarding depends on organisations working well together, sharing information lawfully, and maintaining clear accountability across professional and organisational boundaries. Failures in multi-agency safeguarding are consistently identified as a primary factor in serious harm to vulnerable people. This course builds the knowledge and skills needed for effective partnership working in safeguarding contexts.
Topics include the legal and governance frameworks for multi-agency safeguarding partnerships, information sharing obligations and the legal gateways for sharing within safeguarding, the roles and responsibilities of different agencies within the safeguarding framework, managing cases where there is disagreement between agencies, escalation and resolution processes when professional judgement conflicts arise, and governance and oversight of multi-agency safeguarding arrangements at board level.
Digital transformation is now a strategic imperative for every public body, yet governance frameworks for managing it remain underdeveloped in many organisations. Programme failures, cost overruns, and services that do not meet user needs are the most visible symptoms of poor digital governance. This course equips board members, senior managers, and governance professionals to provide effective oversight of digital change.
Topics include the governance structures needed to oversee digital programmes, assurance frameworks for technology investment and delivery, understanding what digital transformation requires from leadership without requiring technical expertise, managing vendor relationships and technology contracts, the role of digital standards and government service design principles, and governance of AI and automated systems as part of digital transformation.
Cyber incidents are no longer exceptional events. They are a routine risk that every organisation must prepare for, and the legal obligations around cybersecurity are increasingly specific and enforceable. This course provides an accessible introduction to the legal and governance dimensions of cybersecurity, designed for leaders rather than technical specialists.
Topics include the legal obligations arising from the Network and Information Systems Regulations 2018, mandatory reporting of cyber incidents to the ICO and the National Cyber Security Centre, board-level responsibilities for cybersecurity governance, supply chain cyber risk and contractual obligations, business continuity and incident response planning, and the relationship between cybersecurity resilience and data protection compliance.
When public bodies use AI to make or inform decisions that affect individuals, the stakes are high and the legal and ethical obligations are correspondingly demanding. This course provides a practical overview of the governance requirements for ethical AI deployment in government and public services, accessible to professionals who are not AI specialists.
Topics include the legal framework for automated decision-making under UK GDPR including the right to human review, the UK Government’s AI Playbook and its ten principles for civil servants, equality impact assessment of AI systems, transparency and explainability obligations when AI influences decisions affecting individuals, the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard and what it requires, and building governance frameworks that ensure human accountability is retained when AI is used.
Effective public services often require data to move between organisations, but the legal framework for data sharing is complex and the consequences of getting it wrong include regulatory action, reputational damage, and harm to individuals. This course provides a practical understanding of the legal gateways and governance frameworks for data sharing in the public sector.
Topics include the legal basis for data sharing under UK GDPR and specific statutory gateways, the Digital Economy Act 2017 data sharing powers and their limits, data sharing agreements and what they must contain, balancing data sharing with confidentiality obligations in health and safeguarding contexts, the role of data protection impact assessments in sharing decisions, and building proportionate governance frameworks for inter-agency data flows.
Local government operates within a constitutional and legal framework that is significantly different from central government and the private sector. Understanding that framework, including the statutory powers and duties of councils, the roles of officers and members, and the accountability mechanisms that govern both, is essential for anyone working in or with local government.
Topics include the legal structure of local authorities and combined authorities, the distinction between executive and full council decision-making, officer delegations and the limits of delegated authority, the legal role of statutory officers including the Monitoring Officer and Section 151 Officer, overview and scrutiny as a mechanism of democratic accountability, and managing relationships between political and officer governance structures.
The devolution of powers to regional mayors, combined authorities, and devolved nations has created a more complex governance landscape than the UK has seen in decades. Understanding how statutory powers flow across governance tiers, and what different bodies can and cannot do, is increasingly important for public sector professionals.
Topics include the legal framework for English devolution and combined authority powers, the different types of mayoral devolution deals and what they include, the statutory basis for regional decision-making in transport, housing, and economic development, governance accountability across multi-tier arrangements, the relationship between devolved authorities and central government, and scrutiny and audit in devolved governance structures.
Overview and scrutiny is the mechanism through which councils hold their executive and external bodies to account on behalf of residents. It is only as effective as the skills and confidence of the people involved. This course equips scrutiny committee members and supporting officers to exercise scrutiny that is challenging, evidence-based, and genuinely influential.
Topics include the legal basis for scrutiny in local government and what it can and cannot do, selecting topics for scrutiny review effectively, gathering and evaluating evidence including from reluctant witnesses, report writing and making recommendations that decision-makers will act on, scrutiny of external bodies and health scrutiny, and measuring the impact of scrutiny on service improvement and accountability.
The relationship between elected members and officers is one of the most important and most complex governance relationships in local government. When it works well, it enables effective public service. When it breaks down, the consequences can be significant for individuals and organisations alike. This course helps officers and members understand their respective roles and build productive working relationships.
Topics include the constitutional distinction between member and officer roles, the legal obligations officers hold regardless of political direction, managing politically sensitive decisions within a lawful framework, the role of the Monitoring Officer in maintaining the boundary between officer and member functions, handling member conduct concerns, and communicating effectively with members across political groups on complex or contentious issues.
Topics include the legal framework for public financial management including the Local Government Finance Act and Treasury guidance, the role of the Section 151 Officer and chief finance officer, budget setting, monitoring, and reporting obligations, the relationship between financial governance and audit, value for money as a legal and ethical obligation, and managing financial difficulty or statutory intervention within the correct governance framework.
Topics include the purpose and scope of internal audit in the public sector, the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards and what they require, the role of the audit committee and how to discharge it effectively, risk-based audit planning and how to evaluate the audit universe, following up recommendations and maintaining accountability for implementation, and the relationship between internal and external audit.
External audit is the primary mechanism for holding public bodies accountable to parliament and the public for their use of resources. Understanding how external audit works, what auditors look for, and how organisations can engage with audit processes constructively is a governance skill that most board members and finance professionals have not been formally taught.
Topics include the role and powers of the National Audit Office and the Comptroller and Auditor General, local authority external audit and the role of appointed auditors under the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014, the scope of value for money audit and how it differs from financial audit, responding to audit findings and managing qualified opinions, the Accounts Qualification process and its governance implications, and using audit findings as a strategic improvement tool rather than a compliance obligation.
Value for money is not simply an aspiration in the public sector. It is a legal and governance obligation. Every significant spending decision must be justifiable as an efficient, effective, and economic use of public funds. This course gives budget holders and governance professionals the tools to demonstrate and improve value for money in their areas of responsibility.
Topics include the legal basis for value-for-money obligations in public sector financial management, the three-Es framework and how it applies in practice, risk-based approaches to financial decision-making, making and documenting spending decisions that withstand audit scrutiny, managing financial risk in contracts, grants, and projects, and presenting value-for-money evidence to audit committees and scrutiny bodies.
Public bodies have both the authority and the obligation to respond to emergencies, and the legal framework governing emergency powers is more complex than most professionals realise. Understanding what can and cannot be done under emergency legislation is essential for everyone with a role in resilience planning or crisis response. The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 provides the primary framework, but it sits alongside a range of sector-specific powers.
Topics include the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 and its two tiers of responders, emergency powers and the conditions under which they may be invoked, the legal limits on emergency action and the rights it engages, roles and responsibilities of Category 1 and 2 responders, business continuity planning as a legal obligation, and the legal governance of multi-agency emergency response.
A crisis tests every governance framework at once. Decision-making must be faster, accountability must be maintained under pressure, and the consequences of poor decisions can be catastrophic for people and institutions. This course equips board members, senior leaders, and governance professionals to maintain effective governance when the normal framework is under strain.
Topics include governance structures that remain functional under crisis conditions, decision-making authority and escalation during emergencies, maintaining accountability and record-keeping when speed is paramount, managing legal and reputational risk in real time, communicating with stakeholders, media, and the public during a crisis, and debriefing and learning from crisis events to strengthen governance for next time.
Public inquiries are among the most powerful mechanisms for holding organisations accountable for catastrophic failures. They are also among the most demanding processes any organisation can face, and the lessons they generate are too often ignored. This course equips governance professionals to understand how inquiries work, how to engage with them constructively, and how to build organisations that learn from failure before an inquiry is necessary.
Topics include the legal basis for public inquiries under the Inquiries Act 2005 and other statutory powers, the rights and obligations of core participants, managing the legal and reputational dimensions of being subject to inquiry, responding to recommendations and demonstrating genuine change, using internal reviews and learning frameworks to embed improvement, and building a culture in which organisational learning is valued before crisis strikes.
Public trust is the foundation on which every public institution operates. Once lost, it is extraordinarily difficult and slow to rebuild. This course examines the governance and communication dimensions of reputation management, helping leaders to protect public trust in normal operations and to respond effectively when it comes under pressure.
Topics include the relationship between governance quality and institutional reputation, legal obligations around transparency and truthfulness in public communications, managing media relations during high-profile incidents and inquiries, the role of social media in shaping and responding to reputational risk, engaging with communities and stakeholders with credibility and consistency, and rebuilding trust after serious institutional failure through genuine accountability and visible change.
