Our Town Hall editor KEN LEE has been crunching some eye-watering numbers from Croydon’s bankrupt council
‘Regeneration practitioner’: Jo Negrini made sure she regenerated plenty of council cash her way
When Jo “Negreedy” Negrini quit as the council’s chief executive in September 2020, with Croydon hurtling towards bankruptcy, she left with a total of £613,895 – a figure that made her the top-paid local government official in the country that year.
The figures included her obscene £437,000 pay-off authorised by Labour councillors Tony Newman and Simon Hall.
What was not available, until now, was the data that shows Negreedy also made away with the thick-end of a full year’s salary and pension contributions.
The figures were released today by the Tax Payers Alliance.
The breakdown of the pay-off figures has raised, yet again, serious questions about how Croydon Council has been managed in the past six years or so, since Negrini was promoted to the top job.
In total, Negrini received
£613,895
That was made up of salary
£151,474
Plus her pension
£25,214
Plus her pay-off totalling
£437,207
That figure was made up of “loss of office compensation” of
£144,356
and something referred to as “pension strain” of
£292,851
These figures appear to show that, after working for just five of that financial year’s 12 months, Negrini had close to a full year’s salary and pension of £176,688 paid up.
Secrets and lies: Tony Newman
The council’s political leadership at the time refused to discuss the pay-off, even with fellow Labour councillors, with the discredited leader, Newman, describing as “sickening” that anyone might consider opposing Negrini receiving her gold-plated pension.
This was at a time when the Labour-controlled council was making hundreds of frontline workers redundant.
The pay-out to Negrini has been roundly condemned by Croydon South’s Tory MP, Chris Philp. “This is further evidence of the shocking way that Labour in Croydon wasted huge amounts of money to try to cover up their own incompetence.
“Negrini should have been fired with no compensation, not paid off with bucketloads of residents’ hard-earned money.
“This is money that could – and should – have been used fixing mouldy council flats and protecting the vulnerable from savage Labour cuts to Council Tax benefit. I think residents will say to Labour they’ve had enough of their waste and incompetence on May 5.”
Croydon’s two other MPs, Steve Reed OBE and Sarah Jones, have remained silent for almost two years about Negreedy’s golden pay-off.
There is another costly irony in the figures, which the TPA has obtained from the council’s 2020-2021 accounts – the year of the catastrophic covid lockdown.
The council’s external auditors, Grant Thornton, have so far refused to sign-off on these accounts over the matter of a possibly “misappropriated” £73million from the supposedly ring-fenced Housing Revenue Account, which has somehow been spent on other areas that ought to be covered by the council’s general fund.
Croydon Council has effectively been under Whitehall control since early 2021, and needed a record £120million bail-out over the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 financial years to be able to re-balance its budgets.
Read more: £400,000 ‘golden handshake’ is Negrini’s reward for failure
Read more: Newman’s ‘sickening’ defence of Negrini’s £400,000+ pay-off
Read more: CEO Negrini’s long campaign to shut down Inside Croydon
Read more: Negrini lands cushty consultancy with ex-council supplier
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So why did Tony Newman and Simon Hall agree to pay all that money to her? Were they stupid or scared? Was it made as part of a legal agreement to buy her silence? I think we should be told by the new Mayor
Just spotted an ad in the window of an East Dulwich vintage clothes shop……
“Emperor’s New Clothes–hardly worn– 50% off- just £306,947.5”
Were the clothes visible?
Hard to tell, the shop was full of smoke and mirrors.
This whole sorry sordid affair will keep rearing its head. very time you see the money going out of your account and the rubbish piling up on the front as it is now a month since paper was collected around here – 6 weeks by the next collection it raises hackles. But not as much as when you try to raise this with the Council as Fishers Folly. You cannot write and drop a complaint off, you cannot call as no one answers for ages and when they do you are directed to a website that is most definitely not accessible in any way to those with dexterity issues. And that is even if you have managed to bridge the digital divide and got a working Broadband.
And on that note the clue is in the name Mr Philp. Fisher! That Strong Tory leader. Remember him? your party colleague who pissed millions up the wall. That nice person who created the Teflon Rock and did away with accountability of Council officials.
Oh and I have not forgotten that sorry bunch that legged it out of the Borough on the Red half either.
Nor that disasterous Clock at Downing street and the Local Government act that enabled this shit show to take place.
On that count sir I do believe the score is Conservatives 3 Labour 1 and the rest forfeited as they never turned up – talk about a silent majority!
But I do believe in being fair and placing blame where it lies Mr Phillp. Mr Reed has some explaining to do but perhaps not so Ms Jones or yourself on those little scandles
But considering the fiasco of the F***field *alls and us being the Town of Culture soon perhaps you have some thoughts on that sir? I mean who is running that excuse for an Oliver? BH live? Have you visited the gaff? Seriously I feel like that honorable ‘ol wag Mr Cleese banging the parrot. Live Mr Philp? – that parrot is not Live – it is extinct, deceased vanished like a Steinway B at refurbishment! Or perhaps it is on Furlough – Exactly how much have they claimed for staff Furlough? (sorry could not resist that one)
We have a wealth of young (and older)talent in this town but the town is failing them – any thoughts on that sir?
Apologies for the unsporting sporting, culture media and the digital reference but perhaps it is appropriate you being the Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport). It would be fantastic though if you could used your office to assist with improving the Borough and its deficiencies rather than beating the Dead Parrot. Perhaps supporting a public enquiry?
Kind Regards
The pouring away of public sourced money to compensate this person’s incompetence is staggering.
I would like to know who agreed to this payout. Was it cross-party and are any of the individuals standing a mayor.
Truly sickening that these councillors think they can give away money without scrutiny. Where was the lead of the scrutiny committee?
So, after 6 years of failure, ( but laying nice pavements ), Negreedy walks away with a payoff of 310% of her annual salary; 3 years, and one and a quarter months pay. Staff who did not fail the council or residents and who worked for over 2 to 3 decades + were made redundant with 4 months salary. Well done Council, Councillors & Leader; at least you know what the quality of righteousness is !
Not nice pavements! Walk from Broad Green to south end they are falling to bits and that began at the Junction of London road and St James on the second day. A very rushed and bodged job.
Without wishing to be a pavement pedant… There was new paving laid along Selsdon Road, South Croydon, around 2012, when they tarmac’d over some heritage cobbled road, too. Much of the “new” paving is having to be replaced. It is stained, loads of gum on it, but also much broken and shattered by pavement-parking delivery vans (there’s double yellows along a stretch here too).
Seems the cost of re-paving is absorbed, rather than investing in some proper, regular and diligent, parking enforcement.
The Chief Executive of Slough Council was recently sacked for gross misconduct, following multiple failings. She was sacked by the Commissioners who are running the council at the moment, rather than paid off by her mates.