CROYDON IN CRISIS: No expense spared for Tory Mayor as he uses tens of thousands of pounds of public money to hire a political adviser and handler. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES
Jason Perry, Croydon’s failed Mayor, is looking to spend more public money. But not on providing better services for the borough’s long-suffering residents. This time Perry, the cash-strapped council’s £86,000 per year Mayor, is recruiting someone to “manage” his own office.
The job ad makes no secret that this will be public money spent on a political appointee. And Perry is offering the right candidate pay at a rate equivalent to £78,000 per year.
Perry has added another £300million to the council’s debt mountain since he was first elected in 2022, while at the same time hiking Council Tax by 33% to pay his wages and those of what remains of the council’s staff.
Yet while hundreds of council employees, many on modest salaries, have been made redundant while piss-poor Perry’s been in charge, the Tory Mayor has decided that he still needs someone to bring him his cups of tea and do his photocopying for him. Oh, and probably also show him how to log-on to the council computer, too.
The council still has an HR department, headed by six-figure-salaried director “Dodgy” Dean Shoesmith. Despite the expense of running that department, the recruitment of the Mayor’s office manager is being handled by Adecco. So even more cost for residents.
The council’s spending on agency staff quadrupled under Tory Mayor Perry, to more than £50million a year by 2025. The vast majority of that spending has been funnelled into Adecco’s corporate coffers.
Adecco is the agency that booked one “transformation” consultant to assist Shoesmith at a rate of £726 per hour, according to the council’s own financial records.
The Mayor’s office manager won’t be on quite that astronomical rate. But according to the job ad, which has been published widely this week, the lucky candidate, if contracted via a third-party company, will be paid up to £43.03 per hour.
No expense spared: Perry’s political recruit could be paid at a rate of up to £78,000 per year
The initial hire is on a temporary contract for three to six months, “with view for further extension”. Over the course of a full 12-month period, someone being paid at £43.03 per hour would expect to receive more than £78,000. Not bad for Perry’s glorified gofer.
The advertised “umbrella” rate is £10 per hour more than might be paid if the successful candidate is signed on to the council PAYE payroll – providing another example of Perry’s no-expense-spared approach to squandering public money when it comes to himself.
Perry’s office already includes the Mayor’s “community engagement manager” on around £50,000 per year. This is a glorified PR job to try to polish the turd that is the bungling Mayor’s reputation. The community engagement manager was recruited in 2023. Andrea Perry (no relation) was the hand-picked appointee. her previous work had as… checks notes… a garden designer.
Andrea Perry had taken up that line of work after her career as a journalist had hit the buffers. At the turn of the century, she had been a hack on a right-wing tabloid who was mentioned, not in entirely glowing terms, at the Leveson Inquiry into Fleet Street’s dark arts, such as the phone hacking of murdered teenager Milly Dowler.
Andrea Perry doesn’t appear to have upped her ethical game much since Leveson. These days, she’s often seen on social media, posting in relation to council business from her personal account, without ever stating her role as the Mayor’s PR spinner and council employee – in breach of the council’s code of conduct.
Tabloid hack: Andrea Perry has been breaking the council’s code of conduct while working in the Mayor’s office
Perhaps a new office manager might have a word on behalf of Croydon’s rate-payers?
According to the office manager’s job ad as placed by recruiters Adecco, “We are seeking an exceptional Mayor’s office manager to lead the Mayor’s office and provide strategic and operational support to the Executive Mayor and cabinet during a pivotal period for the borough.”
Those are our italics. This is a blatant use of public money for a political appointee.
“This is a rare opportunity to work at the centre of local government, influencing decision-making, coordinating key priorities and ensuring the successful delivery of the Mayor’s vision.”
Ditto. An unelected political appointee.
Since July last year, Croydon Council has been under the supervision of government-appointed Commissioners, largely because Mayor Perry had proved himself to be thoroughly useless at doing what he promised to do: “Fix the finances”.
The arrival of the Commissioners means that Perry has been largely emasculated. So questions may need to be asked of the Commissioners over how they have allowed such public expense to be allocated for such blatant party political use.
According to the job ad, piss-poor Perry’s office manager will be expected to make the tea and keep the photocopier topped up with paper (“You will oversee the day-to-day operation of the Mayor’s office”).
“You will ensure that strategic priorities are effectively coordinated, managed and delivered across the organisation.” We thought that was part-time Perry’s job.
Listed among the office manager’s “key responsibilities” for this publicly funded political job are: “Coordinating political priorities and ensuring delivery against key commitments” and “Working closely with the Mayor’s policy adviser”.
The successful candidate will also need to be a “politically astute and resilient professional who thrives in a complex and high-profile environment”. So more capable that the Mayor himself then.
“You will be a natural relationship-builder with strong judgement, excellent communication skills and the ability to navigate competing priorities.” Ditto.
The job ad doesn’t even try to disguise that the Tory Mayor is looking to spend tens of thousands of pounds on paying a political appointee. Candidates should have, “Experience working within a political office… Strong understanding of the local government and political landscape… Experience operating successfully within a fast-paced, complex and politically sensitive environment.”
And: “… You will play a central role in shaping policy”.
As well as making a decent cuppa, obviously.
Read more: Firm behind £60m Purley Pool project goes into administration
Read more: Fly-tips? It’s all your fault for reporting it, says Perry’s puppet
Read more: HR director’s suspension at Sutton raises serious questions
PAID ADS: To advertise your services or products to our 10,000 weekday visitors to the site, as featured on Google News Showcase, email us inside.croydon@btinternet.com for our unbeatable ad rates
- 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
If the Government-appointed Commissioners haven’t stopped Piss-Poor Perry from squandering public money on unnecessary local government gravy train passengers, they must be as useless as Croydon’s failed mayor himself.
“…ensuring the successful delivery of the Mayor’s vision.” He has so little “vision” that he should be given a white stick and put in touch with the RNIB !
Did you critice Jo negrini or tony newman? Jason is stabalising the budget
If you mean “criticise”, then yes. We did. At length. Over six years. Indeed this website was first to highlight the financial risks of Brick by Brick. And first to reveal Negrini’s £432,000 pay-off.
And if you mean “stabilising”, then you’re wrong. Debt under Perry has increased to £1.7billion.
Cleaners get paid £25 an hour. So what?
No they don’t
As I said: it’s a lie.
Is there one council tax payer in Croydon who thinks this is a good use of their money? I can’t imagine even diehard Conservative loyalists would want to try to justify this.
That’s untrue.
There was a role for Mayor’s Office Manager 3 years ago at £56k per annum. That person probably left as there was nothing to do . As we all know, Jason loves doing photo ops for stuff he has no real involvement in and the previous manager was probably fed up being his photographer. This new role advertised recently… probably only requires them working 1-2 hours a day realistically.
Morgan McSweeney’s wife, Imogen Walker (now a Labour MP), was hired by Hamida Ali in 2020 as head of her Leader’s office on a salary of £49,698 in today’s money. No paper trail could ever be found to establish any hiring process.
Whoever the Mayor of Croydon may be I do not begrudge them a Head of Office/Chief of Staff. However neutered they may be by politically appointed commissioners, an Executive Mayor, whatever their political bent, deserves a well staffed office to help deliver their manifesto. A 3 to 6 month temporary appointment through a properly conducted recruitment exercise doesn’t strike me as unusual.
Whether Jason Perry is ever going to deliver any of his pre-election promises, Head of Office or not, is another question and we already know the answer to that.
On a recent visit to the council I was amazed when I found out there were more Managers and Supervisors than Administrative Staff in the department that processed my application.
Are the Government Commissioners running regular reports or audits on staffing levels by department?
Food for thought insidecroydon?
The lucky/poor sod who gets the job won’t actually see £43 an hour for the umbrella rate, equivalent to £80,500 a year. Part of that will be swallowed up in fees and taxes.
They’ll end up with about the same money as if they’re on Pay As You Earn, around £32 an hour, which is about £60,400 before tax.
But either way, umbrella or PAYE, us council taxpayers will pay £43 an hour / £80½k a year, plus a one-off finder’s fee to Adecco.
This unnecessary expense will be wasted on helping part-time hardly-ever-in-the office Mayor “fixing the finances” Perry do his £86,000 non-job