CROYDON IN CRISIS: In the past day, there’s been an overwhelming angry rejection of the idea that ordinary, hard-working families in this borough should pay even more for the mistakes and incompetence of council officials and politicians. Which is why Inside Croydon is backing not one, but two petitions. By STEVEN DOWNES, Editor

Hoping not to sound too much like Peter Finch in the Oscar-winning movie Network, but the people of Croydon have had enough and we ain’t gonna take any more…

The public’s response has been an overwhelming rejection of the stitch-up between Croydon Mayor Jason Perry and the Levelling Up secretary, Michael Gove, to impose a 15per cent Council Tax hike on the borough’s residents, in the middle of a dire cost of living crisis.

So what do we do about it?

There’s already been some talk of a demo at the Town Hall, ahead of the budget-setting meeting on March 1, and maybe even a Council Tax strike by residents, hitting those in charge of the omnishambles that is the Town Hall where it would hurt them most – in the council’s coffers.

Town Hall demo: there’s a protest being planned for March 1, and two petitions against the Council Tax increase

We can also start a petition, rejecting the constant outsourcing of financial pain to the people of Croydon, when the borough’s politicians have failed to deliver a proper financial settlement.

That’s why this afternoon, I, as the Editor of this website, helped and guided by some veteran campaigners, have launched not one but two petitions.

One is to force a local debate at the Town Hall. To do that, we need 1,000 signatures. You know what to do: sign the petition, and pass it on as widely as you can.

The second is to try to get a response from the government about council financing. Westminster doesn’t like piggybacking other people’s petitions, so this has to be done separately, using a different format and language. To reach the finish line on this, it will take 10,000 signatures.

With proper support, we might even force a parliamentary debate. That would need 100,000 signatures – almost 1-in-3 people living in Croydon.

But there’s enough people around the country who have suffered cut after cut to their local services, library closures, children’s centres axed, meals on wheels dropped, without their local authority receiving anything like an appropriate amount of funding from central government. Hopefully some of those people will be aware of the injustices created and lend their signatures to our petition. .

The first, local petition, says this:

No to 15% council tax hike.
Fund Croydon properly

We the people of Croydon reject the imposition of a 15% Council Tax rise.

We should not be asked to pay more to get less.

Funding for Croydon Council from central government has been cut dramatically over the past 13 years, and we receive far less funding per person than neighbouring Lambeth.

We note that the Conservative Council that left office in 2014 handed over around £1 billion in debt. This was increased by 50% by the Labour group which ran the council from 2014-22.

Successive councils and successive governments are to blame for the current financial situation in Croydon Council. The one group that is not to blame is Croydon’s residents.

We call on the Croydon Mayor to withdraw plans for a 15% hike in Council Tax in the middle of the worst fall in living standards on record.

And we call on the Government to give Croydon Council the same funding level per person as neighbouring Lambeth.

• You can sign this petition by clicking here now

The second, Parliamentary petition calls on the government to withdraw its consent to the 15per cent tax hike, and to review the way it funds local authorities, such as Croydon Council – something which the Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove has already said is necessary.

HM Government should withdraw consent for Croydon to raise Council Tax by 15%

HM Government should renegotiate the deal done with Croydon Council to resolve the exceptional financial difficulties the Council finds itself in.
The reasons for our request are:

1) The people of Croydon should not have to pay for a financial crisis in the borough which is not their fault.

2) Many people will not be able to afford the proposed increase, particularly during the current cost of living crisis.

3) While recognising that local mismanagement was a main factor leading to the financial crisis in Croydon, Government policy also played a part. We refer to the cuts of up to 70% in Government funding to Croydon since 2010.

4) The Government should undertake a thorough review of local authority funding, to re-balance the system and avoid multiple councils from being forced to declare themselves effectively bankrupt.

The petition has now been submitted to Parliament for consideration.

It required five other signatories before it passes their first test. That had been achieved within four minutes of this article being published – as soon as Parliament approves the petition and makes it public, we’ll let you know.

And without wishing to sound too much like Wolfie Smith, Power to the people!

Read more: Perry to preside over record-breaking 15% Council Tax hike
Read more: The Perry Premium: Mayor fails to disclose he asked for 15%
Read more: Council forced to issue 3rd bankruptcy notice in just two years
Read more: Croydon needs deal that could set precedent for all councils

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