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Green councillors tell Gove: Don’t make our residents pay for ‘a decade of bad decisions, dodgy deals and secret contracts’

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Croydon’s Green Party councillors have issued an 11th-hour plea to Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove for him to withdraw permission for Croydon’s Tory Mayor, Jason Perry, to impose a punitive 15per cent Council Tax hike on the ordinary people of the borough.

Ria Patel and Esther Sutton say that a behind-closed-doors “deal” is being done between Perry and Whitehall bureaucrats “that is forcing Croydon residents to pay for the mess made by councillors’ bad decisions… without residents having any opportunity to say whether they agree. This is neither fair nor democratic.”

In their letter, Patel and Sutton say, “Croydon has been blighted by over a decade of bad decisions, dodgy deals and secret contracts made by councillors and enabled by senior officers. These were done without the knowledge or approval of Croydon residents.”

Message to Michael: Green councillors Ria Patel (left) and Esther Sutton at last week’s Town Hall rally

And the Green councillors highlight that, despite the Tory rhetoric claiming that the council funding crisis is unique to Croydon, there are at least another dozen local authorities which are also bankrupt or on the financial brink: “Many local authorities are facing the worst funding crisis in their history, caused by massive funding shortfalls,” they wrote.

“Attempts to address these shortfalls by allowing increased Council Tax will fail to raise anywhere near the sums needed.”

In Croydon, the 15per cent increase is estimated to raise £20million, while at the same time, Mayor Perry is asking Gove to write off £540million of council borrowing from government.

And Sutton and Patel say, “It makes no economic, social or environmental sense to leave Croydon Council in a position where it will continue to struggle and fail to deliver the basic services that people rightly expect and deserve.”

In their letter, which can be read in full by clicking here, Sutton and Patel include a series of requests:

Last Wednesday, Patel and Sutton voted with Croydon’s Labour and LibDem councillors against Mayor Perry’s budget, which includes another £36million-worth of cuts to services in 2023-2024 as well as the political punishment of the Tory 15per cent Council Tax hike.

The council is due to hold a second budget-setting meeting at the Town Hall tomorrow night, March 8, from 6.30pm, with another large rally on Katharine Street opposing the Mayor’s proposals expected to begin around 5.30pm.

Read more: ‘Stand up for the people and get fair funding for Croydon’
Read more: 37-34: Mayor’s 15% Council Tax hike rejected in budget vote
Read more: The solution to Perry’s finance problem: Fund Croydon Fairly
Read more: If council budget fails to pass, expect a long night on Mar 8

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