Recent Comments
Dave West on Businesses on the brink as Whi… Peter Gillman on Now south London’s water… Peter Underwood on Now south London’s water… Arfur Towcrate on Now south London’s water… Colin Gamm on Addiscombe cycle shop-owner wh… insidecroydon on What a week it has been! Sorry…
Category Archives: Children’s Services
£603,000: the soaring costs of Croydon’s ‘improvement’ panel
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Three years since Tony McArdle and his government-appointed team of troubleshooters were parachuted into the council, there are mounting questions about what they have achieved. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES The Government-appointed chair of Croydon Council’s “improvement and … Continue reading
Posted in Adult Social Care, Children's Services, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Libraries, Section 114 notice, SEND, Tony McArdle
Tagged Bankrupt, Chrildren's Services, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Eleanor Brazil, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Levelling, LGC, Local Government Chronicle, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Phil Brookes, S114, S114 notice, Section 114, Section 114 Notice, Tony McArdle, Tory
12 Comments
Perry plans £100m more cuts in country’s first AI-driven council
CROYDON IN CRISIS: ‘Transformation’ project is set to be rubber-stamped at this week’s cabinet meeting (it will be approved without anything resembling a debate). But according to council insiders, it is ‘rushed’, ‘full of risks’ and just a ‘Trojan horse’ … Continue reading
Posted in 'Future Croydon', Adult Social Care, Children's Services, Claire Bonham, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Croydon Greens, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Peter Underwood, Stuart King
Tagged 'Future Croydon', Claire Bonham, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Green Party, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, Liberal Democrats, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Peter Underwood, STUART KING, Tory
8 Comments
Cummings’ budget rejected before his big Newsnight moment
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The government has just found £2.5bn in ‘exceptional financial support’ for 19 councils. But Mayor Jason Perry and his finance chief have an anxious week after having had their unbalanced budget rejected in a Town Hall meeting. … Continue reading
Posted in Adult Social Care, Children's Services, Chris Philp MP, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Jason Cummings, Mayor Jason Perry, Ria Patel, Section 114 notice, Stuart King
Tagged 15% Council Tax hike, BBC Newsnight, Conservative, Council budget, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Department for Levelling Up, DLUHC, Fund Croydon Fairly, Improvement and Assurance Panel, Improvement Panel, Jason Cummings, Labour, LGA, Local Government Association, London, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Michael Gove, Newsnight, Pay More Get Less, Ria Patel, S114, S114 notice, Say No To 15%, STUART KING, Tory, Unbalanced budget
4 Comments
It’s time for our elected councillors to stand up for Croydon
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Saddled with £1.4bn of ‘toxic’ debt, Mayor Perry has been rendered paralysed in his management of the cash-strapped council’s finances. Ahead of tonight’s budget meeting, ANDREW PELLING outlines some of the options for the borough’s politicians There’s … Continue reading
Posted in Adult Social Care, Children's Services, Community associations, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Croydon Greens, Esther Sutton, Improvement Board, Jane West, Jason Cummings, Katherine Kerswell, Planning, Ria Patel, Sarah Jones MP, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle
Tagged 15% Council Tax hike, Andrew Pelling, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Department of Levelling Up, DLUHC, Esther Sutton, Green Party, Jane West, Jason Cummings, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, Liberal Democrats, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Michael Gove, Ria Patel, S114, S114 notice, Say No To 15%, Section 114, Section 114 Notice, Tony McArdle, Tory
8 Comments
Youth knife crime review stresses agencies’ powerlessness
It is not difficult to summon up that feeling of absolute hopelessness that occurred on a morning last autumn when you first heard the news that a 15-year-old schoolgirl, Elianne Andam, had been stabbed to death while on her way … Continue reading
Posted in Children's Services, Crime, Croydon Council, Debbie Jones, Health, Knife crime, London-wide issues, Policing, Schools
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon murder, Croydon Safeguarding Children Partnerhip, CSCP, Debbie Jones, Elianne Andam, knife crime, London Borough of Croydon, Metropolitan Police, murder, schools, youth knife crime
Leave a comment
Council loaned Brick by Brick additional £47.3m last year
CROYDON IN CRISIS: In its latest report to Michael Gove, the Government’s improvement panel reveals a £38m hole in cash-strapped council budgets for the next four years – and repeats plea for unprecedented half-a-billion pounds loan write-off Croydon’s cash-strapped council … Continue reading
Posted in Adult Social Care, Children's Services, Croydon Council, Housing, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Report in the Public Interest, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle
Tagged 15% Council Tax hike, £540m debt write off, Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Department for Levelling Up, Department for Levelling UP Housing and Communities, Improvement and Assurance Panel, Katherine Kerswell, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Michael Gove, Tony McArdle, Tory
5 Comments
Cash-strapped council recruits £1m-worth of bean-counters
CROYDON IN CRISIS: While council chief exec Katherine Kerswell prepares to impose another £31m-worth of cuts, the council is recruiting SIX ‘heads of strategic finance’ to tally the money that they don’t have. By our Town Hall reporter, KEN LEE … Continue reading
Fairfield Halls ceremony recognises hard work of foster carers
The council has celebrated foster carers from across the borough for the work they do for vulnerable children and young people at a gala evening staged at the Fairfield Halls. Foster carers help care for children of all ages, from … Continue reading
Posted in Children's Services, Croydon Council
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Council, Foster care, fostering
Leave a comment
Backlash against Hunt as Tory-run councils feel the squeeze
Malign neglect of local government after 13 years of savage spending cuts has created an ‘existential threat’ to council services. ‘Things are starting to fall apart at the seams,’ warns a Tory source “Flagship” Conservative-run county councils could suffer financial … Continue reading
Posted in Adult Social Care, Children's Services, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Housing, Improvement Board, London Councils, London-wide issues, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice
Tagged Chancellor of the Exchequer, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Jeremy Hunt, Labour, LGA, Local Government Association, London, Mayor Jason Perry, Northamptonshire, S114, S114 notice, Section 114 Notice, Thurrock Council, Tory, Woking Borough Council
4 Comments
Hundreds turn out to protest against plan to close nurseries
Children as young as three or four are being threatened with the consequences of the crass mismanagement of the local council and the failed £1bn property gamble by the borough’s biggest land-owners. By education correspondent GENE BRODIE It was all … Continue reading
Posted in Children's Services, Community associations, Croydon Council, Education, Mayor Jason Perry, Old Palace, Schools, Selhurst, Socco Cheta Community Hub, South Norwood, South Norwood Community Kitchen, Whitgift Foundation
Tagged Brick by Brick, Conservative, Crosfield Nursery, Croydon, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Nursery consultation, Old Palace of John Whitgift School, Old Palace Parents Alliance, Our Nursery Schools Matter, Portland Road, Selhurst Nursery, Socco Cheta, South Norwood Community Kitchen, Tory, Whitgift Foundation
1 Comment
We are witnessing the long, slow death of local government
‘We are staring into an abyss here, and it’s time we faced up to it’. Those were the words of a Conservative councillor in Croydon – in 2013. Here, ANDREW FISHER, pictured right, says that faced with austerity on a … Continue reading
Posted in Adult Social Care, Andrew Fisher, Children's Services, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Housing, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Libraries, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice, SEND
Tagged 15% Council Tax hike, Andrew Fisher, CIPFA, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Department for Levelling Up, DLUHC, Hastings, Lambeth, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Michael Gove, Northumberland, Nottingham, S114 notice, Section 114, Section 114 Notice, Slough, Thurrock, Tim Pollard, Tory, unemployment, Woking
21 Comments
Children left to wait over council delays on summer camp funds
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Voluntary groups who are supposed to be hosting summer camps for the borough’s children complain that they have not received their promised grants from the council and Mayor Perry has ignored their pleas for help. By our … Continue reading
Posted in Activities, Charity, Children's Services, Community associations, Croydon Council, Education, Mayor Jason Perry, Schools, Sport
Tagged Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Cougars, Croydon Council, HAF, Holiday Activities and Food Programme, Holiday Activity and Food, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Monks Hill, Tory
1 Comment
Summer holiday schemes suffer from council’s missing links
Croydon’s holiday activity and food clubs are open for booking – though with just days before the schools break up for the long summer holiday when the schemes are supposed to get underway, there’s a dearth of detail available on … Continue reading
Perry’s cost-cutting puts five nursery schools under threat
KEN LEE, our Town Hall reporter, on the Mayor’s latest ‘short-sighted short-termism’ that will yet again see residents paying more to get less Jason Perry, the Conservative Mayor of Croydon who put up the borough’s Council Tax by 15per cent … Continue reading
Posted in Addiscombe West, Children's Services, Croydon Council, Debbie Jones, Education, Mayor Jason Perry, Purley, Schools, Selhurst, South Norwood, Thornton Heath
Tagged Addiscombe, Conservative, Crosfield Nursery, Croydon, Croydon Council, London Borough of Croydon, Maintained Nursery Schools, Mayor Jason Perry, Purley, Purley Nursery, Selhurst, Selhurst Nursery, South Norwood, Thornton Heath, Thornton Heath Nursery, Tory, Tunstall Nursery
3 Comments
Parents facing ‘hollowed-out’ half-term of council activities
When Jason “It’s going to get worse before it gets better” Perry referred to the “hollowed-out council” that he took charge of last May, the Tory Mayor must have had in mind the borough’s library service, which has been run … Continue reading
Posted in Activities, Children's Services, Coulsdon, Croydon Council, GLL - Better, Leisure services, Libraries, Mayor Jason Perry, New Addington, Schools, South Norwood
Tagged Better, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon Libraries, Mayor Jason Perry, New Addington, Selsdon, South Norwood, Tory
Leave a comment
Perry to preside over record-breaking 15% Council Tax hike
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The borough with one of the biggest Council Tax bills in London has just been given permission to make those bills even bigger. Much bigger. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Croydon, under Tory Mayor Jason Perry, has been … Continue reading
Posted in Adult Social Care, Brick by Brick, Children's Services, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle
Tagged Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Department for Levelling Up, DLUHC, Labour, London, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Michael Gove, Slough Borough Council, Thurrock Council, Tory
15 Comments
Town Hall meetings halved as new Mayor dodges questioning
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Tonight’s cabinet meeting has on its agenda the borough’s underperforming schools, the Westfield failure, Council Tax Support and council rents… in all, 24 items need to be considered at a meeting where opposition councillors will barely be … Continue reading
Posted in "Hammersfield", Centrale, Children's Services, Croydon Council, Education, Housing, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Report in the Public Interest, Schools, Section 114 notice, Whitgift Centre
Tagged Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Green Party, Labour, Liberal Democrats, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Reports in the Public Interest, RIPI, Tory
4 Comments
Ombudsman finds council put 4-year-old at risk of gang crime
CROYDON IN CRISIS: In the latest adverse finding against Croydon Council, in a case that stretches back seven years, a young mother was ‘left to live in fear’ after she was subjected to threats at gun-point and her appeals to … Continue reading
Children’s Christmas activity clubs are open for bookings
The council has updated its directory of voluntary, faith and charity organisations staging holiday clubs over the Christmas period, offering activities and healthy hot meals for those youngsters who receive free school meals. The Department for Education has allocated £300,000 … Continue reading
Posted in Activities, Addiscombe East, Charity, Children's Services, Church and religions, Community associations, Croydon Council, Education, Health, Norbury, Park Hill and Whitgift, Purley, Sanderstead
Tagged Addiscombe East, Christmas holiday clubs, Croydon, Croydon Council, Marcus Rashford, Norbury and Pollards Hill, Park Hill and Whitgift, Sanderstead
Leave a comment
Fostering service appeal goes to the movies with Childhood
Childhood, a brief, brilliant and beautiful short film, has been released by Croydon Council in a ground-breaking national collaboration with 55 other authorities across the country in an effort to recruit much-needed foster carers. There are more than 70,000 children … Continue reading
Posted in Children's Services, Cinema, Croydon Council, Education, Schools
Tagged Childhood, Croydon, Croydon Council, Foster, fostering, London Borough of Croydon
Leave a comment
#PennReport: Croydon has been let down by political leaders
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The report into the council’s financial collapse that has been withheld for nearly two years includes damning criticisms of some of the council’s most senior staff and political leaders. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Croydon’s dysfunctional council went … Continue reading
Posted in Alison Butler, Children's Services, Croydon Council, Guy van Dichele, Hazel Simmonds, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Lisa Taylor, Paul Scott, Report in the Public Interest, Richard Simpson, Section 114 notice, Shifa Mustafa, Simon Hall, The Penn Report, Tony Newman
Tagged #PennReport, Brick by Brick, Children's Services, Croydon, Croydon Council, Guy van Dichele, Hazel Simmonds, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, Lisa Taylor, Ofsted, Penn Report, Richard Penn, Richard Simpson, Shifa Mustafa, Simon Hall, The Penn Report, Tony Newman
3 Comments
Kids’ holiday club faces disaster as council withholds grants
With just days to go before the start of the summer holidays, the organiser of an established and council-approved children’s activities centre was told he would not receive any funding. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES The organiser of a kids’ summer … Continue reading
Alderman criticises handing Heathfield to profit-making school
A private school that charges £81,000 per year for some of its pupils is accused of doing work on the ‘cheap’ with its proposals, including ugly 9-foot-high fencing around a listed Victorian building A Croydon alderman, and former cabinet member … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Croydon Council, Croydon parks, Education, Environment, Heathfield House, Planning, Property, Schools, Selsdon and Addington Village, SEND, Timothy Godfrey
Tagged Cressey College, Croydon, Croydon Council, Heathfield House, Horizon Care and Education Group, Labour, Timothy Godfrey
2 Comments
Ombudsman orders review of Croydon’s temporary housing
A cancer patient and her four children were ‘cooped up’ in a single room throughout the covid pandemic because council officials failed to check their own temporary accommodation policy Croydon Council has been forced to pay nearly £5,000 in compensation … Continue reading
SEND demand sees council education deficit grow to £22.5m
A report published today by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has discovered a £1.3bn ‘financial black hole at the centre of the special educational needs and disability system – and it is growing rapidly’ The deficit in Croydon Council’s DSG … Continue reading
