Perverse priorities: an image that encapsulates much of what is wrong in Croydon today
Inside Croydon’s loyal reader was strolling along the High Street in the town centre this morning and captured this wonderful scene
Our reader dropped us a note in which they say, “Think this illustrates nicely Jason Perry’s Croydon.
“Two workers, who look to be from Croydon BID judging from their waistcoats, cleaning a plastic giraffe in front of a derelict building, where the developers went broke three years ago and nothing much has happened since.
“Our borough is being run by a bankrupt council that can’t afford any youth services but can afford a gimmick as long as someone can profit from it.”
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ROTTEN BOROUGH AWARDS: Croydon was named among the country’s rottenest boroughs for a SIXTH successive year in 2022 in the annual round-up of civic cock-ups in Private Eye magazine
Am I living in a parallel world ?
Is it just me, or are we in a worse position as a Council since that sloth was elected
To be fair to piss-poor Perry, after he was elected, he did say on BBC Radio London that things were going to get worse.
So he’s delivered on one of his 2022 promises.
I guess we should be grateful he is keeping one promise!
Depends on the promise – personally i prefer him not to keep one where he is going to cause detriment to most humans!
Stating the bleeding obvious is all he is good for!
Labour had eight years to destroy the finances of the Council. We were left with huge debts and little in the way of assets. There are no quick fixes.
Yet the Borough of Culture is an opportunity for celebration and investment in our borough. Labour left us enough of a legacy of joylessness so let’s take advantage of it. Much of the borough of culture money comes from elsewhere so it is not money that could be spent on Croydon services anyway. If we don’t spend it in Croydon on borough of culture it goes somewhere else.
Thank you, councillor. The Tory Mayor is certainly managing to spend the money.
The question remains: is it being spent well? Or wisely? Or on “culture”?
As has been shown so many times in the past, and especially by the current Government, any idiot can dole out huge amounts of public money to their mates.
But what checks are in place to show that Mayor Perry’s council is providing “best value” with the £1.5million of public money being lavished on the Borough of Culture?
(Here’s a clue, Robert: Nada)
Strange that you failed to mention the huge debt Mike left Labour Robert? Mr Fisher left us with a disaster, a Folly and some pretty rank processes that caused misery never mind joylessness.
Labour just doubled down and Perry nailed the coffin shut. Despite the body still breathing. A big wecome to conservative death by a thousand cuts.
So if Labour left no assets, what have you been selling over the last year?
So in short
A Conservative Government + Clegg and abley assisted by Pickles made a dogs dinner of Local Governemnt and regulations forcing all councils to borrow from said Governments fund, loans that should have been capital funding.
They were then urged by said Governemnt to speculate in the property market to supplement income without any experience or real training in that area which is notoriously fickle. They were also advised not to worry as there will be no oversight or regulator let alone fiscal prudence. Many mostly screwed it up obviously and now the electorate get told oh dear well you eleceted them and yourself as a Councillor have the temerity to state there are no quick fixes?
With respects Robert – heres one.
Central Governemnt takes responsibility for its actions and wipes that debt and all council borrowing debts.
It then ensures that this cannot happen again and properly regulates and effectively governs and stops dissembling to the electorate.
It funds this properly with unfortunately central tax rises and recoups money missing. It then supports schemes to engage communities in building local economies that loca residents actually want and need.
As a person with contracts experience perhaps you can come up with a method of harnessing and developing local talent to deliver local services and then scake that across england so greater economies are realised.
Or you could just keep blowing hot air over who did what in a very one sided manner?
Your Choice Sir.
Westminster had little or nothing to do with Croydon’s problems, 99% were wholly of Croydon’s own making.
In fact it was LB Croydon’s resistance to government led change that was part of the problem. During the Blair Brown years Westminster pressed for modernisation via Best Value Reviews and sadly Croydon as an organisation failed to respond effectively to these, as the BVR auditors observed. The Croydon culture was to respond to criticism by going into denial, and not being willing to learn and change. The culture of denial informed every incident of failure, and Croydon was happier to sacrifice excellent committed members of staff to cover up failure by senior management. The whistleblowing and complaint system was structured and operated to suppress serious issues rather than deal with them, and this culture could be exploited by individuals for their own ends.
Blaming Labour for the current mess may be a convenient narrative for the current Conservative administration, but it ignores the fact that Croydon’s problems have their roots back in the 1980s and early 1990s.
From 2007, under Conservative & Labour, LB Croydon managed to appoint three successive inept chief executives – a perusal of Inside Croydon’s archives will amply illustrate how bad each was.
IMO LB Croydon is in the mess it is in is entirely due to its introspective culture and its resistance to change, which led it to permit failing senior officers to remain in place and to the appointment of inadequate individuals to key senior positions.
By the end of the 1990s Croydon was a profoundly dysfunctional organisation defined by its entrenched silo culture, the product of both Conservative & Labour leadership, but mainly Conservative. Yet while this was known there was little or no drive for change and modernisation, even though the consequences were very costly for the council, and thus residents & businesses.
So long as Croydon people believe that it was the last party in power that was solely responsible, then no real change is achievable.
It is frankly time that Croydon comes together as a community to work for common goals rather than short-term self-interests, and that applies to the political parties.
Stop blaming someone else, take responsibility and act to change.
I just want my exorbitant council tax to be spent on the very-much reduced services that the Council have been forced to run, but those services should be run effectively and efficiently, which I do not see happening presently. I don’t see why my tax should go towards the expensive salary of a ‘part-time’ Mayor who really has nothing to contribute now the Council is effectively run by his friends in Central Government.
We would all like an answer to why part time, piss poor Perry is continuing to collect a salary when he is effectively powerless.
You’re having a giraffe!