Category Archives: Simon Hall

Council to borrow another £30m to buy Brick by Brick flats

Posted on July 12, 2020 by

EXCLUSIVE: A local authority already £1.5bn in debt and nursing a coronavirus overspend of £65m now wants to increase its borrowing further, as the failed in-house housebuilder needs another bail-out. By STEVEN DOWNES Alison Butler and Simon Hall, part of … Continue reading →

Posted in Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Housing, Jo Negrini, Simon Hall | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Newman’s claims over diversity miss the real ‘need for change’

Posted on July 3, 2020 by

Black Lives Matter. But in Orwellian Croydon, some matter more than others, as our political editor WALTER CRONXITE reports While many in England will be rushing off to the pub tomorrow, Tony Newman will be using a Croydon Labour councillors’ … Continue reading →

Posted in Alisa Flemming, Alison Butler, Callton Young, Chris Clark, Clive Fraser, David Wood, Jane Avis, Janet Campbell, Louisa Woodley, Oliver Lewis, Paul Scott, Sean Fitzsimons, Simon Hall, Stuart Collins, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Croydon in crisis: IFS report shows council was ill-prepared

Posted on June 27, 2020 by

Croydon Council’s mountain of debt and reduced reserves made it one of the country’s least-prepared local authorities for dealing with an emergency such as coronavirus. That’s the conclusion offered by the Institute for Fiscal Studies – IFS – in a … Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Council, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Simon Hall, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Residents quick to see through councillor’s skatepark offer

Posted on June 20, 2020 by

The mounting anger among New Addington residents over Brick by Brick’s plans for “slumification” of their area has created a sense of panic among the cabal that controls the Labour group at Croydon Town Hall. With four council seats at … Continue reading →

Posted in Boxing, Felicity Flynn, Louisa Woodley, New Addington, New Addington ABC, New Addington North, New Addington Residents' Association, Oliver Lewis, Simon Hall, Sport | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Council-owned Croydon Park Hotel calls in administrators

Posted on June 18, 2020 by

EXCLUSIVE: All 91 members of staff at the 4-star town centre hotel were made redundant on Monday, as the impact of the coronavirus pandemic hits the local economy hard. By STEVEN DOWNES The company which operates the Croydon Park Hotel … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Croydon Council, Croydon Park Hotel, Simon Hall | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Newman hand-picks ‘Secret Seven’ to check on finance panel

Posted on June 11, 2020 by

EXCLUSIVE: The beleaguered council leader has moved to avoid  being held responsible for the borough’s massive £1.5bn debt and huge over-spend, reports KEN LEE A group of councillors, secretly hand-picked by Tony Newman, will meet tonight to discuss the council’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Caragh Skipper, Clive Fraser, Croydon Council, David Wood, Leila Ben-Hassel, Patsy Cummings, Simon Hall, Stephen Mann | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Is Brick by Brick’s Theobald Road ‘Stasi prison’ now kaput?

Posted on June 9, 2020 by

Pressure is growing on the council’s house-builders to drop their ugly plans for a site in Waddon, after a second tree quality survey completely contradicted an earlier report. By BELLE MARSH, our prisons correspondent Brick by Brick, the council’s wholly-owned, … Continue reading →

Posted in Brick by Brick, Environment, Felicity Flynn, Louisa Woodley, New Addington, New Addington North, Oliver Lewis, Paul Scott, Planning, Robert Canning, Simon Hall, Tony Newman, Waddon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Town Hall finances under urgent review by Southwark treasurer

Posted on June 4, 2020 by

Our Town Hall reporter, KEN LEE, on how Croydon has had to call in experts from across London to help them out of their financial hole In the closest thing to an admission of her absolute failure in her job … Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Lisa Taylor, Simon Hall | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Council calls in auditors as it faces covid cashflow crisis

Posted on May 21, 2020 by

EXCLUSIVE: STEVEN DOWNES reports on the dire financial crisis facing the Town Hall External auditors have been working in the council offices at Fisher’s Folly since yesterday, trawling through the fine detail of the borough’s finances. According to Katharine Street … Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Simon Hall, Steve Reed MP, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Head quits as ‘high risk’ Virgo Fidelis struggles with budget

Posted on May 5, 2020 by

Education correspondent GENE BRODIE reports on the latest setback suffered by one of the borough’s oldest schools Virgo Fidelis girls’ convent school in Upper Norwood will start the new school term in September with its fifth headteacher in barely three … Continue reading →

Posted in Children's Services, Croydon Council, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Education, Schools, Simon Hall, Virgo Fidelis | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment