Tracie Langley
Bridging the budget gap
We haven’t even closed down the 2023-24 accounts yet and we are already starting to plan our 2025-26 medium-term financial strategy, says Tracie Langley.
Going with the flow
Tracie Langley looks at how a renewed focus on productivity and ‘flow’ methodologies can help make the most of tight resources.
Flying the flag for local government work
Local government is an amazing place to work, says Tracie Langley. 'We do some brilliant things with complicated financial modelling, which will stretch the grey cells of any budding accountant to infinity and beyond.'
Financial sustainability is never about clever financial mechanisms
Instead of waiting until it’s too late, Cornwall Council has stood up the senior officer Financial Review Group whose mandate is to call officers to account for the delivery of budgets within the approved limits, says Tracie Langley.
Keeping the hares in their bushes
Cornwall Council's biggest challenge will be to ensure the data used by the DLUHC to create the charts showing if a local authority fulfils Best Value Duty is accurate, says Tracie Langley.
A week in the life of a section 151 officer
Tracie Langley has had a technically challenging and fulfilling week, 'but I am feeling the full weight of accountability that comes with the s151 role'.
Welcome to the new world
As councils navigate their way through increasing complexities in a changing world, Tracie Langley reflects on how to keep it simple
We need a new path to delivering growth in Cornwall
Cornwall has not been able to secure a Level 3 devolution deal. It’s time to re-motivate staff and think about a new way to deliver the growth needed by the county and its residents, says Tracie Langley.
Working together with robots is the future
If we accept robots are indeed coming and we are unable to stop their march, we have to embrace rather than create expensive barriers to prevent it, says Tracie Langley.
As leaders, it’s our job to make working for councils ‘cool’.
We have to make it easier for people to work in our organisations, 'offering the right tools and processes to reduce wasted effort, and improve flexible working' says Tracie Langley.
Balancing growth with environmental responsibility in Cornwall
How does a council manage to keep an airport in business despite a global economic crisis? It makes it double up as a spaceport, says Tracie Langley.
Picking up the contract pieces in Cornwall
In Cornwall suppliers are finding themselves unable to deliver due to spiralling costs, says Tracie Langley.
I am confident our teams in Cornwall will ride the storm
It feels like Cornwall Council is more positive about its transformed future, despite having to achieve a budget reduction of £60m for 2022-23, says Tracie Langley.
Finance teams are ready to manage risks
Budgets may have been finalised and approved, but the hard work is far from over for finance teams, says Tracie Langley.
Balancing the budget for Cornwall Council has been hard
Cornwall Council has just managed to balance its budget for 2022-23, says Tracie Langley. It is also re-shaping the organisation to be able to respond to the spirit of the council’s new business plan which looks for all employees to work more closely with communities.
Spinning plates to balance budgets
How do we reduce budgets that have been baked into service provision forever to pay for a step change in direction, asks Tracie Langley.
Time to pull the belts in and batten down the hatches – again
Tracie Langley says her task of signing off that a budget is robust has to be based on a significant confidence that savings are deliverable, which is becoming tougher when costs are increasing 'without any relationship to the consumer price index'.
Building a better funding model
As councils switch their financial strategies from revenue to capital expenditure to build back better, Tracie Langley is still hopeful the Government will come up trumps with a local government funding model
In times of financial uncertainty, clear and simple narratives are key
Tracie Langley has been asked how she keeps her nerve as a section 151 'in the face of what is a quite squeaky financial position'. The first thing she tells herself is that nothing is impossible.
'Project speed' gains pace in Cornwall
As part of ‘project speed’, Cornwall Council is reviewing its capital and investment project process to ensure each part is as efficient as it can be without losing the integrity of a sound, value for money decision, says Tracie Langley.