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Category Archives: Jo Negrini
Six years on, Brick by Brick approaching its final reckoning
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Companies House filings today mark the latest stage in winding up the council’s failed housing developer. But clearing the paperwork does not mean recovering the money. By STEVEN DOWNES Someone in Fisher’s Folly must have a very … Continue reading
Labour’s Hall returns as a town councillor in County Durham
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?: Six years after he was forced to quit the Town Hall and was then suspended by the Labour Party, one of those at the heart of the council’s financial collapse is back in local government EXCLUSIVE … Continue reading
Posted in Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Inside Croydon Investigates, New Addington North, Report in the Public Interest, Section 114 notice, Simon Hall, The Penn Report
Tagged Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Croydon, Croydon Council, Durham County Council, Fairfield Halls, Fieldway, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, New Addington, Paul Scott, Penn Report, S114, S114 notice, Section 114 Notice, Shildon, Shildon Town Council, Simon Hall, The Penn Report, Tony Newman
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Mayor fails to find ‘right’ person for £275,000 CEO vacancy
CROYDON IN CRISIS: A year since the vacancy arose at Fisher’s Folly, the Mayor is no closer to recruiting someone for the top job to take over from Katherine Kerswell. KEN LEE, Town Hall correspondent, reports Jason Perry has failed … Continue reading
Posted in Commissioners, Conrad Hall, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Elaine Jackson, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Mike Jackson, Section 114 notice
Tagged Chief executive officer, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Elaine Jackson, GatenbySanderson, Interiim chief executive, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Mike Jackson, Steve Reed OBE, Tory
4 Comments
Coulsdon’s Red Clover Gardens gets a new coat of whitewash
A housing scheme in Coulsdon has won the country’s top architecture award. Yet there’s not been a peep from the council’s propaganda department, usually desperate to spin anything as ‘good’ news in Croydon. STEVEN DOWNES on the desperate efforts of … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Colm Lacey, Coulsdon, Croydon Council, Environment, Housing, Jo Negrini, Mayor Jason Perry, Planning, Property
Tagged Brick by Brick, Conservative, Coulsdon, Croydon, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Labour, Lion Green Road, Lion Green Road car park, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Paul Scott, Red Clover Gardens, RIBA, Royal Institute of British Architects, Stirling Prize
11 Comments
‘Digital first’ council fails to achieve basic level of competence
By STEVEN DOWNES, Editor, Inside Croydon Poet Brian Bilston was on stage at the Ashcroft Theatre last night*. In between frequent references to Clare Grogan, his cat and the seemingly unstoppable onward march of AI, Bilston read from his poem … Continue reading
Posted in 'Future Croydon', Art, Ashcroft Theatre, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Neil Williams, Opama Khan, Poetry, Theatre
Tagged AI, Ashcroft Theatre, Brian Bilston, Clare Grogan, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon Digital Service, Digital-first council, Fairfield Halls, How to Lay an Egg with a Horse Inside, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Microsoft, Waterstones, Whitgift Centre
5 Comments
Whistleblower’s lonely eight-year battle over council spending
CROYDON IN CRISIS: In 2018, Daniel Cox blew the whistle when he discovered that a contractor was charging the council almost double what he was being paid for his work. Cox was dismissed, and the council has spent the past … Continue reading
Posted in Children's Services, Croydon Council, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Mayor Jason Perry, SEND, Stephen Lawrence-Orumwense
Tagged Adecco, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Daniel Cox, Employment Tribunal, His Honour Judge James Tayler, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Stephen Lawrence-Orumwense, Tony Newman, Tory
9 Comments
Perry’s plan: More borrowing. More debt. And £58m more cuts
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Reports sneaked out ahead of next Wednesday’s council cabinet meeting talk of ‘difficult decisions’, after residents have already suffered six years of the consequences of ‘difficult decisions’. By STEVEN DOWNES Less than six months since he pushed … Continue reading
Posted in 'Future Croydon', Adult Social Care, Children's Services, Claire Bonham, Commissioners, Conrad Hall, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Elaine Jackson, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Paul Ainscough, SEND, Stabilisation Plan, Stuart King
Tagged Cllr Claire Bonham, Cllr Paul Ainscough, Cllr Stuart King, Conrad Hall, Conservative, Council debt, Croydon, Croydon Council, EFS, Exceptional financial support, HM Treasury, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, Liberal Democrats, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, MHCLG, Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, Section 114 Notice, The Green Party, Tory
8 Comments
£275,000: Loadsamoney Perry breaks the bank for new CEO
CROYDON IN CRISIS: As the council faces having to replace its interim CEO with an interim interim CEO, the Mayor splashes the cash to try to find someone for what he calls ‘London’s most important leadership role’ Recruitment ads for … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Commissioners, Conrad Hall, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Dean Shoesmith, Elaine Jackson, Ged Curran, Jenny Rowlands, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Nathan Elvery, Section 114 notice
Tagged CEO, Chief executive officer, Commisssioners, Conrad Hall, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Dean Shoesmith, Elaine Jackson, Ged Curran, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Nathan Elvery, Tory
7 Comments
Do you recognise your council as described in the CEO job ad?
CROYDON IN CRISIS In the recruitment ad, are the Commissioners seeking a competent and experienced civic administrator with more than the charisma of a dead fish for the role of council chief executive? Or are they looking for a knight … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Commissioners, Conrad Hall, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Dean Shoesmith, Elaine Jackson, Ged Curran, Jenny Rowlands, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Nathan Elvery, Section 114 notice
Tagged CEO, Chief executive officer, Commisssioners, Conrad Hall, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Dean Shoesmith, Elaine Jackson, Ged Curran, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Nathan Elvery, Tory
7 Comments
Croydon’s GIGO ‘economy’ stops people paying Council Tax
Our cash-strapped council has squandered millions on its failed Croydon Digital department, and then wasted millions more on outside consultants who pressed on with the ‘Digital First’ policy. Yet we now have a council website which makes it more difficult … Continue reading
Council’s £68m write-off as Brick by Brick goes into liquidation
The housing company that borrowed £200m but never made a penny profit is finally to be closed down after a six-year winding-up process. By STEVEN DOWNES Brick by Brick, the council-owned housing company that bankrupted the borough, has gone into … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Colm Lacey, Coulsdon, Croydon Council, Housing, Jo Negrini, Mayor Jason Perry
Tagged Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Conservative, Coulsdon, Croydon, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Lion Green Road car park, London Borough of Croydon, Red Clover Gardens, Regen Capital, Regen Coulsdon, Tory
10 Comments
Shared ownership makes Mosaic Place hard to piece together
Even before the latest global economic shock hit the construction trade, house-building in London had slowed to a crawl. JOHNNY DOBBYN looks at one scheme of more than 100 flats in Purley that provides a possible case study to show … Continue reading
Councillors wave through 676 flats with just 20% affordable
Housing correspondent BARRATT HOLMES on the latest tall towers coming to the skyline of central Croydon Deep in the middle of a housing crisis, Croydon Council has broken its own rules by granting planning permission to a £200million housing scheme … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, College Green, Croydon Council, Delta Properties, Delta Properties Ltd, Fairfield, Housing, Planning, Property, Tapestry Croydon
Tagged Brick by Brick, Cllr Michael Neal, Cllr Ria Patel, College Green, Croydon, Croydon Council, Delta Properties, East Croydon station, Fairfield, Fairfield Halls, London Borough of Croydon, Tapestry Croydon, Tory, Wind tunnel
6 Comments
It was a bad deal for Croydon. Why did they allow it to happen?
CROYDON COMMENTARY: With Tory Mayor Jason Perry using £½million of public money as a hush fund, RICHARD HOWARD, pictured right, the LibDem mayoral candidate, lays out all the obvious flaws with the council’s Red Clover Gardens scheme Two years ago, … Continue reading
Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Brick by Brick, Business, Commissioners, Conrad Hall, Coulsdon, Coulsdon East, Coulsdon Town, Croydon Council, East Coulsdon Residents' Association, Housing, Ian Parker, Jane West, Jason Cummings, Mayor Jason Perry, Richard Howard, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, The Penn Report, Tony McArdle
Tagged 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon mayoral election, Brick by Brick, Cllr Ian Parker, Conrad Hall, Conservative, Coulsdon, Coulsdon Town, Croydon, Croydon Council, Green Party, Ian Parker, Jane West, Jason Cummings, Liberal Democrats, Lion Green Road car park, London Borough of Croydon, Major Richard Howard, Peter Underwood, Red Clover Gardens, Regen Capital, Regen Coulsdon, Richard Howard, Scrutiny and Overview Committee, Tory
3 Comments
Mayor candidates call for investigation into Red Clover Gardens
LibDems and Greens say that only a thorough, deep dive into the council’s accounts and records conducted by an outside body – such as HM Revenue and Customs – can get to the bottom of the latest multi-million-pound financial scandal … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Coulsdon, Coulsdon East, Coulsdon Town, Croydon Council, East Coulsdon Residents' Association, Housing, Jason Cummings, Mayor Jason Perry, Peter Underwood, Rick Howard
Tagged Brick by Brick, Conservative, Coulsdon, Coulsdon Town, Croydon, Croydon Council, Green Party, Jane West, Jason Cummings, Liberal Democrats, Lion Green Road car park, London Borough of Croydon, Major Richard Howard, Peter Underwood, Red Clover Gardens, Regen Capital, Regen Coulsdon, Richard Howard, Scrutiny and Overview Committee, Tory
4 Comments
Perry agrees to pay £½m to reclaim flats at Red Clover Gardens
Inside Croydon has obtained a top-secret, ‘Part B’ council report providing key financial details on the collapsed property deal for Red Clover Gardens – all because someone at Croydon’s cash-strapped and incompetent council posted it on their own website EXCLUSIVE … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Coulsdon, Coulsdon East, Coulsdon Town, Croydon Council, East Coulsdon Residents' Association, Housing, Jason Cummings, Mayor Jason Perry
Tagged Brick by Brick, Cllr Stuart King, Conrad Hall, Conservative, Coulsdon, Croydon, Croydon Council, Jane West, Jason Cummings, Lion Green Road car park, London Borough of Croydon, Red Clover Gardens, Regen Capital, Regen Coulsdon, Scrutiny and Overview Committee, Tory
5 Comments
Tory council loses £20m over Coulsdon collapsed property deal
It is almost three years since this website warned that a ‘complicated, opaque lease-back arrangement’ conducted with a property firm with no real track record, for the disposal of blocks of flats at Red Clover Gardens, all looked just a … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Coulsdon, Coulsdon East, Coulsdon Town, Croydon Council, East Coulsdon Residents' Association, Housing, Jason Cummings, Mayor Jason Perry, Mears, Stuart King
Tagged Brick by Brick, Cllr Stuart King, Conservative, Coulsdon, Croydon, Croydon Council, Jane West, Jason Cummings, Lion Green Road car park, London Borough of Croydon, Mears Group Plc, Red Clover Gardens, Regen Capital, Regen Coulsdon, Scrutiny and Overview Committee, STUART KING, Tory
4 Comments
Budget-buster Perry hires another six-figure salaried ‘interim’
KEN LEE, our Town Hall reporter, on the latest £150,000 per year staff signing by Croydon’s bankrupt council Jason Perry, Croydon’s £84,000 per year executive Mayor who has closed four public libraries to save money and axed lollipop road safety … Continue reading
Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Commissioners, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Elaine Jackson, Jenny Rowlands, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice
Tagged Camden Council, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Elaine Jackson, Georgia Gould, Interim assistant chief executive, Interims, Jenny Rowlands, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Tory
13 Comments
Commissioners switch email in effort to protect whistleblowers
CROYDON IN CRISIS: After complaints that staff could not trust that their messages to the government-appointed Commissioners would be secure from their council bosses, a MHCLG official has set up an independent channel. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Three months after … Continue reading
Posted in Abi Brown, Commissioners, Croydon Council, Debbie Warren, Elaine Jackson, Ged Curran, Improvement Board, Jackie Belton, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Nathan Elvery, Section 114 notice
Tagged 000 pay-off, Abi Brown, £50, Commissioners, Croydon, Croydon Council, Debbie Warren, Fisher's Folly, Ged Curran, Jackie Belton, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Lindsey Lewis, London Borough of Croydon, MHCLG, Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, Nathan Elvery
8 Comments
More churn at the top as interim directors leave the council
The rapid turnover among senior staff at Fisher’s Folly suggests that the ‘leadership issues’ which were in-part responsible for Commissioners being sent in to run Croydon Council may continue to be a problem for those left behind after Katherine Kerswell’s … Continue reading
Posted in Commissioners, Croydon Council, Elaine Jackson, Heather Cheesbrough, Karen Agbabiaka, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Nazeya Hussain, Nick Hibberd, Section 114 notice, Venetia Reid-Baptiste
Tagged Chris Wortley, Commissioner, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Elaine Jackson, Ged Curran, Jane West, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, MHCLG, Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, Nazeya Hussain, S151 Officer, Section 114 Notice, Tony Ralph, Tory, Venetia Reid-Baptiste
13 Comments
Kerswell quits! But what happens next at crisis-hit council?
Mayor Jason Perry’s political rivals call for his resignation after a week when auditors have warned over ‘unsustainable’ finances and his CEO has left Croydon with a generous £50,000 pay-off. By STEVEN DOWNES Katherine Kerswell may not be replaced as … Continue reading
Posted in Commissioners, Croydon Council, Elaine Jackson, Ged Curran, Jane West, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Paul Ainscough, Richard Howard, Section 114 notice
Tagged Commissioner, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Ged Curran, Grant Thornton, Green Party, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Liberal Democrats, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Paul Ainscough, Richard Howard, The Honourable Mr Justice Nicklin, Tony Newman, Tory
7 Comments
When’s a pay-off not a pay-off? When it’s 50 grand in Croydon
CROYDON IN CRISIS: At public expense (again), Mayor Perry deploys the council’s top lawyer to try to shut down reporting of his £50,000 pay-off to departing chief executive Katherine Kerswell. By STEVEN DOWNES “When’s a pay-off not a pay-off?” a … Continue reading
Posted in Commissioners, Croydon Council, Ged Curran, Improvement Board, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice, Stephen Lawrence-Orumwense
Tagged Commissioner, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Ged Curran, Grant Thornton, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, S114 notice, Section 114 Notice, Stephen Lawrence-Orumwense, The Honourable Mr Justice Nicklin, Tory, Transformation plan
17 Comments
This is where ‘Don’t rock the boat’ has become official mantra
CROYDON COMMENTARY: With local elections fast approaching, the national press has been taking a closer look at Croydon. Business owner NITIN MEHTA posted a comment in response to an article in Murdoch-owned The Times, and here expands on his points … Continue reading →
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