CROYDON IN CRISIS: Delayed replies, giving short-notice of an appointment and a divide-and-rule approach betray Mayor’s struggle to justify the closure of the authority’s public area, as librarians are now providing advice to the homeless. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES
Alice In Wonderland script: Tory Mayor Jason Perry is stretching credulity beyond breaking point
Jason Perry, Croydon’s part-time Mayor, was this afternoon meeting with representatives of Croydon’s voluntary sector over the “chaos” surrounding the council’s closure of Access Croydon and his decision to switch to an appointments-only system for residents requesting council help.
Many of the volunteers who manage their organisations in their spare time say that they were given barely a day’s notice of the Mayor’s meeting, which was scheduled to take place during office hours, meaning some of those invited would be unable to attend due to work commitments.
Inside Croydon reported last month how 30 voluntary organisations and charities had signed an open letter to Mayor Perry demanding that Access Croydon should be reopened “to enable Croydon’s vulnerable homeless residents to access the services that they are entitled to by law”.
They reminded Mayor Perry of his 2022 manifesto promise, “I will reopen the doors of the council offices to allow residents to speak directly to a real person.”
Mayor Perry and his £204,000 per year chief executive, Katherine Kerswell, had decided in secret that residents should no longer have an opportunity for face-to-face discussions with a council staff member to discuss their Council Tax, pay their council rent or renew their parking permit.
What public and staff encountered when the new system came into force was described as “chaos”.
Within two days of the new system, Kerswell was forced to issue a warning to staff about their conduct when entering or leaving the building. Tempers had become so frayed, security staff had become targets for abuse.
Booking out: Perry’s letter effectively admits library staff are now having to handle homeless enquries. Just not on Thursdays, when the library is closed
And people arriving at the council offices to seek emergency accommodation after being rendered homeless were being redirected to the Central Library, to use one of their computers to register for an appointment in order… to register that they are homeless.
After the voluntary groups raised their complaints with Perry, it took the Mayor more than a week to reply. Perry’s letter is dated March 28 – last Friday – but some voluntary groups say that they received his invitation only yesterday, just a day before the proposed meeting. So another Croydon Council last-gasp announcement…
Typically of piss-poor Perry’s efforts to “divide and rule”, he specified that today’s gathering on the 10th floor “transformation space” of Fisher’s Folly would be “for our VCS organisation [sic] only”. Councillors, Perry wrote, “will be invited to a separate elected member briefing session”.
In his letter to the voluntary and charity sector Perry repeated his lies about how commonplace it is for London councils to have appointment-only access for residents.
“This approach – which is in line with many London councils…” Perry wrote. In fact, Perry has only been able to identify four out of London’s 33 local authorities that operate such a system.
In his letter to the voluntary groups and charities, Perry, who is paid £84,000 per year as Mayor, claimed, “We fully understand that these changes have raised important questions, and we appreciate the opportunity to further clarify our approach.”
Elsewhere in his letter, Perry stuck stubbornly to his Alice In Wonderland script, according to which, by making the council less accessible to the public, it would somehow improve its services to residents.
“Croydon Council is implementing an appointment-based system to better support residents with their queries, effectively manage demand and provide a quicker, safer, and more efficient service for residents,” Perry claimed, stretching credulity beyond breaking point.
“… Our aim is to ensure that we can prioritise and support those in greatest need whilst improving overall service delivery. We have also consulted with [Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government] homelessness advisers, during which we outlined our revised approach and they commended our commitment to offering in-person appointments.” Which seems a bit odd, since that’s the opposite of what Croydon is now offering. Of course, Perry has not produced a shred of evidence to back-up this claim about MHCLG.
“According to government data, Croydon is experiencing the third-highest number of homelessness presentations in the UK.” This is neither new, nor should it be surprising to Perry, since Croydon has shouldered a burden for housing new arrivals in this country ever since the Home Office based its immigration service in the borough.
No Access Croydon: the decision to shut the public out of access area of Fisher’s Folly has gone very badly
“The changes to Access Croydon are part of the council’s response to this increased demand and to help us support local residents, by becoming more efficient.” Yep, helping local residents by shutting them out of the council offices.
“The appointments system will enable the council to triage and prioritise demand appropriately on those in greatest need… walk-ins will be unavailable at Access Croydon. Instead, customers will be booked in at an agreed time, rather than having what has sometimes been a very long wait to speak to an officer.
“Other changes include a greater focus on preventative work to help people before they reach crisis point, working more closely with charities and partners, and making better use of digital tools to improve processes for residents and staff.” In other words, making the “Digital First” council even more remote by asking people to rely on its sub-standard website – absolutely useless if you are homeless and without access to the interweb – while expecting “charities and partners” to do even more of the cash-strapped council’s work for them.
Perry did make an admission: “We acknowledge concerns around digital exclusion and barriers some residents may face in booking an appointment. Our libraries do offer free access to computers and the internet, and our library staff are always very willing to help residents.” So instead of seeing a housing official, homeless people now have to seek help from librarians.
Perry has so far failed to answer questions about whether more library staff are being deployed at Central Library to cope with the people diverted from the council’s offices.
In his letter, Perry allows himself a little boast that Central Library is “now open five days a week, including Saturdays”. Which is of no consolation to those who turn up to the council offices on Thursdays, and are denied access, and can’t even register for an appointment via the library, because that is the day it is closed.
“We want to reassure you that emergency slots are guaranteed to be available for those in urgent need, and we are working to ensure that the process for accessing these is communicated again,” Perry wrote, another admission that the council’s communications over this latest omnishambles has been woeful.
Perry still refused to answer questions about how many same-day appointments will be available at the council offices for emergencies
“We recognise the essential role that community organisations play in supporting Croydon’s most vulnerable residents, and we are committed to working closely with you,” said the man who gave none of these voluntary organisations or charities any reasonable advance notice of the council shutting its doors to the vulnerable.
Read more: No Access Croydon: 30 voluntary groups demand reopening
Read more: Kerswell issues warning to staff over ‘verbal abuse’ at council
Read more: They voted to raise your Council Tax, then to increase their pay
Read more: Top Tory admits Fairfield Halls could be sold for the right deal
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