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Category Archives: Shifa Mustafa
Reshuffle puts execs in high-stakes game of musical chairs
EXCLUSIVE: Leaked council documents suggest that the interim chief executive has already made her mind up as to who she wants in her top team. By STEVEN DOWNES Katherine Kerswell, Croydon’s £192,474 per year interim CEO, looks set to demote … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Guy van Dichele, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Katherine Kerswell, Lisa Taylor, Section 114 notice, Shifa Mustafa
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Council, Guy van Dichele, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, London Borough of Croydon, S114, Section 114, Shifa Mustafa
10 Comments
The Audit Report: Newman’s £100m gamble with your money
CROYDON IN CRISIS: There’s growing public demand for some degree of accountability over the council’s financial collapse, and there’s mounting evidence that the former leader of the council and his mates broke rules to push through his pet policies. By … Continue reading
Posted in Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Paul Scott, Shifa Mustafa, Simon Hall, Tony Newman
Tagged Alison Butler, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Jo Negrini, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Paul Scott, Simon Hall, Tony Newman
7 Comments
Kerswell’s management savings plan: no change at the top
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Staff, unions and residents expected to react angrily to the council’s £193,000 interim CEO’s plan to make only minor changes to the staff on the biggest salaries at Fisher’s Folly. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Katherine Kerswell’s plan … Continue reading
Posted in Adult Social Care, Children's Services, Croydon Council, Debbie Jones, Elaine Jackson, Guy van Dichele, Hazel Simmonds, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Katherine Kerswell, Lisa Taylor, Section 114 notice, Shifa Mustafa
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Council, Debbie Jones, Elaine Jackson, Guy van Dichele, Hazel Simmonds, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Shifa Mustafa
5 Comments
Directors Murray and Cheesbrough start exodus from council
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The director of planning and the borough’s culture chief are to leave Fisher’s Folly – the first top-level departures since the council issued its Section 114 notice. By STEVEN DOWNES Heather Cheesbrough, Croydon’s director of planning, and … Continue reading
Posted in Art, BH Live, Borough of Culture 2023, Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Heather Cheesbrough, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Paula Murray, Planning, Section 114 notice, Shifa Mustafa
Tagged Brick by Brick, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Heather Cheesbrough, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, London Borough of Croydon, Paula Murray, Planning
18 Comments
30% parking fees hike will apply even to electric-powered cars
As George Orwell never wrote, all vehicles are equal, but some are more equal than others. Using environmental policies as an excuse, the council is expected to implement a parking charge hike of one-third from January. JEREMY CLACKSON, transport correspondent, … Continue reading
Posted in Addiscombe West, Broad Green, Business, Coulsdon, Croydon Council, Environment, New Addington, Parking, Purley, Restaurants, Shifa Mustafa, South Croydon, South Norwood, Stuart King, Transport
Tagged Addiscombe West, Coulsdon, Croydon, Croydon Council, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Shifa Mustafa, South Croydon, South Norwood, STUART KING
16 Comments
CEO Kerswell: council staff ‘are angry, upset and want answers’
CROYDON IN CRISIS: They say confession is good for the soul, though apologies issued yesterday by several council executives read more like pleas to keep their jobs. By WALTER CRONXITE There were several council staff members who half-expected Katherine Kerswell, … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Elaine Jackson, Hamida Ali, Hazel Simmonds, Heather Cheesbrough, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Lisa Taylor, Report in the Public Interest, Richard Simpson, Shifa Mustafa
Tagged Chris Wood, Croydon, Croydon Council, Elaine Jackson, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, Lisa Taylor, MHCLG, Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, Report in the Public Interest, RIPI, Shifa Mustafa
15 Comments
New leader Ali blames covid for crime report that is a year late
CROYDON IN CRISIS: On crime figures, ‘some are going up, some are going down’, according to the newly elected leader of the council, who has failed in a legal duty to deliver a community safety plan. KEN LEE reports Whichever … Continue reading
Last council-appointed director resigns from Brick by Brick
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Council-owned house-builder releases some financial figures that show they have missed their latest annual revenue targets by £113m and have delivered 377 fewer homes than they predicted. By STEVEN DOWNES There is not a single representative of … Continue reading
No conflict of interest over BxB review, claims chief exec
KEN LEE reports on a hurried closing of ranks at Fisher’s Folly over the loss-making council-owned house-builders Asking the council executive director who has been in charge of Brick by Brick’s piss-poor performance for the past four years to draw … Continue reading
‘Empty promises’ for review as Mustafa sets terms of reference
Housing correspondent BARRATT HOLMES on claims that the report on the council’s loss-making house-builders ‘has been nobbled from the start’ A pledge by the council leader this week that Brick by Brick would be subject to an independent review has … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Shifa Mustafa, Tony Newman
7 Comments
Mustafa admits council had finance problems at start of year
Croydon’s stand-in CEO Shifa Mustafa has told the unions that, “the council’s finances were challenging at the start of the year”, a significant admission by a senior figure that the Town Hall’s cash crisis was not caused solely by covid-19 … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Shifa Mustafa
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Council, London Borough of Croydon, Shifa Mustafa, Unison
1 Comment
Croydon in crisis: Whitehall imposes new chief exec on council
EXCLUSIVE: Borough to get its third CEO in two weeks, as government parachutes in a ‘safe pair of hands’ on Newman’s Croydon clique. By STEVEN DOWNES A hastily arranged meeting of Croydon Council’s appointments committee will convene this morning to … Continue reading
Council breaks the law by withholding its latest accounts
EXCLUSIVE: Town Hall finance chiefs tell Whitehall they will run out of cash by the end of September, and meanwhile the council fails to fulfil its legal accounting obligations. By STEVEN DOWNES The council has failed to make its latest … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Shifa Mustafa
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Shifa Mustafa
4 Comments
‘Desperate’ meetings with Henderson fuel CEO speculation
STEVEN DOWNES on a twist in the council’s search for new leadership Well-placed sources in Fisher’s Folly describe council leader Tony Newman as “beyond desperate” to get Robert Henderson to stay in Croydon – possibly going as far as to … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Robert Henderson, Shifa Mustafa, Tony Newman
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Robert Henderson, Shifa Mustafa, Tony Newman
2 Comments
Newman bypassed cabinet and colleagues on CEO decisions
Our political editor, WALTER CRONXITE, on the latest decision by decree from the council leader, and with a profile of the interim CEO who had a chequered career before joining Croydon Before she was announced yesterday as the interim replacement … Continue reading
Posted in "Hammersfield", Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Business, CPO, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Lisa Taylor, Shifa Mustafa, Simon Hall, Tony Newman, Whitgift Centre
Tagged Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Hammersfield, Hammerson, Jo Negrini, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Shifa Mustafa, Simon Hall, Tony Newman, Westfield, Whitgift Centre
12 Comments
‘I can’t guarantee we won’t issue a Section 114 notice’
After weeks of repeated denials from Town Hall chiefs that the council is broke, last night there was a refreshing outbreak of frankness by an official. KEN LEE reports One of the council’s most senior officials last night admitted: “I … Continue reading
Staff accuse Negrini of ‘cowardice’ ahead of showdown meet
The council chief exec is presiding over mounting anger over her handling of the borough finances and management of hundreds of job cuts. STEVEN DOWNES reports Dozens of council staff, many of them facing the prospect of redundancy as part … Continue reading
Council staffer Pitt is recruited to board of failing Brick by Brick
KEN LEE, our Town Hall reporter, discovers that the council has been less-than-forthcoming over the latest appointment to their loss-making house-builder Brick by Brick has appointed a new company director, in a move that could signal the council-owned house-builder is … Continue reading
Croydon now has three employees paid £200,000+ per year
Our political correspondent, WALTER CRONXITE, reports on the latest startling figures coming out of the council Croydon Council had three members of staff who took home more than £200,000 in the last financial year for which figures are available. That’s … Continue reading
Posted in Children's Services, Colm Lacey, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Eleni Ioannides, Guy van Dichele, Heather Cheesbrough, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Richard Simpson, Robert Henderson, Shifa Mustafa
Tagged Colm Lacey, Croydon, Croydon Council, Guy van Dichele, Heather Cheesbrough, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, London Borough of Croydon, Richard Simpson, Shifa Mustafa
4 Comments
Brick by Brick losses mount as they spend £1m on ‘showroom’
The annual report from the council’s loss-making in-house house-builder shows ‘directors costs’ more than tripling in the past year, while spending £1million on rent and renovations to the company’s George Street base Brick by Brick, the bastard brainchild of Croydon … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Housing, Jo Negrini, Martyn Evans, Planning, Shifa Mustafa
Tagged Brick by Brick, BxB, Colm Lacey, Croydon, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Shifa Mustafa, Whitgift Foundation
8 Comments
Newman discovers climate emergency but offers little to fix it
Our environment correspondent, PAUL LUSHION, was at the council’s ‘sustainability summit’ – staged in an unsustainable venue where guests were drinking from single-use cardboard cups – and found it to be full of contradictions Tony Newman, the Labour leader of … Continue reading
Posted in Alison Butler, Croydon Council, Croydon Friends of the Earth, Croydon parks, Education, Environment, Extinction Rebellion, Planning, Refuse collection, Shifa Mustafa, Tony Newman, Waste incinerator, Wildlife
Tagged Beddington Lane incinerator, Boxpark, Croydon, Croydon Council, Crystal Palace, Hammersfield, Hammerson, Labour, Parking, Residents parking permits, Tony Newman, Westfield
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Brick by Brick gets 100%: 38 housing projects are all delayed
BARRATT HOLMES, our housing correspondent, reports on how late completion of developments by the council’s house-builders is storing up a multi-million-pound problem Brick by Brick, Croydon Council’s house-building company, could be struggling to make its sums work as delays and … Continue reading
Council CEO spends £20,000 on annual trip to South of France
Our political editor, WALTER CRONXITE, unravels the latest extravagance with public money by the Labour-run council’s chief executive Jo Negrini, Croydon Council’s £212,000 per year chief executive, last month spent nearly £20,000 of public money so that she and three … Continue reading
Posted in "Hammersfield", Brick by Brick, Business, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Jo Negrini, Paul Scott, Shifa Mustafa, Tony Newman, Whitgift Centre
Tagged Brick by Brick, Cannes, Colm Lacey, Croydon, Croydon Council, Hammersfield, Hammerson, Heather Cheesbrough, Jo Negrini, Labour, London, London Borough of Croydon, MIPIM, Shifa Mustafa, Tony Newman, Westfield, Whitgift Centre
2 Comments
Scott puts forward proposals to raise parking fees by 375%
“The problem isn’t with cars being parked, it’s with cars being driven.” Croydon’s Labour-run council is putting forward proposals for £300 per year resident parking permits which will hit the poor and the elderly hardest, as transport correspondent JEREMY CLACKSON … Continue reading
Planning approval granted for £100m Selhurst Park scheme
KEN LEE, our Town Hall reporter, on a planning committee outcome which was never in any doubt This was one fixture in the 2017-2018 season which Crystal Palace Football Club were never going to lose. Croydon Council’s planning committee last … Continue reading
Posted in Crystal Palace FC, Football, Planning, Selhurst, Shifa Mustafa, Sport, Steve Parish
Tagged Croydon Council, Crystal Palace FC, Selhurst, Selhurst Park, Steve Parish
3 Comments
