Adele Taylor
Adele Taylor is interim executive director of finance and Governance at Cherwell and South Northamptonshire
Distribution of funding is the trickiest area for councils
It is time for the whole sector to come together with a strong voice to say enough is enough, writes Adele Taylor.
No one forgets financial decisions have real people at the heart of them
Adele Taylor says: 'As officers in local government we know we have to provide politically neutral and professional advice, but we also need to recognise the challenge our politicians face.'
Internal audit teams are a crucial tool
If we are looking for the tools that help us identify issues through early intervention then our internal audit teams are one of the most important ones, says Adele Taylor.
Managing the tightrope
Given the knife-edge on which council budgets are currently balanced, the 20% of uncertainty local authorities face could be the difference between failure or survival, says Adele Taylor.
A response that’s a dose of sanity
Adele Taylor offers the inside track on the fluid response that has made great strides in stabilising Slough Council’s finances following a section 114 notice
Finance chiefs should stress test their professional networks
As more councils declare their potential financial distress, no one person is going to have all the answers, 'but among the talent we have in the sector, there will always be someone to ask for help and advice', says Adele Taylor.
Audit and governance is the conscience of the council
The remit of the audit and governance committee is much more than the debits and credits of the statement of accounts - which is actually only one part of their work, says Adele Taylor.
Getting out of the mire
Adele Taylor's new authority is in intervention. 'You don’t often get the chance to rip things apart and have people wanting you to make that change.'
Stepping up in Slough
As Adele Taylor steps into the new role of executive director for finance and commercial at struggling Slough Council, she says she is looking forward to playing her part in stabilising and improving the local authority.
Rigour around regular budget management is crucial
Rigour around regular budget management might feel like a basic but it is crucial to an organisation being able to operate in the kind of uncertain environment we all work in, says Adele Taylor.
Where is the co-design between local and central Government happening?
The centre and the local working together 'must be in all our best interests rather than us waiting for very late information on funding handouts that never seem to fix the issues being faced locally and nationally' says Adele Taylor.
We need to get across the story of the real impact of ‘trimming fat’
Adele Taylor is concerned about how far away the decision-makers are from the impact on the local population councils face each day in work, while need grows larger and resources decrease.
We need more information on council finances
Now that political roles are settled Adele Taylor is hoping we will start to see a rush of information coming out to guide councils in this challenging financial environment, says Adele Taylor.
Wrestling with uncertainty on budget setting
Adele Taylor says one key question for the Conservative leadership contenders is: ‘When will you consider multiple year settlements for local authorities are important, so we can plan our budgets better?’
Finance is not the be-all and end-all of tackling some 'wicked' issues
Adele Taylor travelled to Sierra Leone to run her first marathon, and in visiting projects there she discovered how similar the approaches are to those taken by local government in this country.
Let's use conversations to tackle misunderstandings about councils
If we are to change people’s views about what local government achieves with the resources it has, then we must be prepared to engage with others, says Adele Taylor.
Where are the chief finance officers of the future going to come from?
Unless we find a way to turn the tide of the recruitment crisis soon, finding staff at all levels of the finance team, including the chief finance officers of the future, is going to become even harder, says Adele Taylor.
Tax rebates - a never-ending task for finance teams?
Issuing council tax rebates to alleviate soaring energy costs sounds simple enough until you start to unravel what it really means to deliver, says Adele Taylor
Presenting simple and clear messages on our finances is crucial
Describing the impact of actions on our finances in an intelligible and engaging way should be built into our training and development for all of our staff, says Adele Taylor.
There are more questions now than before the Budget
The more challenging aspect of the Budget's announcements is the vacuum of definitive information, according to Adele Taylor.