CROYDON IN CRISIS: Mayor Jason Perry promised a seamless transition and no job cuts – but now two senior managers at the Croydon Carers’ Support Centre have been told they are to be made redundant.
EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES
No clear plans: Carers First took over the Croydon contract in April, but are still re-setting the service
Carers First, the council’s new service providers, have started making staff redundant at the Croydon Carers’ Centre on George Street – just weeks after Mayor Jason Perry promised “there will be no loss of service” and saying that there would be “a seamless transition”.
The Tory Mayor was forced into making a rapid U-turn when confronted with angry protests over the possible closure of the Carers’ Centre. Kent-based Carers First, the new service providers, took a financial hit to keep the centre open (for now: the lease on the building expires in 18 months) and spare Mayor Perry some flak, but they are now looking to trim the additional costs they have incurred.
Inside Croydon first reported the threat of job cuts in the carers’ service as a budget-balancing exercise, following Carers First being announced as the new service providers a month earlier.
Mayor Perry and the cash-strapped council had decided to change provider of statutory carers’ support services, from local charity the Whitgift Foundation to an out-of-borough commercial company, Carers First. Without the council contract, the Foundation could no longer afford to manage the Carers’ Centre, where they employed around nine staff.
The centre has been helping hard-pressed families in the borough for more than a decade. It was due to close on March 14, after Croydon Council opted to break provision for carers into three parts, with adult carers’ assessments now to be provided by Carers First.
When the news of the closure of the Carers’ Centre first leaked out – as reported exclusively by Inside Croydon – the council issued assurances that there would be no job losses and that Croydon-based staff would be “TUPE’d over”, from the Whitgift Foundation to the pay-roll of Carers’ First.
Deceptive: Mayor Perry’s council said there would be no job losses at the Carers’ Centre
TUPE-ing is a common practice in the public sector: TUPE stands for “Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment)”, which is supposed to protect employees when a business changes ownership or a service provider changes.
But for at least two members of the Croydon Carers’ Support Centre team, that “protection of employment” has not lasted very long at all.
The staff received a letter in March that advised them of the possibility of an impending redundancy process, which would commence once Carers First took over the service on April 1. The reason given was “due to financial sustainability within the contract price” – thus inadvertently outing Mayor Perry as a liar.
Two managers, who have provided combined service to Croydon of more than 15 years, and providing a wealth of in-depth local knowledge and experience, are understood to have been told their services are no longer required.
Sources on George Street suggest that the managers will have been on relatively modest salaries, of less than £30,000. “They have always led in-person activities, including bereavement counselling and book clubs,” a source said.
“Their loss deprives the centre, team and carers of their caring presence, dedication and expertise. They will be greatly missed.”
Since the end of April, Carers First have been staging a series of carefully stage-managed “co-production” meetings with clients, usually run by execs from their Kent offices, rather than by members of the Croydon team. “There are still no clear plans for their service,” according to one attendee. “So much for a ‘seamless transition’.”
Mayor Perry, Croydon Council’s propaganda bunker and Carers First were all contacted for comment about the redundancies. None of them could be bothered to respond.
Read more: Carers’ Centre staff now face redundancy under new provider
Read more: Perry confronted outside Town Hall over Carers’ Centre closure
Read more: ‘Council is gas-lighting us over support services’ say carers
Read more: Council Tax hits £2,500 per year as debts continue to mount
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Carers First? Carers Last, more like it.
It’s not axiomatic that Perry is a liar. He could be a gullible fool instead (or additionally). After all, it wouldn’t be the first time that a Croydon council politician had been taken for a mug by a private company
Nope, Arf. He’s lied.
The change of provider was announced with a clear undertaking that there would be no redundancies, and all staff would be taken on by Carers First. That was when Carers First were going to close the centre.
When Perry felt the heat for that decision, they hurriedly concocted a reverse ferret to keep the centre open. But that comes at a cost.
These two managers are paying with their jobs so that Mayor Perry can dodge public flak.
Perry cannot be trusted on anything!
You’re going to have to argue the toss on Nextdoor for me Keith – Perry’s stasi have managed to have me banned for at least a fortnight!