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Category Archives: Jo Negrini
For planner Cheesbrough, budget increase is ‘non-negotiable’
CROYDON IN CRISIS: All those public consultations that don’t ever make any difference to what the council sets out to do? This week, one director made it clear that they are indeed pointless exercises, as KEN LEE reports Croydon Council … Continue reading
Posted in Alasdair Stewart, Business, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Karen Agbabiaka, Louis Carserides, Planning
Tagged 2025 Council budget, Alasdair Stewart, Budget, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Karen Agbabiaka, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Louis Carserides, Planning, Scrutiny and Overview Committee, Scrutiny committee, Tory
21 Comments
Directors leave scrutiny short of answers over council job cuts
KEN LEE reports from the frontline of budget discussions at the cash-strapped council, after a meeting where everyone is working very, very hard, but no one in charge bothered to turn up equipped to provide any answers Councillors from both … Continue reading
Posted in Alasdair Stewart, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Karen Agbabiaka, Kristian Aspinall, Libraries, Louis Carserides, Scott Roche, Stella Nabukeera
Tagged 2025 Council budget, Alasdair Stewart, Budget, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Jo Negrini, Karen Agbabiaka, Katherine Kerswell, Kristian Aspinall, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Louis Carserides, Scrutiny and Overview Committee, Scrutiny committee, Steve Iles, Tory
8 Comments
Private tenant takes Lambeth to High Court over S21 eviction
Labour-controlled Lambeth Council is being taken to the High Court accused of unlawfully renting homes in the private sector under insecure assured shorthold tenancies and of having made a decision which will see these tenants made homeless – using the … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Housing, Lambeth Council, London-wide issues, Steve Reed MP, Streatham and Croydon North
Tagged Brick by Brick, Central Hill, Central Hill estate, HfL, High Court, Homes for Lambeth, Judicial Review, Lambeth, Lambeth council, Steve Reed OBE, Streatham and Croydon North
2 Comments
MP Reed claims those who left borough broke ‘have now gone’
WALTER CRONXITE, political editor, checks the ‘facts’ where other local news outlets dare not look Steve Reed OBE, the MP who was Labour’s front bench spokesperson on local government at the time that the council for the area he is … Continue reading
Posted in Alisa Flemming, Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Callton Young, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Croydon North, David Evans, Environment, Fairfield Halls, Lambeth Council, Manju Shahul Hameed, Mayor Jason Perry, Paul Scott, Report in the Public Interest, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, Sean Fitzsimons, Section 114 notice, Simon Hall, Steve Reed MP, Streatham and Croydon North, Stuart Collins, Stuart King, The Penn Report, Tony Newman
Tagged Alisa Flemming, Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Clive Fraser, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon North, Croydon Park Hotel, David Evans, Fairfield Halls, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Paul Scott, Sean Fitzsimons, Simon Hall, Steve Reed OBE, Streatham and Croydon North, Tony Newman
8 Comments
Final Brick by Brick annual accounts withheld for three months
CROYDON IN CRISIS: It looks like Tory Mayor Jason Perry and the council execs who now run the failed housing company have opted to bury bad news. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES What could possibly be the very final set of … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Coulsdon, Coulsdon East, Coulsdon Town, Croydon Council, Housing, Mayor Jason Perry
Tagged Brick by Brick, BxB, Colm Lacey, Conservative, Coulsdon, Croydon, Croydon Council, Jason Cummings, Jo Negrini, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Mears Group Plc, Red Clover Gardens, Regen Capital, Tony Newman, Tory
5 Comments
Ghost of Brick by Brick comes to haunt London Mayor Khan
BARRATT HOLMES, housing correspondent, identifies some troubling similarities between the collapse of Croydon’s failed housing company and recent auditors’ warnings over a GLA-owned development firm A housing company established by the Greater London Authority which has received £300million in loans … Continue reading
Councillor complains over legal failings: ‘It feels morally wrong’
CROYDON IN CRISIS: No one will face legal action for their part in the council’s financial collapse, despite Town Hall bosses spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on special reports and advice from high-powered barristers. Yet one of Mayor Perry’s … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Jason Cummings, Jo Negrini, Mayor Jason Perry, Report in the Public Interest, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, Shirley South, The Penn Report
Tagged Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Jason Cummings, Jo Negrini, Kroll Report, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Paul Scott, Penn Report, The Kroll Report, Tony Newman, Tory
1 Comment
Negrini doctored specialist reports and withheld finance details
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Investigators from Kroll never had investigatory powers to check people’s bank accounts in the search for possible fraud over the £73m refurbishment of the Fairfield Halls. But there was evidence in the public domain of ‘direct personal … Continue reading
Posted in Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Business, College Green, Colm Lacey, Crime, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Lisa Taylor, Mott MacDonald, Paul Scott, Report in the Public Interest, Richard Simpson, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, Section 114 notice, Shifa Mustafa, The Penn Report, Tony Newman
Tagged Alison Butler, Arup, Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Grant Thornton, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Kroll, Kroll Report, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Mott MacDonald, Penn Report, Project Dillon, Report in the Public Interest, Richard Simpson, RIPI, RIPI2, The Kroll Report, The Penn Report, Tory, Vinci, Vinci Construction UK Ltd
15 Comments
Pressure mounts on Sutton finance chief over Fairfield fiasco
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The Kroll Report, which this week had its release delayed because of legal threats on behalf of a former council director, might be seen as a waste of another £310,000 of public money. But for former director … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Lisa Taylor, Report in the Public Interest, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, The Penn Report
Tagged Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Kroll, Kroll Report, Labour, Lisa Taylor, Penn Report, Richard Simpson, Sutton Council, The Kroll Report, The Penn Report, Tony Newman, Tory
8 Comments
Kroll Report provides no answers to £73m Fairfield fiasco
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Jo Negrini refused to be interviewed, all Colm Lacey’s emails got wiped and former cabinet members Newman, Scott, Butler and Hall were never spoken to in person as part of the £310,000 investigation. By STEVEN DOWNES Late … Continue reading
Posted in Alisa Flemming, Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Business, College Green, Colm Lacey, Crime, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Lisa Taylor, Mott MacDonald, Paul Scott, Report in the Public Interest, Richard Simpson, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, Section 114 notice, Shifa Mustafa, The Penn Report, Tony Newman
Tagged Alisa Flemming, Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Grant Thornton, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Kroll, Kroll Report, Labour, Lisa Taylor, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Mott MacDonald, Paul Scott, Penn Report, Project Dillon, Report in the Public Interest, Richard Simpson, RIPI, RIPI2, Shifa Mustafa, Simon Hall, The Kroll Report, The Penn Report, Tony Newman, Tory, Vinci, Vinci Construction UK Ltd
13 Comments
Tory planning chief permits towers with 15% affordable homes
The “Croydon Dildo” is no more. New plans for the long-vacant site at One Lansdowne Road – the hole in the ground off the Wellesley Road between Apollo House and the Jury’s Inn Hotel, where the YMCA building once stood … Continue reading
Posted in 101 George Street/Ten Degrees, Business, College Tower/Enclave, Croydon Council, Growth Zone, Housing, Jo Negrini, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Michael Neal, One Lansdowne Road, Planning, Property
Tagged Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Greystar, Jo Negrini, One Lansdowne, One Lansdowne Road, Tory, Wellesley Road
2 Comments
After his latest failure, Mayor Perry claims he is powerless
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Although he was a member of the committee that handed a £437,000 ‘golden handshake’ to Jo Negrini, the borough’s elected Mayor is now blaming the law for his own broken promises. By STEVEN DOWNES Almost a week … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Croydon Park Hotel, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Report in the Public Interest, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, Section 114 notice, The Penn Report
Tagged Brick by Brick, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon Park Hotel, Fairfield Halls, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Kroll, Kroll Report, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Misconduct in Public Office, Penn Report, Section 114 Notice, The Penn Report, Tony Newman, Tory
6 Comments
Norbury and Norwood Junction council car parks to be sold off
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Town Hall reporter KEN LEE on how 157 Brick by Brick flats in Coulsdon were sold below the market rate, as the council continues to overspend on Mayor Perry’s unbalanced budget Anything that is not nailed down … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Jane West, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice
Tagged Belgrave Road car park, Brick by Brick, Clifford Road car park, Communities and Local Government, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Granville Gardens car park, Jane West, Jason Cummings, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, MHCLG, Ministry of Housing, Norbury, Norwood Junction, Red Clover Gardens, S114, S114 notice, Section 114, Section 114 Notice, South Norwood, Tory
2 Comments
After four-year delay, council to submit complaint reports
CROYDON IN CRISIS: There won’t be any further police investigation. The council’s pursuit of Jo ‘Negreedy’ Negrini for her pay-off cash appears to have collapsed. But chief exec Katherine Kerswell might now write a couple of sternly worded letters. EXCLUSIVE … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Lisa Taylor, Mayor Jason Perry, Report in the Public Interest, Richard Simpson, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, Section 114 notice, Shifa Mustafa, Sutton Council, The Penn Report
Tagged Brick by Brick, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Kroll Report, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Penn Report, Section 114, Section 114 Notice, Sutton Council, The Penn Report, Tony Newman, Tory
4 Comments
More bad news for Perry over the Negrini ‘golden handshake’
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Another council legal action looks about to collapse – despite having landed the borough unnecessary bills worth tens of thousands of pounds. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Croydon Mayor Jason Perry’s forlorn exercise in “throwing good money after … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Report in the Public Interest, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, Section 114 notice, Stephen Lawrence-Orumwense, The Penn Report
Tagged Brick by Brick, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Golden handshake, Jane Mulcahy KC, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Kroll, Kroll Report, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Penn Report, The Penn Report, Tory
18 Comments
Police drop all investigations into council’s financial collapse
CROYDON IN CRISIS: It now emerges that the Met decided to take no further action over allegations of possible fraud or false accounting as long ago as June 2023. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES There will be no prosecutions brought against … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Guy van Dichele, Hazel Simmonds, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Lisa Taylor, Mayor Jason Perry, Report in the Public Interest, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, Section 114 notice, Shifa Mustafa, The Penn Report
Tagged Brick by Brick, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Kroll Report, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Penn Report, Section 114, Section 114 Notice, The Penn Report, Tony Newman, Tory
24 Comments
Manchester Mayor can’t provide answers to Croydon problems
WALTER CRONXITE, political editor, on the early start to the 2026 local election campaign Croydon’s 2026 mayoral election campaign is well and truly underway – and the Labour Party has not even started its candidate selection process yet. In a … Continue reading
Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Brick by Brick, Callton Young, Council Tax, Croydon Council, London-wide issues, Mayor Jason Perry, Mayor of London, Rowenna Davis, Section 114 notice, Stuart King, Tony Newman
Tagged Andy Burnham, Callton Young, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Labour, London, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Rowenna Davis, Steve Reed OBE, STUART KING, Tory, Waddon
2 Comments
Hussein handed council hot seat for Westfield development
EXCLUSIVE: KEN LEE, our Town Hall reporter, with a leaked internal memo on the appointment of the latest corporate director for Fisher’s Folly Nazeya Hussein, after a career working in local government, has been announced as the new, albeit interim, … Continue reading
Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Business, Centrale, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Nazeya Hussain, Shifa Mustafa, Whitgift Centre
Tagged bus shelters, CCTV, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Hammersfield, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, London, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Nazeya Hussein, Nick Hibberd, school streets, SCRER, sustainable communities regeneration and economic recovery, Tory, Westfield, Whitgift Centre
1 Comment
Councillor accuses Perry of broken pledge on affordable homes
Mayor Jason Perry’s council has been accused of yet another broken promise, and of wasting hundreds of thousands of pounds of tax-payers’ money, this time after rejecting a planning application for seven affordable homes in Upper Norwood, in a scheme … Continue reading
Posted in Claire Bonham, Community associations, Croydon Council, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Environment, Heather Cheesbrough, Housing, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Nicola Townsend, Planning
Tagged Brick by Brick, Claire Bonham, Council planning, Croydon, Croydon Council, Crystal Palace, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Crystal Palace Community Land Trust, Crystal Palace Transition Town, GLA, Greater London Authority, Heather Cheesbrough, Housing, London Borough of Croydon, Nicola Townsend, Upper Norwood
6 Comments
Ofsted comes calling: will Kerswell’s council pass the tests?
Staff at Fisher’s Folly have been warned to be on their best behaviour, as septuagenarian corporate director Debbie Jones makes her last hurrah, and evermore ridiculous CEO Katherine Kerswell declares: ‘Let them eat cake!’ The last-but-one time there was a … Continue reading
Posted in Children's Services, Croydon Council, Debbie Jones, Education, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Schools
Tagged Children, Croydon, Croydon Council, CYPE, Debbie Jones, Fisher's Folly, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, London Borough of Croydon, Ofsted, Ofsted inspection, Young People and Education
6 Comments
Auction has a twist in the sale over Coombe Road plot-boiler
BARRATT HOLMES, housing correspondent, on the latest non-developments in the saga of a scrap of town centre open space without planning permission Croydon Mayor Jason Perry might have another half-million-pound hole in his overspent, unbalanced council budget, after a property … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Croydon Council, Fairfield, Housing, Mayor Jason Perry, Michael Neal, Planning, Property
Tagged Brick by Brick, Chris Clark, Communist Party of Great Britain, Conservative, Coombe Road, Croydon, Edridge Road, Fairfield, Grade II, Green Party, Labour, Mayor Jason Perry, Michael Neal, Morning Star, Planning Committee, Ria Patel, Ruskin House, Tory
1 Comment
University with campus in Croydon drops to 100th on UK list
The university with a “campus” in a listed building in Croydon town centre has slipped to a ranking of 100th among the country’s best higher education establishments. When London South Bank University was unveiled in 2019 as the new occupiers … Continue reading
Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Croydon College, Croydon Council, Croydon School of Art, Education, Jo Negrini, Planning, South Bank Poly, Whitgift Centre
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Council, Electric House, Hammersfield, Jo Negrini, Labour, London, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, South Bank Poly, Westfield, Whitgift Centre
1 Comment
Controversial Brick by Brick site to be auctioned for £550k
BARRATT HOLMES, housing correspondent, reports on the latest planning mystery at the cash-strapped council The scrap of open space at the junction of Edridge Road and Coombe Road, next to heritage-listed building Ruskin House, is set to be auctioned off … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Chris Clark, Croydon Council, Esther Sutton, Fairfield, Housing, Mayor Jason Perry, Michael Neal, Planning, Property, Ria Patel
Tagged Brick by Brick, Chris Clark, Conservative, Coombe Road, Croydon, Edridge Road, Esther Sutton, Fairfield, Grade II, Labour, Mayor Jason Perry, Michael Neal, Planning Committee, Ria Patel, Ruskin House, Tory
2 Comments
Planning battle over The Lawns after council official’s threats
Five years’ work has been wasted after Croydon Council planners rejected a planning application from a community group in Upper Norwood to build seven not-for-profit flats in a scheme instigated by… Croydon Council. BARRATT HOLMES, housing correspondent, reports An enterprising … Continue reading
Posted in Community associations, Croydon Council, Environment, Heather Cheesbrough, Housing, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Nicola Townsend, Planning, Tom Copley
Tagged Brick by Brick, Council planning, Croydon, Croydon Council, Crystal Palace, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Crystal Palace Community Land Trust, Crystal Palace Transition Town, GLA, Greater London Authority, Heather Cheesbrough, Housing, London Borough of Croydon, Nicola Townsend, Tom Copley, Upper Norwood
10 Comments
