On their way out: the council’s interim chief executive Elaine Jackson (right) and her assistant, Jenny Rowlands (centre) consider the scene at the election count in the Fairfield Halls in May. By September, both will have quit the council
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The omnishambles council is looking for its third chief exec in the space of nine months, with the challenge for the borough’s failed Mayor of finding anyone willing to work with him. By STEVEN DOWNES
Elaine Jackson, Croydon Council’s £220,000 stand-in chief executive, will finally be taking retirement in September, it has been confirmed this morning.
Jackson took over as interim chief executive after her boss, Katherine Kerswell, was forced out of the top job in October 2025, encouraged to leave with a £50,000 payment in lieu of notice agreed by Croydon’ failed Mayor, Jason Perry.
Kerswell, the council CEO who had scored a world record three Section 114 notices of effective bankruptcy during her time working at Fisher’s Folly, had to go after government-appointed Commissioners determined that her “Stabilisation Plan” was a mess and was not working.
Incompetent: Katherine Kerswell appointed Jackson as her assistant CEO
Kerswell had appointed Jackson as her No2 almost as soon as she arrived in Croydon in late 2020. The Commissioners, in their first report to government since their appointment in July last year, pointed to the constant churn in senior positions at Croydon as part of the authority’s inability to deal with its financial problems, which stem from the £1.7billion debt.
But that churn has continued. Since Kerswell left nine months ago, finance director Jane West left ahead of schedule, again thought to be at the instigation of the Commissioners, who brought in Conrad Hall as a replacement. Hall arrived initially on secondment from Newham, but more recently confirmed as a permanent appointment.
Jenny Rowlands, appointed by Jackson to be her assistant CEO, and presumed to being lined up as a successor, lasted barely two months in Croydon before she packed her bags and scarpered for pastures new.
Jackson’s announcement was not unexpected. It was always accepted that she had postponed her retirement to act as a stop-gap until after the local elections in May had determined a new political administration.
But her pending departure leaves not so much a vacancy on the 11th floor of Fisher’s Folly, but a vacuum.
Jackson had previously been chief exec at nearby, and much smaller, Tandridge.
In an announcement from the propaganda bunker on Mint Walk today, the council describe Jackson’s near-six-year stint in Croydon as taking place “during some of the most challenging years in the council’s recent history”.
‘Privilege’: Elaine Jackson was being paid £220,000 pa
Serving up the usual slop of bureaucratic piffle, the statement has Jackson saying it had been a “privilege to serve” as the council’s interim CEO. Her £220,000-plus salary probably had something to do with that.
Apparently, Jackson said, “I am proud of the work we have taken forward, including supporting the council’s significant improvement journey and overseeing the successful delivery of the local elections.” Some straws being clutched at there, perhaps?
“Croydon has faced real challenges in recent years, but it is also a borough with enormous energy, talent and potential. I want to thank the Executive Mayor, councillors, colleagues, partners and the fantastic community for their support.
“I wish the council every success as it moves into its next chapter.”
Soaring spending: how Croydon Council’s expenditure on agency staff increased under Kerswell and Jackson, all approved by failed Mayor Perry
Croydon has been saddled with a succession of egomaniacs and incompetents in the top job over the past decade or so, from David Brent impersonator Nathan Elvery to Aussie property developer Jo “Negreedy” Negrini, through to the bungling Kerswell, someone so profoundly stupid she thought she could stop council staff from reading Inside Croydon by blocking access to this website on council computers.
But who would want to take on the job of picking up the pieces after the chaos left behind by that trio of chancers? Or who would put up with working with piss-poor Perry for the next four years?
Croydon is already playing catch-up: Greenwich is well-advanced in having its first pick of available CEOs, with its recruitment of a successor to Debbie Warren, one of the government’s Commissioners in Croydon.
Rowlands, a potential replacement, clearly didn’t like what she saw in Fisher’s Folly.
Finance chief: Conrad Hall
Hall has taken on much of the responsibilities of the CEO since his permanent appointment to finance was confirmed.
He has the endorsement of the Commissioners, so this might be the next step up, and he might just be the boringly dull, but competent, administrator that Croydon has needed for many years.
The Commissioners include two with proven track records in managing south London councils: Warren and lead Commissioner Ged Curran, the former CEO of Merton. Neither are thought likely to want to abandon the peace and tranquillity of semi-retirement on £1,000 per day (or more) in consultancy fees.
All other potential applicants are invited to read the Inside Croydon archive to judge for themselves what working for the omnishambles authority might be like, while they have the chance…
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: Auditors issue Perry with warning over ‘unsustainable’ finances
Read more: Council’s agency staff bill includes £726 per hour consultant
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For £220k per year, I could probably survive trying to ignore Piss-Poor for at least a year !?!