Category Archives: Section 114 notice

Slough, Thurrock, Sandwell, Liverpool: Croydon’s not alone

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Government announcements of special measures yesterday covered four other local authorities, as councils across the country struggle with under-funding and massive debts built up over the last decade The party line, trotted out in the Town Hall … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Croydon put in special measures: ‘Worst of all possible worlds’

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Announcements from Westminster and Whitehall today put the borough under the control of unelected bureaucrats who are answerable only to a Tory Government minister – in a scheme that the Mayor has helped plot for months. By … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Report in the Public Interest, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, Section 114 notice, The Penn Report | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

‘Precautionary measure given the historic issues uncovered’

CROYDON IN CRISIS: At 12.15pm this afternoon, the council’s internal communications department issued the following statement to all staff, under the title, “Message from Executive Mayor Jason Perry and Chief Executive, Katherine Kerswell”. This is that statement in full: Dear … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Report in the Public Interest, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, Section 114 notice, The Penn Report | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Two years too late, Tory Government intervenes over council

CROYDON IN CRISIS: A Parliamentary written statement today effectively admitted defeat over the council’s bail-outs and ordered a Whitehall takeover of the council ahead of a possible £540m debt write-off Lee Rowley, the Tories’ local government minister, announced today an … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Report in the Public Interest, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, Section 114 notice, The Penn Report | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Tandridge is latest Surrey council to seek financial bail-out

Tandridge, one of Croydon’s boundary neighbours to the south, has become the latest Surrey council to appeal to central government for a financial bail-out. It is the second time that Tandridge District Council has sought a capitalisation direction – or … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Section 114 notice, Tandridge District Council | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

If council budget fails to pass, expect a long night on Mar 8

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Former senior councillor JERRY FITZPATRICK looks ahead to tomorrow night’s key budget meeting, and previews what could be in store in the Town Hall meeting under an executive Mayor and with the balance of power between the … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Jane West, Jerry Fitzpatrick, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Newman’s defence slips: there’s ‘no evidence’ of wrongdoing

CROYDON IN CRISIS: The latest in-depth coverage of the borough’s bankruptcy by a national newspaper sees the former Labour council leader dump blame on his erstwhile colleagues. By STEVEN DOWNES The council leader who oversaw Town Hall meetings and gatherings … Continue reading

Posted in Alisa Flemming, Alison Butler, Andrew Pelling, Brick by Brick, Callton Young, Clive Fraser, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Inside Croydon, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Manju Shahul Hameed, Paul Scott, Report in the Public Interest, Section 114 notice, Simon Hall, Stuart Collins, Stuart King, The Penn Report, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Government to write off £540m of council’s debts, as Croydon becomes the Northern Rock of England’s local authorities

Tory minister Michael Gove asked to agree deal that wipes half a billion pounds from council’s mountain of debt After spending months complaining about council’s ‘unsustainable’ debt, Mayor Jason Perry is seeking to borrow another £224m Perry’s 15% Council Tax … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Jane West, Jason Cummings, Katherine Kerswell, London-wide issues, Mayor Jason Perry, Rowenna Davis, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Mayor Perry: ‘It’s going to get worse before it gets better’

CROYDON IN CRISIS: It didn’t take very long once he became Croydon’s first executive Mayor after telling the electorate that he had a plan, that Jason Perry was forced to admit that he never had a plan at all. By … Continue reading

Posted in Bernard Weatherill House, Brick by Brick, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Mike Fisher, Section 114 notice, URV | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

The Perry Premium: Mayor fails to disclose he asked for 15%

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Of three basket-case boroughs, it was only Croydon that requested a special Council Tax hike, as Jason Perry breaks his silence It took Jason Perry more than two hours to get around to issuing a public statement, … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Gove to Perry: ‘Mitigate the impact on those least able to pay’

By STEVEN DOWNES Mayor Jason Perry’s plans to raise a few bob extra by taking cash out of the purses of old age pensioners and the poorest in the borough got defeated in a Town Hall vote last week. Today, … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Perry to preside over record-breaking 15% Council Tax hike

CROYDON IN CRISIS: The borough with one of the biggest Council Tax bills in London has just been given permission to make those bills even bigger. Much bigger. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Croydon, under Tory Mayor Jason Perry, has been … Continue reading

Posted in Adult Social Care, Brick by Brick, Children's Services, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

The end is nigh: Brick by Brick’s final tower block is sold off

Our housing correspondent, BARRATT HOLMES, on the council’s increasingly desperate efforts to flog off the last developments from its inept house-builder Flyover Towers, the final development by Brick by Brick, Croydon Council’s bankrupting building firm, has been sold as a … Continue reading

Posted in Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Housing, Jason Cummings, Property, Report in the Public Interest, Section 114 notice | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Town Hall meetings halved as new Mayor dodges questioning

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Tonight’s cabinet meeting has on its agenda the borough’s underperforming schools, the Westfield failure, Council Tax Support and council rents… in all, 24 items need to be considered at a meeting where opposition councillors will barely be … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Centrale, Children's Services, Croydon Council, Education, Housing, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Report in the Public Interest, Schools, Section 114 notice, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Perry about to giveaway millions in social housing flog-off

CROYDON COMMENTARY: The new Mayor wants to run a ‘minimal council’, and is getting pensioners and the worst-off to pay for its financial turmoil while he arranges a £36m property deal that seriously undervalues public assets, says ANDREW PELLING Nothing … Continue reading

Posted in Andrew Pelling, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Housing, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Perry LIED to council over Brick by Brick’s ‘stair-less’ house

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Opposition councillors demand an immediate apology and question whether the borough’s credulous Tory Mayor can be trusted. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Officials from Croydon Council have been forced to admit that the Conservative Mayor, Jason Perry, lied … Continue reading

Posted in Andrew Pelling, Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Croydon Greens, Libraries, Mayor Jason Perry, Ria Patel, Section 114 notice, Stuart King | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

Voters looking for third parties’ assurance over reds and blues

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Opinion polls suggest that the Tories should have no chance of electoral success in this borough. But as WALTER CRONXITE outlines in this second part of a special report, ‘the Croydon effect’ of the Newman years has … Continue reading

Posted in Ben Taylor, Claire Bonham, Community associations, Croydon Council, Croydon Greens, Croydon North, Croydon South, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Esther Sutton, London-wide issues, Mayor Jason Perry, Peter Underwood, Ria Patel, Sarah Jones MP, Section 114 notice, Steve Reed MP, Tony Newman, Val Shawcross | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Perry left pot-less after failed bid for £20m levelling up money

Our Town Hall staff reporter, PEARL LEE, on the latest disappointing set-back for the Conservative Mayor Despite growing social deprivation in the borough and its failing town centre economy, Croydon has failed in its bid for £20million of Levelling Up … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Neil Garratt, Paul Scully MP, Section 114 notice, Sutton Council | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Gove’s funding increases have come too late to save Croydon

London’s precept to add nearly £40 to average bills, as Mayor Perry asks government permission for increase of at least 10% for Croydon’s Council Tax, reports WALTER CRONXITE, political editor After 12 years of Tory austerity, the government has taken … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Jane West, Jason Cummings, London Councils, London Fire Brigade, Mayor Jason Perry, Mayor of London, Policing, Sadiq Khan, Section 114 notice | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Croydon needs deal that could set precedent for all councils

CROYDON IN CRISIS: A government-appointed inspector, council directors and senior councillors all agree that throwing millions more at the cash-strapped council won’t fix its deep-seated problems. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES The Tories who control Croydon Town Hall have already done … Continue reading

Posted in Brick by Brick, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Jane West, Jason Cummings, Jo Negrini, Mayor Jason Perry, Mike Fisher, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Perry is now asking Croydon public how to fix financial mess

CROYDON IN CRISIS: After issuing the first pre-emptive S114 Notice in British history, the borough’s £81,000 per year Mayor is using a budget survey to justify future cuts to services. By WALTER CRONXITE, political editor Bereft of ideas – beyond … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Jane West, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Labour makes itself a laughing stock with Croydon tweet

Political editor WALTER CRONXITE reports on a massive gaffe by party staff in London, who seem to have forgotten the omnishambles caused by their colleagues when in charge in Croydon The Labour Party in London has made itself the subject … Continue reading

Posted in 2024 General Election, Alison Butler, Andrew Pelling, Croydon Council, David Evans, Section 114 notice, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Gove orders Council Tax review and reform of imperfect system

CROYDON IN CRISIS: The bad example set by our south London borough appears to have nudged Whitehall into looking at the failed system of local government finance. By our Town Hall reporter, KEN LEE Michael Gove has announced a review … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Jane West, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Tory blame game over bankruptcy points finger at Westminster

There was something archly cynical, and deliberately misleading, about how Croydon’s Conservatives turned Tuesday’s announcement of the borough’s bankruptcy into an exercise in political point-scoring. None of which will help the borough’s residents, writes ANDREW FISHER Croydon’s Conservative councillors were … Continue reading

Posted in Andrew Fisher, Chris Philp MP, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Croydon South, Jason Cummings, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments