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Category Archives: Chris Buss
Multi-million-pound loss on hotel ‘not ideal’ says panel
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Whitehall-appointed inspectors raise serious doubts over the council’s property sales. By STEVEN DOWNES The council’s sale of the Croydon Park Hotel at a loss of as much as £10million has been condemned by government-appointed officials. Such a … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Callton Young, Chris Buss, Croydon Council, Croydon Park Hotel, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Planning, Section 114 notice, Stuart King, Tony McArdle
Tagged Callton Young, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon Park Hotel, Improvement Panel, Labour, Peter Bingle, S114, Section 114, STUART KING, Tony McArdle, Tony Newman
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Director admits £12m sums on ANPR fines don’t add up
Fisher’s Folly’s answer to Baldrick has come up with a cunning plan to help fix the bankrupt borough’s finances: raise millions of pounds through penalty charges on Croydon’s drivers. The trouble is, some drivers might simply follow the warning signs … Continue reading
Council appoints finance director with links to ex-CEO Elvery
Croydon councillors, including the leader of the Conservative opposition, have agreed to appoint as the council’s finance director someone who previously worked amid a “bullying culture” at another failing local authority. Richard Ennis’s appointment, to one of the most critical … 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
9 Comments
Complaints to regulator over council’s £100m pensions deal
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The scandals at Fisher’s Folly surrounding questionable property transactions keep emerging. EXCLUSIVE By STEVEN DOWNES The council’s £1.5billion pension fund has been the subject of two complaints to the statutory watchdog, the Pensions Regulator, Inside Croydon has … Continue reading
Reports on Fairfield Halls and BxB missing from audit meeting
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Tonight’s meeting of the council’s GPAC – General Purposes and Audit Committee – will mark the end of a error, as Labour councillors risk handing even more control to council executives. By STEVEN DOWNES Karen Jewitt, the … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Chris Buss, Fairfield Halls, Hamida Ali, Karen Jewitt, Katherine Kerswell, Tim Pollard, Tony Newman
Tagged Chris Buss, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, General Purposes and Audit Committee, GPAC, Hamida Ali, Karen Jewitt, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, Rapid Review, Report in the Public Interest, RIPI, Scrutiny and Overview Committee, Tim Pollard, Tony Newman, Tory
6 Comments
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
11 Comments
Council abandons its £100m discount sale of Brick by Brick
A deal to off-load the loss-making housing firm at a massive loss to tax-payers has been dropped. By STEVEN DOWNES Croydon Council has been forced to abandon plans to flog-off loss-making builders Brick by Brick. The council’s interim head of … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Chris Buss, Colm Lacey, Hamida Ali, Planning
Tagged Brick by Brick, Chris Buss, Croydon, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Tony McArdle
8 Comments
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
6 Comments
Jenrick rejects Croydon’s landlord licence scheme application
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The government has binned an application to extend the borough’s landlord licensing scheme, saying that the council failed to provide any housing strategy. EXCLUSIVE By STEVEN DOWNES Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State for Housing, has rejected … Continue reading
Posted in Alison Butler, Alison Knight, Business, Chris Buss, Croydon Council, Landlord licensing, Paul Scott, Tony Newman
Tagged Alison Butler, Croydon, Croydon Council, Labour, Landlord licensing scheme, London Borough of Croydon, MHCLG, Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, Paul Scott, Robert Jenrick, Tony Newman
11 Comments
Brick by Brick and the 18 documents officers want kept secret
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Not for the first time, elected councillors have been denied vital information about Town Hall deals. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Croydon Conservatives have “called in” for extra scrutiny three multi-million-pound deals intended to off-load the council’s loss-making … Continue reading
Bricking it: Buss pushes for £30m deal to buy 104 flats
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Making Brick by Brick an attractive proposition to a corporate buyer is a Mission Impossible which would defeat Tom Cruise. Croydon’s solution? A package of deals that could cost another £110m. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Chris Buss, … Continue reading
Brick by Brick to get second £10m loan to avoid going bust
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Council Tax-payers haven’t finished coughing up for the borough’s failed housing developers. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES The cashflow crisis continues at Brick by Brick, as its sales of new-built homes has failed to cover its operating costs. … Continue reading
Council to pick up £69.2m costs of failed Fairfield Halls refurb
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Town Hall correspondent, KEN LEE, on the latest council bail-out for Brick by Brick over the bungled and unfinished refurbishment of the borough’s major arts centre Croydon’s cash-strapped council is to step in and pick up another … Continue reading
Making a Splash: big bailouts behind Brick by Brick’s buyers
STEVEN DOWNES reports on the colourful character behind the business which is set to buy up Croydon’s loss-making house-building company The company tipped to take failed housing company Brick by Brick off Croydon Council’s hands has broken loan covenants and … Continue reading
Going to the lowest, only bidder: council finds buyer for BxB
EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Croydon Council could have to pay at least another £40million in order to sell off Brick by Brick, the Labour-controlled local authority’s failed housing developer which bankrupted the Town Hall. And the multi-million-pound spending on the … Continue reading
Tribunal ruling gives green light for council’s road fines policy
The decision of a traffic adjudicator last week, upholding fines against a motorist for driving into a Low Traffic Neighbourhood, could clear the way for cameras that might generate £3m per year for the cash-strapped council. STEVEN DOWNES reports A … Continue reading
Posted in Broad Green, Chris Buss, Croydon Council, West Croydon
Tagged ANPR, Chris Buss, Croydon, Croydon Council, Labour, Parsons Mead, Shakeel Yousaf, West Croydon
4 Comments
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
7 Comments
Budget is approved but Labour council haunted by its past
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Back-to-back meetings yesterday pushed through the paperwork to balance the books and increase Council Tax. But Hamida Ali’s administration cannot shake off its part in the borough’s financial calamity. By WALTER CRONXITE, political editor With the £120million … Continue reading
Posted in Alison Butler, Andrew Pelling, Andrew Stranack, Brick by Brick, Chris Buss, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Hamida Ali, Ian Parker, Jason Cummings, Jeet Bains, Lynne Hale, Maddie Henson, Paul Scott, Report in the Public Interest, Sean Fitzsimons, Section 114 notice, Simon Hall, Stuart King, Tony Newman, Vidhi Mohan
Tagged Alison Butler, Andrew Pelling, Brick by Brick, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Jason Cummings, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Paul Scott, Rapid Review, S114, Section 114, Simon Hall, STUART KING, Tony Newman, 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
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