Site icon Inside Croydon

Private Eye makes a 999 police call over ‘The Godfather’

insidecroydon

Inspector Knacker, the satirical fortnightly’s nickname for the police, should “log in and feel some digital collars” at Croydon Council, according to the latest edition of Private Eye magazine.

Private Eye: calling for involvement of Inspector Knacker

The Godfather scandal at Fisher’s Folly, where assistant chief executive Graham Cadle has overseen payments within his department of £787.36 per day to a family friend, has made it to the lead item in the magazine’s Rotten Boroughs column.

Croydon Council hasn’t enjoyed this kind of national exposure since Nathan Elvery was in charge of the procurement of bus transport for the borough’s disabled children. Whatever happened to him?

The latest Eye focuses on how, thanks to Cadle, “Harry” Singh is getting paid at a rate of almost £200,000 per year, despite his less-than-stellar association with the council’s “crap app”, MyCroydon.

It was Cadle who, under his senior officer’s delegated authority, had first hired Singh for the crap app, without the decision being subject to any discussion or scrutiny by the council’s elected members.

How Croydon has made it to the lead item in the Rotten Boroughs column this issue

And as Inside Croydon reported exclusively last week, Cadle just happens to be the godfather to Singh’s child.

The child’s mother is Karen Sullivan, the head of revenues and benefits at Croydon Council, which also falls under Cadle’s overview.

Neither Cadle, Sullivan nor Singh declared their personal relationships before Singh was hired.

Meanwhile, the council’s £185,000 chief executive, Jo Negrini, and the council leader, Tony Newman, have failed to address some of the serious questions arising from the conduct of such a senior official.

If, as Lord Gnome suggests, the police do become involved, then Negrini and Newman may not be able to exercise the mute option any longer.

Indeed, Knacker of the Yard might want to know why Negrini and the Borough Solicitor, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, failed to bring the potential misuse of considerable sums of public money to the attention of the police sooner, such as when the council carried out its own little internal investigation earlier this year.


Exit mobile version