STEVEN DOWNES reports on another day of shame for Croydon’s Tory Mayor and his £204,000 chief executive, as government minister orders ‘a short and sharp reset, with fast action… to shift the dial on the council’s recovery’
The government today confirmed that it will be sending in a team of Commissioners to take over the running of Croydon Council, after having lost patience with the borough’s Mayor Jason Perry and the executive leadership team under chief exec Katherine Kerswell.
Local government minister Jim McMahon made another statement to the House this afternoon, this time concerning a veritable rogues’ gallery of basketcase councils: Thurrock, Dudley and Liverpool.
But Croydon was top of his agenda.
McMahon said that he had received 35 representations, many of them from Jason Perry’s mates, over his proposal to appoint Commissioners. But he said: “I am satisfied that the council is failing to comply with its Best Value Duty in relation to continuous improvement, leadership and use of resources.”
Best value: local government minister Jim McMahon
McMahon had expressed concerns about Croydon’s leadership in his statement a month ago.
“I have concluded that it is both necessary and expedient for me to exercise powers in the Local Government Act 1999.”
With the appointment of the improvement and assurance panel due to expire within days, Commissioners have now been appointed to extend the government’s intervention until July 20, 2027.
The Commissioners named today have significant experience in running south London borough councils: Ged Curran, who was CEO at Merton for 17 years; former Bexley chief Jackie Belton; and current chief executive at Greenwich, Debbie Warren.
Inside Croydon understands that a political adviser is also to be appointed, Abi Brown, a former Conservative leader at Stoke council.
Croydon has debts of £1.4billion, in what is widely viewed to be an “unsustainable” position, while the improvement panel, which had been appointed in 2021 by the previous government, had said in its final report that spending at the council under Mayor Perry and CEO Kerswell was “runaway”.
Lead commissioner: Ged Curran
The Commissioners may need to arrive at Fisher’s Folly with some pre-agreed scheme for debt rescheduling or write-off in order to staunch the cash-strapped council’s annual spend on debt servicing, which has reached more than £60million per annum.
McMahon’s statement said: “Croydon remains one of the most financially distressed councils in the country. Failing to change course would condemn Croydon’s residents to a worsening position without a recovery strategy.
“I am satisfied that the scale of the financial difficulties facing Croydon, the failure of the council to adequately respond to these difficulties and the assurance required moving forward means that a short and sharp reset, with fast action, is required to shift the dial on the council’s recovery.
“I believe this is best achieved by escalating the statutory intervention to a Commissioner-led model to ensure the council can achieve sustained change at the pace needed.”
McMahon’s intervention package includes “specific actions the council is required to take”.
“I am confident that his package will address the issues identified and is necessary for the council to secure compliance with its Best Value Duty.”
McMahon said of his appointees, “I am confident that their extensive knowledge and experience will help deliver the necessary improvements for Croydon.” Though this sounds very familiar to the ministerial messaging when the improvement panel, of similarly knowledgable and experienced local authority peeps, was installed five years ago.
McMahon has ordered that Croydon should “continue to develop and implement” Kerswell’s Stabilisation Plan “to the satisfaction of Commissioners”.
The council is also to co-operate fully with the Commissioners “and take any reasonable action within the authority’s functions to prevent further failure”.
On the spot: CEO Katherine Kerswell
McMahon said: “I expect the council to drive its own improvement with the support, challenge and advice from the Commissioners.”
This will include “scrutiny of strategic decision-making, oversight of strategic financial management and decision-making, and the appointment, dismissal and performance management of senior and statutory officer positions”.
McMahon said: “The Commissioners’ appointments and directions take effect from today.
“The Commissioners will provide their first report in six months, with a second report before summer 2026 and further reports every six months or as agreed with the Commissioners.
“I will review the directions and Commissioners’ roles after 12 months, to ensure that Croydon has the support required to accelerate recovery and protect the public purse.
“Subject to clear and sustained evidence of improvement, certain functions may be returned to the council ahead of the expiration of the directions.”
Our loyal reader will already know who will be picking up the price of failure.
“As with other statutory interventions led by my department, the council will meet the costs of the Commissioners and provide reasonable amenities and services and administrative support… I am assured this provides value for money given the expertise being brought and the scale of the challenge.”
Read more: Meet the Commissioners: council experts sent to save Croydon
Read more: Mayor coming under pressure to sack council CEO Kerswell
Read more: From tantrum to grovel, Perry shifts posture for Commissioners
Read more: Panicked Perry admitted to Rayner: I can’t balance the budget
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I assume she will never resign so they need some big boots to kick Kerswell out, as far as they can… i assume they authority to do that, can they also rid of piss poor please..
It will prob cost them £500k to fire her unfortunately. She is coming towards the end of her time so she’ll prob milk our hard earned cash.
Coincidentally, the second edition of “Our Croydon” plopped onto the doormat today, this one with only seven pictures of part-time Perry in it.
The first thing the Commissioners should do is put a stop to what Eric Pickles called “propaganda on the rates”. Our council tax should not be used to fund Perry’s re-election campaign
Good news – it’s no longer “Our Croydon” but “Their Croydon”
THEY caused the bankruptcy at Croydon Council, but it is still us council taxpayers who will end up suffering to pay for it all, even if the Government help out a bit by writing off some of the debt.
The only thing the (unpunished) culprits who got us into this mess (Newman, Hall, Negreedy, Perry, Kerswell, etc.) are sorry about is that they got caught.
The whole fucking country will end up paying
Croydon has £900m in assets and £1.4bn debt. My guess is that a lot of parks and green space will be sold to developers for a share for more flats. Its inevitable as Croydon has nothing else worthwhile going for it. It can’t attract big commerce and high net worth groups it had before for example
I agree ‘Arfur’. But I still think there’s a demonstrable need to communicate with council tax-payers. We need refuse dates and legitimate news. We DON’T WANT OR NEED gurning politicians with no sense of shame or hubris (will IC readers know what hubris is?). This latest rag doesn’t even mention our existential crisis. It’s rubbing our noses in it. And we all know what ‘it’ is.
Sorry Chris he gives himself to go into full whinge mode about being taken over by Commissioners at the end of the article called “Welcome to Croydon” (and you’re welcome to it) on page 3. Don’t forget the Crystal Palace Cup Winners pull out souvenir in the middle pages. Good value for a Council with over a billion of debt.
The Kerswell will probably just drive off into the sunset with her undeserved local government gravy train pension pot ?! Good luck to the Commissioners, who will hopefully be more effective than the (ironically-named) “Improvement panel”, and won’t just spend the next 24 hours looking at the size of the mess, and then Friday afternoon in the Spreadeagle pub ?!
If she has an ounce of decency she should resign. But since she got £420000 after 16 months at Kent, she will stay as long as she wants in her current £200k job. She and Perry should do the decent thing and unselfishely resign and their legacies will not be tainted as much. They serve the people not to line their pockets but to serve the public’s interest and trust
The government has decided that the Mayor, CEO and the rest of the leadership team are not capable of performing their jobs without supervision. So why are we paying them a fortune to sit at their desks?
In a democracy, is it appropriate for the Labour Government to determine whether a Conservative local mayor should be sacked? Shouldn’t that be a matter for the voters of Croydon to determine next May, when he can put his case to them directly?
Yes. Which is why the Mayor hasn’t been sacked. He’ll just have people telling when he’s being a fuck wit. Which will be often
Inside Croydon has been doing that for years
Ministers simply do not have the power to remove elected officials from office.
Nor can they dismiss a council employee because the council is the employing authority not the government.
Whilst it will stick in the craw paying Kerswell off it may be the quickest and easiest way to get rid of her. The dismissal route might not work and would divert resources and attention from the real issues at the council.
As for Perry whilst he is the current Tory candidate for the election next year they should look to replacing him if they want to stand a chance of retaining the post.
At the moment any candidate is merely a prospective one until nominations close next spring once the election is formally called.
How much will we Croydon Council Tax payers be paying the Commissioners? Or will the UK taxpayers be footing their bills?
The fees were published today. Same schtick as with the improvement panel. Just a bit more per person. £200 per day more.
Will publish the figures tomorrow.
Katherine Kerswell was appointed by the government the last time Croydon went bust. Her role was to sort it all out. Instead, she sorted herself out and gave herself the job full time. We now find ourselves 5years later going bust again and Katherine Kerswell is still here and clearly has not done her job very well. She should resign.
Commissioner news from The Croydon Day Today.
https://youtube.com/shorts/4oNn0-G9WCM?feature=shareg
There is no justification for a payout for her apparently second failure as a CEO. She should be fired or resign. She’s had over a million pounds from taxpayers during her time in Croydon and she’s had her 420k payout for 16 months (I believe?) at Kent.
So what have the improvement and assurance panel been doing all this time ?
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