Category Archives: Julie Belvir

Own goals galore scored on Croydon’s school playing fields

Posted on December 4, 2014 by insidecroydon

WALTER CRONXITE recounts the unedifying clusterfuck that has engulfed the Labour-run council over its development plans. Which they say that they don’t have Croydon’s Conservative councillors are predicting that Simon Hall’s days as a member of Labour’s front-bench team are … Continue reading →

Posted in 2014 council elections, 2015 General Election, Alisa Flemming, Croydon Council, Environment, Heathfield, Jason Cummings, Julie Belvir, Maria Gatland, Nathan Elvery, Phil Thomas, Planning, Sara Bashford, Schools, Shasha Khan, Simon Hall, Tim Pollard, Tony Newman, Waste incinerator, Whitgift Foundation, Yvette Hopley | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

#WadGate: The questions that Barwell has failed to answer

Posted on September 7, 2014 by insidecroydon

STEVEN DOWNES, editor of Inside Croydon, on how a local MP has been working furiously to save his own political skin So, the Tory narrative on #WadGate has been set. “It’s all Mike Fisher’s fault. He is terribly sorry. And … Continue reading →

Posted in 2015 General Election, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Dudley Mead, Gavin Barwell, Julie Belvir, Mike Fisher, Nathan Elvery, Sara Bashford, Shirley North, Simon Hoar, Steve Hollands, Steve O'Connell, Tim Pollard, Vidhi Mohan | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Whitehall warns council over unlawful reading lesson fees

Posted on August 18, 2014 by insidecroydon

EXCLUSIVE: Croydon Council has been ordered by Whitehall to stop charging some of the borough’s children for reading and writing lessons, a practice described by one angry parent as “demanding money with menaces”. By GENE BRODIE, education correspondent The council’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Council, Education, Julie Belvir, Schools | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

15 Croydon Council employees receive total salaries of £1.8m

Posted on August 6, 2014 by insidecroydon

Croydon Council spent £1,833,846 on the salaries and pension contributions of just 15 executive staff members in 2012-2013, according to figures published by the TaxPayers’ Alliance. Averaged out – and one or two individuals were trousering considerably more than the … Continue reading →

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Hannah Miller, Jon Rouse, Julie Belvir, Nathan Elvery, Paul Spooner, Planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Council claims that conduct of elections is a ‘private matter’

Posted on July 28, 2014 by insidecroydon

Croydon Council has been breaking the law to keep some details of its senior appointments secret, and it is refusing to reveal details of the new chief executive’s work in his role as the returning officer for the recent local … Continue reading →

Posted in 2014 council elections, Capita, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Jon Rouse, Julie Belvir, Nathan Elvery, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Keep it quiet: councillors make allowances for themselves

Posted on July 24, 2014 by insidecroydon

Croydon’s councillors last week opened the way for potential increases in their own “allowances” of as much as 20 per cent, and they did it all without any debate. By STEVEN DOWNES Croydon’s new council last week passed a range … Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Council, Julie Belvir, London-wide issues, Mike Fisher, Nathan Elvery, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Not a single question asked over £180,000 CEO appointment

Posted on July 22, 2014 by insidecroydon

The French have a phrase for it: “Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose“. In England, the tabloids devised a game for their prize competitions: Spot the Difference. Last week, at the first full council meeting of the Labour … Continue reading →

Posted in 2014 council elections, Croydon Council, Julie Belvir, Nathan Elvery, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Spot the difference: Crapita sponsors Labour Mayor’s banquet

Posted on June 20, 2014 by insidecroydon

STEVEN DOWNES, editor of Inside Croydon, suggests that the borough’s new council has allowed itself to be compromised by the council’s senior staff, developers and big business even before it has been in office for a month Spot the difference. … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", 2014 council elections, Bernard Weatherill House, Business, Capita, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Environment, Fairfield Halls, Fly tipping, Julie Belvir, Manju Shahul Hameed, Mike Fisher, Nathan Elvery, Phil Thomas, Planning, Refuse collection, Steve Reed MP, Tony Newman, URV, Waste incinerator, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Council CEO parrots Tory party line in official press releases

Posted on May 19, 2014 by insidecroydon

Amid more accusations of “dirty” campaigning ahead of Thursday’s Town Hall elections, formal complaints have already been filed with the Electoral Commission over alleged abuse of public office by some of the most senior employees at Croydon Council. With the … Continue reading →

Posted in 2014 council elections, Boris Johnson, Crime, Croydon Council, Julie Belvir, Kenley, Knife crime, Nathan Elvery, Policing, Simon Hoar, Tim Pollard, Vidhi Mohan | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Gove allows Croydon to charge children for reading lessons

Posted on May 18, 2014 by insidecroydon

Education correspondent GENE BRODIE finds that the Tory education secretary is content to allow our local council to charge parents for teaching Croydon children to read and write Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Education, has refused to intervene … Continue reading →

Posted in 2014 council elections, 2015 General Election, Education, Gavin Barwell, Julie Belvir, Schools | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Council CEO Elvery makes political statements during purdah

Posted on May 5, 2014 by insidecroydon

Can Croydon be confident that the Town Hall elections later this month are not subject to political bias from the public officials who are charged under Act of Parliament with staging the vote with scrupulous impartiality? Consider the following. In … Continue reading →

Posted in 2014 council elections, Croydon Council, Education, Jon Rouse, Julie Belvir, Mike Fisher, Nathan Elvery, Schools | 2 Comments

Questions mounting over political influence at council

Posted on May 3, 2014 by insidecroydon

There is mounting evidence that some of Croydon Council’s most senior officials are behaving in a dubious manner in respect of the local elections later this month, when they have tens of thousands of pounds of public money at their … Continue reading →

Posted in 2014 council elections, 2015 General Election, Addiscombe West, Anthony Brooks, Coulsdon Town, Croydon Central, Fly tipping, Gavin Barwell, Julie Belvir, Mark Watson, Nathan Elvery, Patricia Hay-Justice, Peter Staveley, Phil Thomas, Refuse collection, Sean Fitzsimons | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Bashford blames council official for £20,000 taps fiasco

Posted on March 29, 2014 by insidecroydon

So, who is responsible for decisions taken by Croydon’s Conservative-run council? Not senior councillors, if a recent “Nuffink to do wiv me, guv” email from Sara “Book Token” Bashford, the £43,339 per year part-time Tory cabinet member, is anything to … Continue reading →

Posted in 2014 council elections, Bernard Weatherill House, Council Tax, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Fly tipping, Gavin Barwell, Julie Belvir, Libraries, Sara Bashford, Selsdon & Ballards, URV | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Pollard ducks decisive meeting on £13m Riesco sale

Posted on July 25, 2013 by insidecroydon

Councillor Sara Bashford spoke up in the Town Hall council chamber last night and tried to justify Croydon’s sale of 24 items from the borough’s priceless Riesco ceramics collection by claiming that thousands of Croydon school children who visit the … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Coulsdon East, Croydon Council, Croydon Natural History and Scientific Society, Donald Speakman, Dudley Mead, Education, Fairfield Halls, Jan Buttinger, Jeet Bains, Julie Belvir, Kenley, Purley, Riesco Collection, Sara Bashford, Selsdon & Ballards, Simon Hall, Steve O'Connell, Stuart Collins, Terry Lenton, Tim Pollard, Toni Letts, Vidhi Mohan | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Investigation called for over councillor’s planning interests

Posted on April 7, 2013 by insidecroydon

Julie Belvir, the Borough Solicitor, Croydon Council‘s senior legal officer, is expected to investigate the conduct of Waddon councillor Clare Hilley. Last month, Inside Croydon published an email from Hilley in which she offered her “planning expertise” to a leading … Continue reading →

Posted in Clare Hilley, Environment, Housing, Julie Belvir, Planning, Property, Simon Hoar, Tony Harris, Waddon, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

“Gis a planning job”: damning email from Croydon councillor

Posted on March 17, 2013 by insidecroydon

Inside Croydon has obtained an email sent from a Croydon councillor to a leading firm in the building industry, seeking work based on their “planning expertise” at a time when the councillor was serving on the Town Hall’s planning committees. … Continue reading →

Posted in Clare Hilley, Croydon South, Julie Belvir, Planning, Richard Ottaway MP, Waddon | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Croydon Council: where FOI stands for something else

Posted on June 2, 2012 by insidecroydon

And here’s another, if somewhat minor but no less crass example of how Croydon Council executives, earning six-figure salaries, are flagrantly and deliberately squandering your money. On this occasion, it has been done with the knowledge of the leader of … Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Council, Danny Brierley, Jon Rouse, Julie Belvir, Mike Fisher, Tim Pollard | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dear Mr Edwards. If there’s anything you want to know, just ask

Posted on May 5, 2012 by insidecroydon

Inside Croydon thoroughly approves of and admires the online Freedom of Information tool, WhatDoTheyKnow.com, and we would encourage anyone to make use of it if they have a serious question about some aspect of a public body that, for some … Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Council, Danny Brierley, Jon Rouse, Julie Belvir, Local media, Sara Bashford | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Croydon starts to gag councillors over planning bids

Posted on April 1, 2012 by insidecroydon

Another one of Croydon Council’s more ludicrous internal memos reaches us here at Inside Croydon. This one, from the council’s official solicitor, seeks to forbid councillors from talking to local residents on planning matters. Some times. They’re just not entirely … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Cane Hill, Clare Hilley, Croydon Council, Environment, Housing, Jon Rouse, Julie Belvir, London-wide issues, Menta Tower, Planning, Property, Restaurants, Ruskin Square, URV | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment