Honesty and fairness.
They are the themes of the Green Party’s amendments to Mayor Jason Perry’s Budget proposals for Croydon Council, “Honesty about the mess we are in and fairness in making those who can afford to lose more face the biggest cuts.”
While Conservative and Labour councillors are looking to give themselves a pay rise, Green councillors are calling for SRAs – Special Responsibility Allowances – to be cut by 50%, so that money can go to saving jobs in frontline services.
Mayor Perry is facing the first of two scheduled budget-setting meetings at the Town Hall on Wednesday, when the 2025-2026 Council Tax will also be determined (the proposal is for it to increase by 4.99% from April, giving Croydon residents the second highest Council Tax in London).
Over the last two years, Green councillors have voted against Mayor Perry’s Budgets and called on the government to fund Croydon fairly. The position in the Town Hall Chamber since the 2022 local elections is that the Conservatives have power in the elected Mayor, but on the rare occasions anything is actually put to a vote, there are 37 Labour, Green and LibDem councillors, and only 33 Conservatives.
Council Tax hike: Croydon’s Greens have voted against tax increases in 2023 and 2024, when Tories voted in favour and Labour abstained
Yet despite Green opposition, Labour councillors’ decision to abstain on the final Budget votes have allowed the Conservatives push through their 15% Council Tax rise in 2023 and another 5% rise on top of that last year – while still cutting services.
Croydon’s Green councillors – Ria Patel and Esther Sutton – are calling on the Mayor to be honest with Croydon residents.
He needs to admit that he is yet again asking them to pay more for less.
He also needs to be honest that he isn’t “fixing the finances”, as he promised when seeking election in 2022. In fact, things are just getting worse and there is an even bigger hole in the Budget this year compared to last. This week, the government has agreed to a £136million bail-out – a record – that was requested by Perry’s council.
We all know that Croydon is massively in debt due to financial mismanagement under Conservative and Labour administrations. We have also seen a massive cut in central government funding in real terms for Croydon Council over the last 15 years. There are no signs that the new Labour government has any intention of restoring council funding to pre-2010 levels. The £136million might fill this year’s hole in Mayor Perry’s Budget, but Greens are demanding a long-term settlement to fund Croydon fairly in years to come.
Going cheap…: Heathfield House, one Victorian era Italiante villa, one careless owner, could be yours for just £1m for a 125-year lease
Mayor Perry still can’t make his sums add up and so is asking for permission to sell off even more of our council assets to fill the holes in his budget. He is being encouraged to do this by the government-appointed improvement panel, which is looking at possibly selling off any properties they can, including the Fairfield Halls and Heathfield House, announced this week as being up for auction on a 125-year lease.
Croydon’s Greens are asking the Mayor to be honest about this and honest that selling off assets isn’t a solution to our problems. They say, “The only way Croydon is going to get out of the mess we are in is for central government to step in and significantly increase funding, write-off large amounts of the debt, or preferably both.”
Until then, the Greens are also calling Mayor Perry to be fairer in the way cuts are made.
The Mayor’s Budget currently proposes giving himself and senior Conservative and Labour councillors a pay rise. Under his own proposals, Mayor Perry’s salary will go up to £84,000 per year.
Croydon’s Greens say, “It is completely wrong for senior members of the council to be giving themselves a pay rise while they are sacking front-line staff and reducing the services we get from our council.”
Councillor Patel has already voiced frustration at the incredibly slow and ineffective system being used to re-write the council’s constitution. Conservatives and Labour have worked together to keep the old two-party cabinet system – paying themselves Special Responsibility Allowances for both cabinet and shadow cabinet roles, even though those roles no longer do anything.
The Greens are calling for these cabinet and shadow cabinet posts to be removed from the council constitution. And they have repeated their call from last year to cut the Special Responsibility Allowances by 50%.
Greens are also applying the same principle to senior members of staff at the council. “Croydon Council is delivering fewer services for residents… however, since 2022 the total pay for senior officials has increased.” ONe proposal is for the pay for the council chief executive to be increased by almost £12,000, to £204,000 per year.
Green vision: Fairfield councillors Esther Sutton (left) and Ria Patel (right) will be proposing pay cuts for cabinet members and council directors, as article author Peter Underwood explains
The Greens are calling for a pay freeze for council officials already on salaries of £100,000 per year or more, as well as a reduction in the number of those senior directors over coming months.
Croydon’s Greens want the savings from these cuts to councillors’ SRAs and executive directors at the council to be ploughed back into frontline services.
They want to use the money to help restore the youth services that the Mayor has just cut.
Greens also want to put more resources in to helping residents in other areas, like advice for private renters and those struggling with debts, and more work to reduce violence against women and girls.
Last year, both Conservative and Labour councillors voted against the plan to cut their allowances but let the Mayor’s tax rises and cuts to jobs and services go through.
We will find out soon whether they vote against the Greens’ proposals again this year.
- Peter Underwood was the Green Party’s candidate for Croydon Mayor in 2022, and is a well-known figure locally for his work with environmental charities and political campaigning
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