WALTER CRONXITE, Political Editor, on another missed opportunity for the benighted borough
All in line: students at Imperial College show London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan how to play Tetris… Jason Perry didn’t quite make it into the picture
A strange thing happened on Thursday morning in a lecture theatre at Imperial College in central London.
There, in the audience for the launch of London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan’s London Growth Plan, together with leaders of most of the capital’s boroughs and a junior government minister, was one of the people who bankrupted Croydon, and the person who has hiked Council Tax in the borough to record levels and somehow managed to make the council’s finances even worse.
Jason Perry has failed to mention if he sidled up to Jo Negrini to ask her to repay her £430,000 golden handshake, so the occasion will be put down as another missed opportunity for the Mayor of Croydon to deliver on one of his many broken promises.
Having survived the turmoil of the previous night’s council Budget meeting at the Town Hall, Perry was an enthusiastic cheerleader for the London Mayor’s latest launch, although he can afford to be, since London Councils, the city’s umbrella organisation for the 32 boroughs, pays him £10,000 for the benefit of his singular genius.
Yes, the same Jason Perry who not so long ago was effectively encouraging his political supporters and fellow travellers to hack down ULEZ infrastructure in acts of criminal vandalism is now a flag-waving cheerleader for another of Mayor Khan’s initiatives.
“The London Growth Plan is a game-changer for Croydon,” according to Perry, “and I was privileged to attend its launch.” Perry failed to mention his close encounter with Negreedy – the woman he had helped to appoint to a senior role at the council when he was a cabinet member in Croydon’s previous administration.
Negrini was attending the launch as a director of Arup, the latest organisation to fund her lifestyle.
Yes Cannes do: Jo Negrini, the former chief exec at Croydon, will be off to the ‘booze and hooker fest’ at MIPIM next week
Arup were doubtless in attendance to see how much public money they might be able to scoop up from various developments around the capital, just as they did so profitably when Negrini was Croydon’s chief executive.
At least, in Arup, Negrini has found another organisation to fund her trip to MIPIM, the “booze and hooker fest” for property developers staged in the south of France later this month. At least Croydon’s Council Tax-payers won’t have to pick up the tab.
Quite who was paying for Perry’s time at Imperial College on Thursday is unclear, but he was certainly keen to puff out his chest in his short-sleeved shirt and try to claim some credit for the London Growth Plan.
“As the executive member for future (business and economy) on London Councils,” the extremely self-important Perry reminded his Twatter followers, “I worked alongside Howard Dawber, London’s deputy mayor for business, to lead an extensive consultation that shaped this initiative.”
As Tory Perry comes ever closer to the end of his term as Croydon Mayor, he appears to be ever more dependent on some reflected glory from other organisations, as well as from city-wide Labour Party figures, a further sign of his series of failures in the borough he has helped to bankrupt.
One of Perry’s favoured phrases of late is: “Howard Dawber has rightly identified Croydon as London’s ‘biggest single opportunity borough’.”
And on Thursday, Perry added, “The success of this plan will be measured by the investment Croydon secures.” If that isn’t a hostage to fortune, nothing is.
The Growth Plan’s stated objectives include getting productivity growth back to 2% per year by 2035 – a £107billion boost to the capital’s economy, also providing £27billion extra in tax to the Treasury to fund public services in London and beyond. And in creating 150,000 new “high-quality” jobs, it aims to boost the earnings of the lowest-earning 20% by one-fifth.
Londoners need to “feel the benefits of growth”, in their pockets and in their communities, Sir Sadiq said: “Growth is the catalyst for social progress, for the common good, not just for the few.”
Antonia Jennings, the chief exec of the Centre for London think tank, welcomed the plan’s ambition to “set up the capital to be a sustainable, inclusive, world-leading global city”, but pointed out that London presently retains to spend only 7% of the tax revenues raised in the city. New York gets to spend 50% of the taxes it raises. Fifteen years of an anti-London government has taken its toll.
Big launch: Sir Sadiq Khan (third from right), at the launch on Thursday, together with other leading figures, such as Howard Dawber (left) and Lambeth leader Claire Holland (third from left). Jason Perry didn’t make it into this picture, either
According to Perry, “Croydon is emerging as a hub for immersive technology, gaming, and creative industries, forming strong partnerships with the BRIT School, London South Bank University Croydon campus, Croydon College and Universal Music Group.” Whatever successes are happening in Croydon through these various groups namechecked by Perry, it has little or nothing to do with him and his failing and flailing council administration.
According to Mayor Khan, his London Growth Plan will “turbocharge” economic growth in the capital will create 150,000 jobs and make Londoners better off.
According to Mayor Perry, “The London Growth Plan outlines how targeted investments and coordinated actions will unlock economic growth across the capital. With Croydon now recognised as a priority for investment, we are seizing the opportunity to build a stronger, more innovative local economy that benefits both businesses and residents alike.”
The plan is an effort to coalesce work to increase growth in the capital following the double hammer blows of Brexit and covid.
Not everyone is convinced by the measures announced, though. “Woolly and lacking in clear, tangible deliverables”, was the view of one attendee.
Perry’s Tory chums at City Hall said that Mayor Khan had “suffocated” economic ambition in London and that it took the figures in the plans with a “pinch of salt”.
And London Commincations Agency’s assessment was that “while there was undoubted energy and optimism, the event itself was perhaps rather disappointing”, saying that “even a cursory overview of the key actions was lacking”.
So Perry probably did have a role in the thing after all.
Read more: Negrini doctored specialist reports and withheld finance details
Read more: Government grants Perry’s record £136m council bail-out plea
Read more: Council Tax hits £2,500 per year as debts continue to mount
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I heard that afterwards they went to the Students’ Union and slow-danced together to the Peaches and Herb classic, “Reunited”
Arup must have serious issues to put a person like that in a high position.
She calls herself a ‘Director’ at Arup, but she doesn’t appear on the company’s website. Can someone explain?
It’s there alright, if you know how to look.
In 2024 Jo was listed on their website as the Project Director for Arup’s “Ideas for Future London”, their project to “imagine what our city could be like if it was truly shaped by the people that live in it”.
Last week she announced on Linkedin that “I’ll be part of the Arup UK and Europe delegation at MIPIM this year. I’m looking forward to conversations about UK growth opportunities with a focus on quality and sustainability, towns and homes, getting the right investment and meeting existing and new collaborators to make it happen”. She is listed on the mugshots of Arup delegates as a “Director”
MIPIM’s “sessions” include one on “Planning Change, Driving Growth”, where Jo will be one of the presenters. Her bio for that session doesn’t include the C-word (“Croydon”):
“Jo Negrini – Director – Cities, Planning and Design – Arup
Jo is Arup’s Global Leader for Inclusive Cities and leads their multi disciplinary Towns, Neighbourhoods and Homes team in the UK region working with key clients on delivering large scale housing and regeneration schemes.
Jo is also responsible for Arup’s relationship and business development work in London and the South East.
Jo is a town planner with over 20 years’ experience of working in housing, regeneration and planning delivery in the public sector, including 14 years in senior leadership roles in local government in London.
Jo has worked in every aspect of regeneration and housing delivery from vision and inception, leading the planning process, resident and community engagement through to delivery on site.
Jo’s experience of working at a senior level in local government has equipped her with the skills to negotiate and manage relations with a wide range of public and private stakeholders.
A central theme to her work has been to ensure that major transformation drives major improvements in the life chances and well-being of residents and communities. Her work also demonstrates how best to harness public/private partnerships to deliver sustainable growth.”
Yes, you read that right.
Christopher Wren’s tomb in St. Paul’s Cathedral bears the inscription “Si monumentum requiris circumspice” – “If you seek his monument, look around you”. Bear that in mind next time you’re walking around the wasteland that is downtown Croydon
Thanks Arfur, now I’m even more pissed off.
Si monumentum eius quaeras, in croci domo ne inspicias. Or something like that
That wouldn’t work in court, which is where we want her to end up. And her facilitator
Negrini has no shame. She bankrupted the Council, took not far off half a million in her payout for failure and then shows her face at an event for London’s Growth? Still making money from taxpayers via Arup’s public sector contracts no doubt while we still suffer the consequences of her incompetence. Disgusting.
If Jo Negrini “bankrupted the Council”, she didn’t do it singlehandedly but had plenty of help from people who then were allowed to walk away.
Ask yourself, why did Tony Newman give her nearly half a million quid of our money? That payment wasn’t a reward for “failure” but to buy her silence