Council chiefs in Taberner House may need to hold a crisis meeting today, after it was revealed that Croydon is only ninth in a list of the most-complained-about local authorities. Surely, they must demand, they should do better.
Croydon is in bad company, with half of the 20 worst councils also being London boroughs.
The listing numbers complaints to the Local Government Ombudsman: Birmingham received 257 last year, with our neighbours to the north, Southwark (198) and Lambeth (186) taking the runners-up spots.
There were 121 complaints to the Ombudsman about the running of Croydon Council – more than 10 each month. That hardly chimes with the boast of Nathan Elvery, the council’s deputy CEO, who last year audaciously claimed of Croydon Council: “Efficiency is in our DNA.”
The watchdog only takes on complaints if councils’ own procedures fail.
Croydon is one of two Conservative-run London councils on this list of shame, something conveniently overlooked by Bob Neill, the local government minister, who leapt in to take a cheap political shot: “The bottom line is that you can’t trust Labour authorities with the public purse.”
Judging by Croydon’s volume of complaints from dissatisfied Council Tax-payers, it seems that you cannot trust Tory-run councils with public money, either.
- Inside Croydon: brought to you from the heart of the borough, free of charge, an independent voice standing for freedom of speech for the people of Croydon
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