CROYDON IN CRISIS: While more than 400 frontline jobs have been axed since 2020, the executive suite in Fisher’s Folly has barely been touched. But the council CEO is spending even more on ‘cost-cutting’ consultants.
EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES
Empire-building: council CEO Katherine Kerswell has increased the number of exec directors
Katherine Kerswell, the cash-strapped council’s £192,000 per year chief exec, now has almost twice as many executive, or what she has re-titled as “corporate”, directors, each earning more than £140,000 per year, as when Jo Negrini was in charge at Fisher’s Folly five years ago.
That’s the astonishing finding following a Freedom of Information request by this website.
According to official council figures, there are now seven “corporate” directors working for Croydon Council.
In an official report to last month’s annual budget-setting meeting at the Town Hall, it showed that five of these senior staff are paid between £151,000 and £160,000 per year.
‘Transformation’: if there’s been any cuts at Croydon Council, they haven’t been taking place in the executive suites of Fisher’s Folly
Then there’s Elaine Jackson, Kerswell’s assistant chief executive, who is on £143,000 to £149,000 per year. Croydon had never needed an assistant chief executive before Kerswell was given the top job…
The council’s figures show that the number of highly paid execs is down from two years ago, when there were 26 senior staffers, nine of them on the higher pay grade.
Alright by him: Michael Gove’s ‘improvement’ panel has approved Croydon’s recruitment binge
All of these high-pay, senior appointments have been put in place while Croydon Council has effectively been in “special measures”, with an “improvement and assurance” panel, appointed by Tory government minister Michael Gove, overseeing all spending decisions in our borough since 2021.
Yet while Kerswell has been allowed to empire-build on the executive seventh floor of the council’s offices, there’s more than 400 fewer council staff to be managed or assigned to provide the services for the borough’s long-suffering residents than there were in 2020.
And this is at a time of record increases in Council Tax, which has risen by 21% in the past 12 months alone. Croydon residents are paying more and getting much less.
In her latest weekly intranet newsletter sent to all council staff, in among the cosy little pieces of information about lunchtime walks and free mental health webinars, Kerswell raised the issue of the council’s “transformation”, a councilspeak euphemism for yet more cuts to frontline services.
Cuts in all the wrong places: how staff numbers have come down at Croydon Council since 2020 – almost 12% fewer staff
“In our last webinar, we talked about how important it is that we all have a say in what transformation means for Croydon,” Kerswell wrote. Further discussion sessions are planned, Kerswell said, “to bring to life exactly why this next phase of improvement and change is so critical.”
As in the past, this looks likely to mean more expensive consultants being brought in to identify which services to axe, or pare down to such a level where the council can barely function any further.
“A big part of how we plan to change for the better is by putting great customer service and experiences at the centre of everything we do,” Kerswell claimed. “… We want you to think about your own customer experiences and to share examples of great customer service.”
So far, Kerswell’s most significant “transformation” appears to have been to change a few job titles, swapping “executive directors” for “corporate directors”. And bringing in a few extra people on significant salaries at the cash-strapped council.
The official figures from the council show that the overall number of director-level staff at Croydon Council has barely changed from 2019 – before covid and the council’s financial collapse – to today.
In March 2019, when “Negreedy” was running the council, there was a total of 24 directors and executive directors. The majority of these employees – 20 of them – were director-level appointees, paid £90,000 per year or more.
By the end of March 2024, after three and a half years of Kerswell’s “transformation”, there are now 23 directors and corporate directors.
But now seven of these senior members of staff are in the higher pay bracket of £140,000-plus.
The council’s staffing timeline looks like this:
- Mar 2019: 24: 20 directors plus 4 executive directors; 3293 staff (CEO: Negrini/Leader: Newman)
- Mar 2020: 25: 20 dirs plus 5 exec dirs; 3570 staff (Negrini/Newman)
- Covid
- Jo Negrini quits as council CEO in Aug 2020
- Labour’s Tony Newman resigns as council leader Oct 2020
- Croydon issues first Section 114 notice in Nov 2020
- Improvement and Assurance Panel appointed Jan 2021
- Mar 2021: 22: 17 dirs plus 5 exec dirs; 3363 staff (Kerswell/Ali)
- Mar 2022: 26: 17 dirs plus 9 exec dirs; 3238 staff (Kerswell/Ali)
- Conservative Mayor Jason Perry elected May 2022
- Croydon issues its third Section 114 notice in Nov 2022
- Council Tax increased by 15% by Mayor Perry in Apr 2023
- Apr 2023: 22: 15 dirs plus 7 “corporate” dirs; 3203 staff (Kerswell/Mayor: Perry)
- Mar 2024: 23: 16 dirs plus 7 corporate dirs; 3159 staff (Kerswell/Perry)
Katharine Street sources are increasingly of the view that the cuts that have been made have been made in all the wrong places.
“The latest bit of ‘transformation’ looks to be coming in Adults Social Care and Health, where Kerswell has gone out and hired in consultants from Newton,” a source told Inside Croydon.
On Newton’s website, they say, “The volume and complexity of demand, coupled with shrinking budgets, can make it feel like there’s no choice but to reduce service provision.”
Consultants like Newton don’t come cheap.
When Conservative-controlled Norfolk County Council hired Newton recently to help find ways to make £2million-worth of cuts, the consultants were paid… £6.5million.
And when Newton finished their work, they managed to find just £1million-worth of savings.
Our council sources firmly expect the same to happen here. “It won’t be the first time there’s been a mugging in central Croydon,” said our disillusioned council staff member.
Read more: Kerswell looks to hire £127k director of ‘customer experience’
Read more: Kerswell’s council keeps payments to top earners secret
Read more: Criticism of Kerswell’s election count ‘justified’ says report
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