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Category Archives: Council Tax
‘Ignore me’ pleads Mayor who most people ignore anyway
Our Town Hall reporter, KEN LEE, on the latest digital difficulty to trouble council officials Jason Perry, Croydon’s £82,000 per year part-time Mayor, today issued an urgent plea to council colleagues to ignore him. Or ignore his emails, anyway. The … Continue reading
‘Can’t deal with debt’ admits Perry as he borrows £38m more
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Council staff morale ‘at an all-time low’ according to a national newspaper report, while the bankrupt borough’s part-time Mayor’s only answer to its financial struggles is to borrow even more money Last week, Inside Croydon columnist Andrew … Continue reading
Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice
Tagged 15% Council Tax hike, Clive Betts, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Department for Levelling Up, Financial Times, London Borough of Croydon, S114 notice, Section 114, Section 114 Notice, Tory
4 Comments
Mayor Who? Council survey exposes low satisfaction rates
A public opinion survey conducted at the end of 2023 found that only 34% of Croydon residents think that the council offers value for money. The cash-strapped council spent £33,000 on the survey. By KEN LEE, Town Hall reporter Tucked … Continue reading
Gove’s extra cash barely touches the sides of Croydon’s debts
Michael Gove’s £600m hand-out to local authorities in England, announced yesterday, won’t go very far, especially if you consider that the Government’s own expert panel reckons Croydon alone needs £540m to wipe out a chunk of its toxic debt. By … Continue reading
Posted in 2024 General Election, Adult Social Care, Andrew Fisher, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Housing, Improvement Board, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle
Tagged Andrew Fisher, Conservative, Council Tax, Councils in Crisis, Croydon, Croydon Council, Department for Levelling Up, Department for Levelling UP Housing and Communities, Jason Cummings, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Local Government Association, London, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Michael Gove, Tory
2 Comments
Under the Tories, issuing a Section 114 notice ‘is pointless’
COUNCILS IN CRISIS: The partisan blame game over the financial collapse of local authorities is unravelling by the week, as ever more civic leaders and mayors admit that there’s no spending left to cut. The next couple of weeks could … Continue reading
Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Outside Croydon, Section 114 notice
Tagged 15% Council Tax hike, Birmingham, Birmingham City Council, Bradford, Bradford City Council, Council Tax, Department for Levelling Up, DLUHC, Hampshire, Hampshire County Council, Havering, Havering Borough Council, Jack Shaw, Michael Gove, Middlesbrough Council, Somerset Council, Stoke, Stoke City Council
4 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
Perry pleads poverty when he has more Council Tax than ever
CROYDON COMMENTARY: The Government’s local council settlement announced on Monday saw Michael Gove give special licence to some authorities to hike their Council Tax by an eye-watering 10%. The reason our borough wasn’t on that list, says ANDREW PELLING, is … Continue reading
LGA warns dozens more councils are on brink of bankruptcy
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The Government’s 2024-2025 financial settlement will allow some local authorities in England to impose a 10% Council Tax hike on residents for a second year. By KEN LEE, Town Hall reporter Even Conservative councillors were saying that … Continue reading
Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice
Tagged 15% Council Tax hike, Birmingham, Birmingham City Council, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Department for Levelling Up, DLUHC, Mayor Jason Perry, Michael Gove, Nottingham City Council, Slough, Thurrock, Tory, Woking
6 Comments
Perry struggles with numbers to offer us: Pay More, Get Less
Our columnist ANDREW FISHER watched the Croydon Council budget webcast this week, so that you wouldn’t have to… Croydon’s very own answer to Laurel and Hardy took to the airwaves this week, as Conservative Mayor Jason Perry and his finance … Continue reading
Posted in Adult Social Care, Andrew Fisher, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Jane West, Jason Cummings, Mayor Jason Perry
Tagged 15% Council Tax hike, 2024 Council Budget, Adult Social Care, Andrew Fisher, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Jane West, Jason Cummings, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Tory
5 Comments
Perry to host webinar on his plans for more cuts and more debt
Croydon Mayor Jason Perry is staging a webinar on Monday, at which the public can “hear more about the council’s budget proposals for next year”, according to the council. Perry and Jason Cummings, the cabinet member for finance, the Tory … Continue reading
Mayor Perry confesses: it could take 10 years to fix this mess
Jason Perry, cash-strapped Croydon’s £84,000 per year Mayor who was elected last year on a manifesto promise that he would “fix the finances”, now reckons it could take him until 2034 to get the job done. And part-time Perry feels … Continue reading
Charities shocked to find council set to sell their buildings
Not content with withdrawing all grant aid from the borough’s voluntary groups, cash-strapped Croydon Council is now looking at making 17 charities and community groups effectively homeless by selling the buildings that they currently use. At the start of the … Continue reading
Posted in Charity, Council Tax, Croydon Council, CVA, Mayor Jason Perry, Mind in Croydon, Steve Phaure
Tagged Conservative, Cornerstone House, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon VA, Croydon Voluntary Action, CVA, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Mind in Croydon, Pampisford Road, Scrutiny and Overview Committee, Scrutiny committee, Selhurst, Steve Phaure, Tory
4 Comments
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
‘Teetering on the edge’: Hunt does nothing for local councils
TV politics pundit ANDREW FISHER, pictured right, assesses the fine detail of the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, and amid the tax giveaways for the already wealthy, identifies the glaring gaps in financial provision for the NHS, teachers and local authorities like … Continue reading
Posted in 2024 London elections, Andrew Fisher, Council Tax, Croydon Council
Tagged 15% Council Tax hike, Andrew Bailey, Andrew Fisher, Autumn Statement, Bank of England, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, HM Treasury, Homelessness, Jeremy Hunt, No-fault evictions, OBR, Office for Budget Responsibility, Section 114, Section 114 Notice, Tory
4 Comments
Gove’s ‘improvement’ panel handed £1,000 per week pay rise
Trebles all-round! Self-professed ‘friend of Suella Braverman’ has given generous pay rises to the unelected bureaucrats overseeing Croydon’s cash-strapped council Michael Gove and his Conservative Government have just added another £50,000 per year on to the costs of running Croydon’s … Continue reading
Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Report in the Public Interest, Section 114 notice, The Penn Report, Tony McArdle
Tagged Brian Roberts, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Department for Levelling Up, DLUHC, Improvement and Assurance Panel, Improvement Board, Jon Wilson, Mayor Jason Perry, Michael Gove, Pamela Leonce, Phil Brookes, S114 notice, Section 114, Section 114 Notice, Statutory powers, Tony McArdle, Tory
2 Comments
Tory Mayor Perry admits: ‘Essentially, we’re insolvent’. Again
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Without significant help from Government, the council is unable to find a solution to its debt crisis. By STEVEN DOWNES Croydon Council’s intractable financial problems will never be resolved until the Government agrees to write off hundreds … Continue reading
Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, London-wide issues, Mayor Jason Perry, Rowenna Davis, Section 114 notice
Tagged Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Jane West, Labour, Mayor Jason Perry, Michael Gove, Rowenna Davis, Scrutiny and Overview Committee, Scrutiny committee, Thurrock Council, Tony McArdle, Tory, Toxic debt, Woking Council
10 Comments
Perry’s Tories opt to send in the heavies to borough’s poorest
CROYDON IN CRISIS: After hiking Council Tax by 15%, the Tory Mayor and his finance chief are now using ‘an in-house army of bailiffs’ to go after residents on benefits who have fallen into arrears. By STEVEN DOWNES While Jason … Continue reading
Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, South West London Law Centres, Stuart King
Tagged 15% Council Tax hike, Conservative, Council Tax, Council Tax arrears, Covid-19, Croydon, Croydon Council, Jason Cummings, Labour, Mayor Jason Perry, South West London Law Centre, STUART KING, Tory, Universal Credit
16 Comments
Mayor Perry’s spending cuts should begin with his own cabinet
CROYDON COMMENTARY: Why is our cash-strapped council wasting £1.4m over four years on extra allowances for cabinet members who have little power? Or spending another £400,000 over the same period on ‘support staff’ for councillors at a time it is … Continue reading
Town Hall staff braced for £31m more cuts and job losses
CROYDON IN CRISIS: In an internal email to staff, the £192,000 per year chief executive has laid the groundwork for the next round of redundancies in departments including personnel and planning. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES While her council was congratulating … Continue reading
Perry claims ‘progress’ and gets set to hike Council Tax again
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Typical households’ bills will have risen by £388 in less than two years under the Tory Mayor, who has still failed to get a Government deal to write off some of the borough’s debts The borough’s Council … Continue reading
Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice
Tagged 15% Council Tax hike, 20% Council Tax hike, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Improvement and Assurance Panel, Improvement Panel, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Tory
6 Comments
It’s a Brum do: fixing local government won’t come cheap
After the latest local authority’s finances crashed and burned, and with Michael Gove twiddling his thumbs doing nothing before the General Election, ANDREW FISHER, pictured right, looks at what needs to be done to fix local government in England Councils … Continue reading
Posted in 2024 General Election, Andrew Fisher, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry
Tagged 15% Council Tax hike, Andrew Fisher, Andy Burnham, Angela Rayner MP, Birmingham City Council, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Michael Gove, Northamptonshire, Northumberland, Nottingham City Council, Thurrock, Tory, Woking
15 Comments
Council’s debt costs could hit £70m next year warns Mayor
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Jason Perry says he’s still hoping to get a Government write-off of a chunk of the borough’s borrowing, but otherwise he’s short on ideas or solutions. KEN LEE endured the latest ‘Question Time’ at Norbury, so that … Continue reading
Didn’t I do well?! Kerswell gives herself a pat on the back
CROYDON IN CRISIS: It is three years to the week since the emergency committee meeting, attended by Jason Perry, that decided in secret to give £437,000 to Jo Negrini to leave her job as council CEO. Today, Negreedy’s replacement, Katherine … Continue reading
Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Hazel Simmonds, Improvement Board, Jane West, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle
Tagged #PennReport, 15% Council Tax hike, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, DLUHC, Electoral Commission, Improvement and Assurance Panel, Information Commissioners Office, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, LGA, LGC, Local Government Association, Local Government Chronicle, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Michael Gove, Penn Report, The Penn Report, Tory
21 Comments
Crisis for Selsdon charity hard hit by council’s double-whammy
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Mayor Perry’s cuts are beginning to bite in his Tory heartlands, with the long-established Selsdon Centre for the Retired facing the prospect of closure next year. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES A respected and admired charity that supports … Continue reading
Posted in Age UK Croydon, Andrew Stranack, Charity, Chris Philp MP, Community associations, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Croydon Greens, Croydon South, CVA, Fatima Zaman, Joseph Lee, Mayor Jason Perry, Peter Underwood, Robert Ward, Selsdon and Addington Village, Selsdon Centre for the Retired, Selsdon Vale and Forestdale
Tagged 15% Council Tax hike, Andy Stranack, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fatima Zaman, Joseph Lee, Mayor Jason Perry, Peter Underwood, Robert Ward, Selsdon, Selsdon and Addington Village, Selsdon Centre for the Retired, Selsdon Vale and Forestdale, Tory
5 Comments
