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Kerswell warns staff: it’s 15% Council Tax hike or your jobs

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CROYDON IN CRISIS: Katherine Kerswell, the £192,474 per year council chief exec who less than a year ago said that the borough ‘was not teetering on the edge of bankruptcy’, when clearly it was, has now told her staff that the 15% Council Tax hike ‘is very difficult news to hear’.
EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES

Croydon Council’s chief executive, Katherine Kerswell, has told staff that she is backing the 15per cent Council Tax increase being imposed on the borough by Tory Mayor Jason Perry.

Kerswell, who in March last year also briefed staff that the council was not “teetering on the brink of bankruptcy” – just seven months before it issued its third Section 114 notice in just two years – said in an email to council employees that such a massive increase in Council Tax is the only way to avoid making yet more cuts, and therefore redundancies.

Kerswell is paid a salary of more than £190,000 per year.

“The management’s messaging to staff is clear,” according to one source in Fisher’s Folly. “Don’t rock the boat over the 15per cent Council Tax increase, or you will pay with your jobs!”

In her latest round-robin email, Kerswell told staff that the Department for Levelling Up, who agreed to Mayor Jason Perry’s request to allow Croydon to raise Council Tax by 10per cent more than the 4.9per cent cap without any referendum, and the government-appointed improvement panel “have been fully involved in the discussion around the Council Tax increase and agree that this is the next step to take”.

Team work: CEO Katherine Kerswell is backing Mayor Jason Perry’s tax hike

Kerswell, who has cut £90million-worth of council spending on services since she arrived in Croydon in the autumn of 2020, wrote, “Unfortunately, the scale of our financial problems means that we must look at every option possible to protect vital services.”

She added: “The improvement panel have been clear that we really cannot continue to make cuts at this level.”

Kerswell’s typically patronising email to staff was sent just before noon on Tuesday, February 7.

It says:

Dear colleagues,

Yesterday afternoon, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) published the Local Government Settlement, setting out the funding that the Government will provide to all councils for the next financial year (2023-2024). This is an annual statement the government makes.

As part of that settlement announcement, DLUHC set the level of increase in Council Tax, or, set the council tax cap that councils can consider charging. For most councils in the country the cap is a 5per cent increase to Council Tax bills.

However, the government has given us, Slough and Thurrock councils permission to increase Council Tax above the 5per cent cap. Because of the seriousness of our financial situation, Croydon has been given permission to increase council tax above that national 5per cent cap by 10per cent to 15per cent.

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I know how much you care about Croydon, and for many of you it’s not just where you work, it’s also home.

For those of you who are residents I understand that this is very difficult news to hear, especially given the pressure that all households are under.

Unfortunately, the scale of our financial problems means that we must look at every option possible to protect vital services.

The size of Croydon’s problems means that there is no easy choice to make. Without this proposed increase we would have make a further £20million in savings – that’s on top of the £36million that are already being put forward for next year’s budget.

That would mean even more cuts to services and putting more jobs at risk.

With all our hard work, we have made savings of £90million to service budgets over the last two years, and the improvement panel have been clear that we really cannot continue to make cuts at this level.

Everyone in this council has been working hard on our turn around and together we have achieved so much – and we all recognise that we still have more to do.

DLUHC and the improvement and assurance panel have been fully involved in the discussion around the council tax increase and agree that this is the next step to take, along with them continuing to support us financially – but I know that doesn’t make it any easier.

What we can guarantee is that we will continue to support anyone – staff or resident – who is in hardship. The budget proposals will include plans to introduce a new hardship fund to support residents who are not eligible for Council Tax Support but who are finding it hard to make ends meet in these difficult times. A dedicated hub to help with the rising cost of living has also been set up on our website.

As staff, there is additional support for you. You can access confidential support and financial advice through our Employee Assistance Programme – and we have many more support options listed on our intranet. If you are worried about any of this and how it will impact you, please do use these services or speak to a Guardian about what is available to help.

Next steps

Following this announcement, our budget-setting work must continue. The proposed budget for 2023-2024, which includes Council Tax levels, will be presented to cabinet on 22 February 2023. A report will be published ahead of that meeting next Tuesday, 14 February 2023. The annual budget is due to be decided at the Full Council meeting on 1 March 2023.

We will make sure that the above meeting links, recordings and papers are all shared on the intranet and in the weekly newsletter.

This is a really difficult but important step in our journey, and I hope that I’ve been able to give context about why we are here – and hopefully some reassurance that we are still focused and committed to doing everything we can to protect services and secure the council’s future.

Kind regards,

Katherine Kerswell (she/her)

Read more: Perry to preside over record-breaking 15% Council Tax hike
Read more: Public’s furious reaction to Perry’s Premium Council Tax hike
Read more: Council forced to issue 3rd bankruptcy notice in just two years
Read more: ‘We’re not teetering on the brink of bankruptcy’ claims Kerswell


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