The rapid turnover among senior staff at Fisher’s Folly suggests that the ‘leadership issues’ which were in-part responsible for Commissioners being sent in to run Croydon Council may continue to be a problem for those left behind after Katherine Kerswell’s abrupt exit
EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES
Elaine Jackson, the temporary stand-in chief executive at Croydon Council, has something of a senior staffing problem to deal with, as two more interim directors have quit Fisher’s Folly.
The imminent departures of Tony Ralph and Chris Wortley brings to at least eight the number of director-level staff at the council to have left Croydon in just three months since the announcement in July that management of the council was to be placed in the hands of external, government-appointed Commissioners.
Jackson was supposed to have been taking early retirement this month, but was persuaded to stay on and provide “cover” following the abrupt departure of her erstwhile boss, Katherine Kerswell. Jackson’s tasks now include finding emergency cover for those who were hired recently as emergency cover…
Kerswell had been Croydon’s chief exec since September 2020, arriving when the council had debts of £1.4billion. After presiding over three Section 114 notices, effective admissions of bankruptcy, in her time in charge, Kerswell left at the end of October with the council’s debt still at £1.4billion, but with the consolation of being paid £50,000 by Mayor Jason Perry to not work her three months’ notice period.
Staffing issues: Elaine Jackson’s appointment as temporary CEO has not staunched the exodus of senior employees
The latest departures, of Ralph and Wortley, both come from the “Place” department, which is supposed to oversee a range of vital issues at the local authority, from planning and the Local Plan, to the town centre regeneration, to parking, fines and permits, to the state of the borough’s road network and managing Veolia, Croydon’s rubbish contractors.
The department has witnessed an unusually high churn rate of senior officials in recent months, since Nick Hibberd left his post as corporate director for sustainable communities, regeneration and economic recovery to take over as CEO at Bristol City Council in January.
Hibberd’s replacement, Naz Hussein, is working her notice period until the end of this month, though she did achieve one of her objectives, ensuring the departure of another director-level official, the controversial planning director Heather Cheesbrough.
Among the other top-level departures has been Karen Agbabiaka, “interim director for sustainable communities” – mostly roads – who left her Croydon job in September.
Quick turnaround: Tony Ralph is already leaving Croydon
She was swiftly replaced by Tony Ralph, a former senior official in Islington, as “interim director streets and environment”.
But he’s on his way out already, having barely got his Fisher’s Folly seat warm.
According to Katharine Street sources, Ralph is working his notice period (proof that you don’t have to pay someone tens of thousands of pounds not to do their job), although others say that the rarely available Ralph is already replying to emails with an out of office notification.
Chris Wortley has been the interim director in charge of parking matters in Croydon for just over a year. It is understood that he is standing down for personal reasons.
As the revolving door at Fisher’s Folly spins ever quicker, waiting for an opportunity to take up a new role – and replace Naz Hussein – is Venetia Reid-Baptiste, who is joining Croydon from Lambeth, where she has worked as “director of environment and streetscene”.
“Quite impressive,” was the initial reaction of a Katharine Street source, who added, “though anyone who has managed to work at Lambeth Council should fit right in here in Croydon. If she can find anyone else still working here, that is.”
Read more: The Kerswell Affair: Croydon is worse off after CEO’s five years
Read more: When’s a pay-off not a pay-off? When it’s 50 grand in Croydon
Read more: More council churn as exec in charge of regeneration quits
Read more: Go West! Cash-strapped council’s finance chief is set to quit
Read more: Council’s agency staff bill includes £726 per hour consultant
- If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, or want to publicise your residents’ association or business, or if you have a local event to promote, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com
As featured on Google News Showcase
- Our comments section on every report provides all readers with an immediate “right of reply” on all our content. Our comments policy can be read by clicking here
Inside Croydon is a member of the Independent Community News Network
The ‘Staff costs’ line on the Council management accounts must be a very small number now, with all these overpaid “directors” leaving? Soon, Piss Poor Perry will be the highest paid at he council, and we can get rid of him in only another six months’ time, although he will be replaced by another (overpaid) mayor, who at least should have learned not to promise to “fix the finances” ?!
Such ridiculous job titles. If, perhaps, directors had titles relating to their budget centres, we’d be able to work out what on earth they were supposed to be doing. However I guess they spend most of their working hours having meetings with each other and achieving nothing whatsoever.
To lose one Director, Mr. Perry, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose eight looks like carelessness
When will Nero put down his harp, put out the fire and do something good for a change, while Croydon crumbles and Croydon Council are too busy not learning anything from the Regina Road National Scandal.
I had been complaining about a leak dripping thru my ceiling for more than two months. I was not informed by Croydon Council Repairs Department that the liquid dripping on my head was effluent, sewage water on its way to polute some river,
When, on my unbending insistence, an effluent contaminated plasterboard wall removed to allow for better ventilation and drying, I observed some questionable electrical practices, namely, live wires feeding switches through a hole in the top of switchbox with an illfitting plastic gromet, with none of the old fashioned way of doing it: which is to bring the wire from beneath the box and enter from below, leaving a u bend at the bottom of the cable where the wata falls off, so, gravity has been conquered and everyone safe, but thats not what I found, and explains why my circuit board began shutting out a couple of weeks ago, Croydon Council electrician came out and made it temporarily safe.
These people know nothing, and care less, when I disclosed my mental health challenges I was ignored by all but one contacted me to check that I was safe and she signposted me to Safeguarding, perfect, and most appreciated. I doubt if how she acted was directly her job, but she did the right thing, and I am most grateful to her, she would have saved my life.
The Others, ignored my call for help, and a health care professional friend of mine sarcastically asked me: ‘have they never heard about Duty of Care” and that rang a bell because when I was reading to be a Mental Health Nurse at London Southbank it was definitely a hit topic ‘something about negligence or omission’, anyway, serious stuff that? Croydon Council officials are cruel to vulnerable retirees in sheltered housing, and wasting money by allowing buildings to depreciate, become ruminate, get rebuilt at a cost for the taxpayer of £300,000,000, a figure that the Executive Corporate Manager of Housing Realm did not dispute at the launch of new Grounds Contractors, who it seems can only be eligable if they have very negative reviews or have changed their company name in the last 6 months. You couldn’t make it up, everything conceivable you would prefer not to be part of the equation, and more.
According to the council meetings pages there was a whole slew of appointments and disciplinary committee meetings in late September through October to (hopefully) make some permanent appointments including the Director of Streets & Environment and Director of Property, Procurement & Capital plus several others
The only achievement amongst them is Naz Hussein getting rid of Heather Cheesbrough. As a parting gift to Croydon, perhaps she will fire Ross ‘Dodgy’ Gentry on her way out. And how much have Ralph and Wortley cost taxpayers given their areas – planning, town centre regeneration, rubbish, parking – have been a disaster? All these ridiculous job titles and salaries for people who have achieved nothing.
Will get worse… wait for the influx of ex-Harrow people, many left under a cloud…
Let’s watch this space. If there isn’t an influx of ex Harrow people, can we change your name to “he who doesn’t know”?
Did Baptiste not leave under a cloud from Harrow Cherry?:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5f27db39e90e0732e5efe261/Mrs_V_Reid-Baptiste_v_London_Borough_of_Harrow_Council___Others_-_3321394.2019_+_3321395.2019_-_Withdrawals.pdf
Husain also got rid of Agbakiaka, well done there. They should have made her CEO.
Care to elaborate on that morsel of information?
Venetia Reid-Baptiste is a very competent officer – hard work, honest, and leads from the front. Just what we need to get us out of this hole.
Likewise “Cherry”: how have you formed such an opinion?
And what is your name (we don’t allow pseudonyms or anonymous posters)?