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Category Archives: Improvement Board
Ali promises to release report into ‘collusive, unhealthy culture’
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Has the council leader made another meaningless promise to the borough’s residents over ‘disciplinary action’ against those responsible for the Town Hall’s financial collapse? By STEVEN DOWNES The potentially dynamite but still unpublished Penn Report into possible … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Guy van Dichele, Hamida Ali, Hazel Simmonds, Improvement Board, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Lisa Taylor, Report in the Public Interest, Section 114 notice, Shifa Mustafa, Tony Newman
Tagged Brick by Brick, Croydon, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, Tony Newman
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Jenrick ministry defends choice of all-white improvement panel
The government has been forced to defend its decision to appoint an all-white “improvement and assurance panel” to oversee Croydon Council’s efforts to recover from its financial collapse last year. In January, Robert Jenrick’s Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local … Continue reading
£700,000: Croydon counting the costs of council failures
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The Town Hall has been hit with ‘penalty fines’ of its own since its financial collapse 12 months ago. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES £697,300 And rising… That’s how much Croydon Council says it has paid so far, … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Improvement Board, Report in the Public Interest, Robert Canning, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle, Tony Newman
Tagged Brick by Brick, Croydon, Croydon Council, Grant Thornton, Hamida Ali, Improvement Panel, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, MHCLG, Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Report in the Public Interest, RIPI, Robert Canning, Robert Jenrick, Tony McArdle, Tony Newman
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Croydon warns Whitehall it will end taking child asylum-seekers
Just as the US-backed government in Afghanistan collapsed under assault from the Taliban, with potentially tens of thousands of people urgently seeking refuge outside their homeland, so Croydon Council has announced that it will refuse to take any more unaccompanied … Continue reading
Bankrupt borough could overspend by millions again this year
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Cash-strapped council is facing another busted budget, according to latest estimates. By STEVEN DOWNES Less than six months since Croydon was handed the biggest bail-out in history, following the authority declaring itself effectively bankrupt, and the council … Continue reading
Posted in Chris Buss, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle
Tagged Chris Buss, Croydon, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, London Borough of Croydon, MHCLG, Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, Tony McArdle
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Government-appointed advisers pulled plug on BxB sale
CROYDON IN CRISIS: ‘Improvement Panel’ ordered council to abandon its poor-value deal to sell Brick by Brick, and instead to pay Wates Construction £1.12m to oversee the loss-making builders’ work on 23 sites. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Hamida Ali, the … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Chris Buss, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Housing, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Planning, Tony McArdle
Tagged Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Croydon, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Improvement Panel, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, MHCLG, Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, Phil Brookes, Tony McArdle
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Homes England called in to check Brick by Brick sale value
CROYDON IN CRISIS: There’s mounting concern over possible poor value for tax-payers in the ‘sweetheart’ deal arranged with Manchester developers. By STEVEN DOWNES Growing suspicions surrounding the too-good-to-be-true deal over the sale of loss-making house-builders Brick by Brick has seen … Continue reading
Government inspector’s concerns over BxB sweetheart deal
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Jenrick’s improvement board raises serious questions over whether the quick sale of the council’s failed development company could end up costing tax-payers many millions of pounds, while its latest report criticises borough officials’ ‘lack of self-awareness’. By … Continue reading
Posted in Adult Social Care, Brick by Brick, Chris Buss, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Improvement Board, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Tony McArdle
Tagged Brick by Brick, Chris Buss, Croydon, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Improvement Panel, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, MHCLG, Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, Robert Jenrick, Tony McArdle, Urban Splash
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Commissioner says Croydon can recover – with another £30m
CROYDON IN CRISIS: A report from commissioners overseeing another local authority that went bankrupt offers troubling parallels closer to home. STEVEN DOWNES reports Croydon Council can get itself out of financial trouble – but only if Whitehall stumps up another … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Report in the Public Interest, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle, Tony Newman
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Northamptonshire, Tony McArdle, Tony Newman
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Ali and Kerswell are summoned to Parliamentary inquiry
CROYDON IN CRISIS: ‘There is much that the council needs to do to become a properly functioning local authority’ says panel’s report to government, as it recommends more cuts to Croydon’s Adult Social Care and Children’s Services. By STEVEN DOWNES … Continue reading
Posted in Adult Social Care, Children's Services, Chris Buss, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Hamida Ali, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle
Tagged Chris Buss, Clive Betts MP, Croydon, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Improvement Panel, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, MHCLG, Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, S114, Section 114, Tony McArdle
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Croydon In Crisis: Council handed biggest bail-out ever
EXCLUSIVE: Councillors were being briefed tonight that the government has agreed to a £120m loan arrangement for the bankrupt borough – but it will take at least 20 years for the council to pay down its mountain of debt. By … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle
Tagged Brick by Brick, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Luke Hall, MHCLG, Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, S114, Section 114, Tory
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Council Tax-payers pay for politicians’ game of cat-and-mouse
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The bankrupt borough is kept waiting for its bail-out, as cabinet reports reveal that council overspending has continued to soar. By WALTER CRONXITE, political editor Just when you thought things could not get any worse, Croydon Council’s … Continue reading
Posted in Adult Social Care, Children's Services, Chris Buss, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Patsy Cummings, Paul Scott, Section 114 notice, TfL, Tony McArdle, Tony Newman, Transport
Tagged Chris Buss, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, S114, Section 114, Tory
13 Comments
Brick by Brick needs £10m loan to avoid going bankrupt
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Consultants’ salvage plan for failed house-builder is accepted, including the council paying a second time for 190 flats which will be used as social housing. But the full extent of potential losses is kept under wraps. By … Continue reading
‘Changing the culture of secrecy must be the turning point’
Political editor WALTER CRONXITE reports on the council leadership’s reaction to yesterday’s announcements from the local government ministry “We have a very long way to go,” the council leader, Hamida Ali, said, more than once, as she accepted the findings … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Improvement Board, Robert Ward, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle, Tony Newman
Tagged Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Improvement Panel, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Robert Ward, S114, Section 114, Tony McArdle, Tony Newman, Tory
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£2,400 per day – the high cost of council’s ‘improvement’ panel
The annual cost of having Croydon officials’ work checked by Whitehall-appointed experts comes to ‘three-quarters of a Negrini’, as KEN LEE reports The Improvement Panel imposed on Croydon by the Tory government to check that the cash-strapped council is running … Continue reading
Posted in Adult Social Care, Brick by Brick, Children's Services, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Jo Negrini, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle, Tony Newman
Tagged Brick by Brick, Croydon, Croydon Council, Improvement Panel, Jo Negrini, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Margaret Lee, Phil Brookes, S114, Section 114, Tony McArdle, Tony Newman
7 Comments
‘There is no alternative’: £25m council bail-out given green light
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Council reports rewritten, lack of commercial experience in key positions and a ‘very controlling’ former leader and his inner circle. The rapid review of Croydon Council paints a picture that will be very familiar to readers of … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Improvement Board, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Section 114 notice, Tony Newman
Tagged Brick by Brick, Chris Wood, Croydon, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, MHCLG, Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, Rapid Review, Robert Jenrick, Tony Newman
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‘This must end now’: Jenrick issues final warning to Croydon
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The council has been issued a final warning today, with the threat of commissioners being sent in to take over the running of the borough Robert Jenrick, the Local Government Secretary, has today announced measures to address … Continue reading
Whitehall picks McArdle to sort out council’s financial mess
CROYDON IN CRISIS: At Monday’s cabinet meeting, the council leadership repeatedly denied that the appointment of an Improvement Board from Whitehall will amount to a takeover. But if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck… Tony McArdle, … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Lisa Taylor, Schools, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle, Tony Newman, Virgo Fidelis
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, S114, Section 114, Simon Hall, Tony McArdle, Tony Newman, Virgo Fidelis, Virgo Fidelis Convent School
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McArdle will recognise failure when he arrives in Croydon
‘Even at the end, it didn’t recognise the reality of the circumstances it had created for itself: insolvency… the distrust of partner agencies; the despair of the local voluntary sector; the sense among staff that their professionalism, dedication and effort … Continue reading
