This is what “success” looks like under Jason Perry, Croydon’s failed Mayor.
Kent-based Carers First, a business with charity status, took over the council’s carers support service in March last year after what can only be described as a lip-service, self-fulfilling council public consultation.
Mayor Perry and the council decided to change the provider of statutory carers’ support services, from local charity the Whitgift Foundation to 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 in March last year, after the council opted to break provision for carers into three parts, with adult carers’ assessments to be provided by Carers First.
When the news of the impending closure of the Carers’ Centre was reported exclusively by Inside Croydon the council issued assurances that there would be no job losses. That proved to be one of many borken promises by Mayor Perry and his council.
Reprieved, for now: the Carers Support Centre on George Street has already had its hours reduced by Carers First
Croydon Council has not publicly disclosed any financial savings figure regarding the transition to Carers First. Given the cash-strapped council’s financial position, most have assumed that Carers First under-bid the previous service providers, including the Whitgift Foundation, in an effort to seal the deal.
One year on, how is the service performing under Carers First?
To ensure the continuance of their contract, Carers First is obliged to meet set KPIs – Key Performance Indicators. The evaluation of their performance is supposed to be a continuing, rolling process by the council.
As you might expect, Mayor Perry’s council and their contractors have maintained that the changeover has been a wonderful success.
The facts say otherwise.
In the financial year 2025-2026, Carers First in Croydondelivered:
- 358 out of 600 (59.6%) required annual registrations of new carers
- 207 out of 500 (41.4%) required annual statutory carers assessments. Carers First are moving towards a wellbeing assessment, which would mean the council would have no way to monitor these independently
- 39 six-week reviews, and 53 annual reviews – this should be closer to 207 if those registering are receiving their follow-up reviews. So 44% of what they ought to have done, based even on their below-target number of statutory (ie. legally required) carer assessments. Had Carers First done the required 500 statutory assessments, then they will have delivered just 18.4% of the reviews they would be expected to perform
- 5 out of 45 (11%) of required annual carers trainings
- 5 wellbeing activities, two of which were established by the former provider, and one of which is a “virtual” programme, an off-the-peg session offered across Carers First services nationally.
In other areas where they have service contracts, Carers First do not usually operate from an established base. The Croydon Carers Support Centre was only kept open by Croydon Council after Mayor Perry was lobbied by the centre’s users. No one knows how long the centre will remain open. Opening hours at the Carers Support Centre have already been reduced to three days a week.
Carers First had previously said that they wanted to operate a “hub and spokes” model, with sub-centres in locations around the borough. After 12 months in charge, Carers First have 1 out of 6 proposed “spokes” (16%), and that’s at Selsdon Library, an outreach connection established by the previous provider.
And there’s more failings, too. The Carers Card scheme, established by the previous provider to prove carer status, supporting carers to access discounts on local and national services, has not been reinstated, as agreed and funded by the council contract.
Unseen campaign: despite the carefully shot photos for ‘Caring is personal’, there’s been little if anything seen of the offer on Carers First’s socials
Instead, Carers First now directs Croydon carers to a third-party website which requires them to pay for the cards.
Former carers have been excluded from Croydon’s service, depriving both them and current carers of vital mutual support. Former carers are only welcome if they volunteer. Which is handy for Carers First, since it provides them with unpaid labour.
The centre and its telephone helpline were shut from December 24 to January 1, a time of year when carers can often need support the most.
Having originally promised that no jobs would be lost, Carers First imposed redundancy on the centre’s management team, who had long-standing knowledge of the local community. Most of the remaining staff have since resigned.
The “Caring is Personal” campaign, designed to reach new or “hidden” carers, has received minimal promotion both in the centre or on social media.
The contract tender specified that respite services needed to evolve into a “whole family approach”. The reality under Carers First is that they now shunt carers off to third-party organisations, leaving carers to organise this themselves.
Donation hub: the Carers First website makes heavy pitches for donations – even to carers seeking support. Carers First received £4.5m from contracts in the latest year for which figures are available
Croydon Council’s logo is not displayed on the Carers First website, as stipulated by the tender. Which is odd, given that Carers First are operating under a significant, seven-year, £5.87million investment of Council Tax-payers’ money, split between them and additional contractors, Mind in Croydon and Off the Record.
When you visit Carers First’s website, you are immediately confronted by an appeal for donations. Carers First are registered as a charity, but they also have multi-million-pound service contracts with local authorities, including Merton council, Essex County Council and Medway.
According to public records, for the financial year ending to March 2025 (the most recent that is available, and covering a period before Carers First were working in Croydon), the charity had total income of £5,289,243 and total expenditure of £5,114,805.
Numbers crunched: the Charity Commission shows a healthy surplus for Carers First, even after they have paid their HQ staff’s salaries
The accounts note: “Total income includes £4,546,039 from 10 government contract(s) and £132,176 from 9 government grant(s).” These are contracts where Carers First are paid to deliver a service, just as they are in Croydon.
The Carers First website nonetheless lays it on thick with the requests for donations: “Your gift today will help a carer get support they need to thrive in their role and find the balance in their lives they wish to achieve,” goes the Carers First blurb.
“It will help them realise they don’t have to do it on their own.”
But according to some carers in Croydon who have been confronted with the Carers First begging bowl when directed to the contractor’s website, they find this donation drive off-putting – as they assume that there must be others in greater need than they are.
“The messaging is just so wrong, on a site where they are supposed to be offering these services to people who need them, not trying to take money off them,” according to one user of the Croydon centre.
“Some people may find this off-putting. Which might be exactly what Carers First has in mind, as they drive down demand for services that they are being paid to provide.”
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
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