Croydon Council and a numbers game that doesn’t add up

At its most northerly point, Croydon’s boundaries converge with three other boroughs: inner London Lambeth and Southwark, and Bromley.

People in this part of south London probably share many of the same concerns and outlooks, and they will all look to their local council for certain key services.

Yet a family living on one street could walk just a few yards and greet a neighbour who pays hundreds of pound more in Council Tax, has their bins emptied less frequently, sends their children to schools with poorer achievement performances, and is subject to a host of other variations in local services.

How does Croydon Council’s services compare to its neighbours?

COUNCIL TAX

1. Southwark: £1,222
2. Lambeth: £1,232
3. Bromley: £1,298
4. Croydon: £ 1,456

(based on 2012-2013 Band D homes)

EDUCATION

• State secondary education: % leaving school with five GCSE grades A*-C incl maths and English 2011

1. Bromley: 68
2. Lambeth: 62
3. Croydon: 61
4. Southwark 58

• State primary education: % of pupils progressed by two levels in English between Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 in 2011

1. Southwark: 91
2. Lambeth: 90
3. Bromley: 88
4. Croydon: 84

ENVIRONMENT

• Rubbish and recycling collections

1. Bromley: Weekly bin, food waste and recycling collection
2. Southwark: Weekly bin, food waste and recycling collection
3. Lambeth: Weekly bin and recycling collection
4. Croydon: Fortnightly bin collections, alternate week recycling and weekly food waste collection

• Managing conservation and nature areas (judged as good across sites)

1. Lambeth 100%
2. Southwark 73%
3. Bromley 64%
4. Croydon 45%

• Major planning matters decided on time

1. Southwark 72%
2. Lambeth 60%
3. Croydon 49%

(No figure for Bromley)

• Minor planning decisions

• Lambeth 79%
• Southwark 73%
• Croydon 68%

(No figure for Bromley)

ELDERLY CARE

• Carers receiving support

1. Bromley 31.6%
2. Southwark 28.1%
3. Lambeth 23.8%
4. Croydon 14.9%

(Croydon’s 14.9 per cent is the second worst figure in the whole of London)

• Elderly people supported to be independent

1. Southwark 99.3%
2. Lambeth 84.6%
3. Bromley 79.5%
4. Croydon 73.3%

(Croydon’s 73.3 per cent is the third worst figure in the whole of London)

CRIME

• Serious violent crimes per 1,000 population

1. Bromley 0.86
2. Croydon 0.98
3. Southwark 1.56
4. Lambeth 2.1

• Total crime notified to police per 1,000 population

1. Bromley 6
2. Croydon 94
3. Southwark 121
4. Lambeth 130

That all adds up to Croydon finishing bottom in eight out of 11 service categories – only a comparison on crime against two inner London boroughs saw Croydon get out of the bottom two.

Which sort of means that Croydon Council is doing an outstanding job.

Just not in a good way.

• Click here for another set of facts about Croydon Council’s out-of-control spending.

• Inside Croydon: A news source about Croydon that is not based in Redhill. Post your comments on this article below. If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, email us at inside.croydon@btinternet.com

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