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Category Archives: Simon Hall
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
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Labour agree to hold mayoral referendum in October 2021
EXCLUSIVE: Council leader votes for a ballot that could cost as much as £1m, as agreement is finally reached to listen to the wishes of 20,000 Croydon residents. By STEVEN DOWNES The Labour group which controls Croydon Town Hall has … Continue reading
Now Scott tries to play the blame game over Brick by Brick
Our political editor, WALTER CRONXITE, on how the chief architect of the council’s disastrous housing policy is trying to salvage his reputation Paul Scott, part of the clique which led Croydon Council to bankruptcy, broke cover at a virtual Town … Continue reading
Posted in Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Housing, Jo Negrini, Lisa Taylor, Martyn Evans, Paul Scott, Planning, Report in the Public Interest, Section 114 notice, Simon Hall, Tony Newman
Tagged Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Croydon, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Labour, Lisa Taylor, London Borough of Croydon, Paul Scott, S114, Section 114, Tony Newman
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Lacey to be removed from board of mismanaged Brick by Brick
Consultants’ report is latest damning review of Croydon’s badly-run council. By STEVEN DOWNES Colm Lacey is to be removed from the board of Brick by Brick, the council’s loss-making house-builder, while funding for new schemes is to be frozen and … Continue reading
Posted in Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Martyn Evans, Planning, Section 114 notice, Simon Hall, Tony Newman
Tagged Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Croydon, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Martyn Evans, PwC, PwC Report, Simon Hall, Tony Newman
10 Comments
Newman should be chucked out of Labour, say activists
‘It’s time to clean things up. It’s time for the truth to be told,’ according to one Labour councillor. WALTER CRONXITE, our political editor, on the growing calls for the council’s discredited former leaders to stand down immediately Tony Newman, … Continue reading
Posted in Alison Butler, Chris Philp MP, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Croydon North, Croydon South, Hamida Ali, Jamie Audsley, Paul Scott, Sarah Jones MP, Section 114 notice, Simon Hall, Steve Reed MP, Tony Newman
Tagged Alison Butler, Chris Philp MP, Croydon, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Croydon North, Croydon South, Hamida Ali, Jason Perry, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Paul Scott, Sarah Jones MP, Steve Reed OBE, Tony Newman
10 Comments
The Audit Report: Council ignored five warnings on reserves
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Complacency and ‘corporate blindness’ to the problems at the council contributed to the collapse of the borough’s finances. But Grant Thornton’s report also managed to have a dig at Jo Negrini. WALTER CRONXITE reports Grant Thornton’s Report … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Report in the Public Interest, Robert Ward, Sean Fitzsimons, Selsdon and Addington Village, Simon Hall, Tony Newman
Tagged CIPFA, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Grant Thornton, Jo Negrini, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Report in the Public Interest, RIPI, Robert Ward, Sean Fitzsimons, Simon Hall, Tony Newman, Tory
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The Audit Report: Newman won’t say sorry, even to colleagues
CROYDON IN CRISIS: After 15 years of running the Labour group to his own liking, the former council leader is not changing his old, bad habits. WALTER CRONXITE, political editor, reports The Grant Thornton Report in the Public Interest finally … Continue reading
Posted in Alison Butler, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Jo Negrini, Paul Scott, Report in the Public Interest, Simon Hall, Tony Newman
Tagged Alison Butler, Croydon, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Jo Negrini, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Paul Scott, Report in the Public Interest, RIPI, Simon Hall, Tony Newman
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The Audit Report: ‘Tony Newman always has been a coward’
CROYDON IN CRISIS: More senior council figures could lose their positions as a result of the Report in the Public Interest which was released last night, as the Town Hall politicians take stock of its consequences. KEN LEE reports Half … Continue reading
Posted in Adult Social Care, Brick by Brick, Children's Services, Croydon Council, Jason Perry, Jo Negrini, Report in the Public Interest, Richard Simpson, Simon Hall, Tony Newman
Tagged Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Grant Thornton, Jason Perry, Jo Negrini, Karen Jewitt, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Report in the Public Interest, Richard Simpson, RIPI, Sean Fitzsimons, Simon Hall, Tony Newman, Tory
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Consultant gives 75 reasons for council’s financial mess
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Tony Newman goes into tonight’s council meeting without the cabinet member for finance who has been at his side for a decade, and confronted with a report that shows his administration failed to listen to the warnings … Continue reading
Auditors look at legal sanctions over council’s finances
CROYDON IN CRISIS: A Town Hall committee has been told that the council was ‘in breach of financial regulations’ over its commercial dealings, as they delivered a report with 75 recommendations for improvements. By STEVEN DOWNES The resignation of Simon … Continue reading
Croydon in crisis: Finance chief Hall quits as pressure mounts
Political editor WALTER CRONXITE reports on the latest high-level casualty of the council’s self-inflicted financial crisis Labour councillor Simon Hall, the cash-strapped council’s cabinet member in charge of its finances, has quit. With the council struggling to fill the £70million … Continue reading
Hall’s resignation letter: ‘Dear Tony, I’m incredibly proud’
Simon Hall chose to send his resignation email to the council leader, Tony Newman, just before 10 o’clock on a Friday night. He forwarded it to his 40 Labour councillor colleagues a little more than an hour later, saying, “I … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Simon Hall, Tony Newman
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Council, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Simon Hall, Tony Newman
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‘Dear Simon: I look forward to working with you again’
This is how the leader of the council, and mate, Tony Newman replied to Simon Hall’s resignation letter. Sent under the subject title “Be Proud” at 11.07pm on a Friday, in his usual style of borderline incoherence Newman wrote: Dear … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Simon Hall, Tony Newman
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Council, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Simon Hall, Tony Newman
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Hold very tight: will Buss give Brick by Brick a rough ride?
Our Town Hall reporter, KEN LEE, on how the local council troubleshooter who was brought in to deal with Kensington and Chelsea’s finances in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire has now been hired by Croydon In the final … Continue reading
Posted in Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Business, Colonnades, Croydon Council, Croydon Park Hotel, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Paul Scott, Simon Hall, Tony Newman
Tagged Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, BxB Review, Chris Buss, Croydon, Croydon Council, Grenfell Tower, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Paul Scott, Simon Hall, Tony Newman
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Audit shows £9m shortfall in Hall’s property speculation deals
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Internal audit report will make very uncomfortable reading for the council leader and his finance chief, and shows worrying budget problems for most of the council-run schools. By WALTER CRONXITE, political editor It is barely a week … Continue reading
Posted in Adult Social Care, Business, Children's Services, Colonnades, Croydon Council, Croydon Park Hotel, Jo Negrini, Karen Jewitt, Katherine Kerswell, Schools, Simon Hall, Tony Newman
Tagged Alissa Flemming, Croydon, Croydon Council, General Purposes and Audit Committee, GPAC, Jo Negrini, Karen Jewitt, Katerine Kerswell, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Simon Hall, Tony Newman
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Croydon’s rescue plan placed ‘at risk’ over £8m covid grant
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The cash-strapped council is struggling to make its sums add up, reports WALTER CRONXITE The £22.4million gap in the council budget could yet get worse, with the status of £8million of government grant made before the end … Continue reading
‘No longer viable’: council sounds death knell for Virgo Fidelis
Education correspondent GENE BRODIE on the impending closure of another, once proud and successful, secondary school Croydon Council’s ability to run down long-established church schools to the point of closure continues, while at the same time they have been lavishing … Continue reading
Newman wins vote but consigns Labour to election misery
TOWN HALL SKETCH: The borough is in the middle of two crises – the coronavirus pandemic and its own financial mess. Yet last night saw the first full meeting of Croydon Council in almost three months, an ’emergency’ meeting only … Continue reading
Posted in 2022 council elections, Addiscombe East, Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Chris Clark, Croydon Council, Jason Cummings, Jason Perry, Jeet Bains, Jerry Fitzpatrick, Lisa Taylor, Lynne Hale, Maddie Henson, Mario Creatura, New Addington Residents' Association, New Addington South, Simon Hall, Tony Newman
Tagged Addiscombe, Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Jason Cummings, Jason Perry, Lisa Taylor, London Borough of Croydon, Lynne Hale, Maddie Henson, Mayor, New Addington, Simon Hall, Tony Newman, Tory
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Council in attempt to cover-up £440,000 pay-off to Negrini
Our political editor, WALTER CRONXITE, reports on how Tony Newman’s ‘most open and transparent council in Croydon’s history’ is now trying to block details of the ‘reward for failure’ that he authorised to be paid to the departing chief executive … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Simon Hall, Tony Newman
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Labour, Simon Hall, Tony Newman
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Loss-making Brick by Brick produce bogus profits report
Loss-making house-builders Brick by Brick have delayed the publication of their annual accounts, so it was more than mere coincidence that last night, just 30 minutes before a cabinet meeting was due to begin to discuss the cash-strapped council’s emergency … Continue reading
Can you help? Tony, Alison, Paul and Simon want your ideas
Croydon Council, the local authority whose leader is afraid of staging a borough-wide referendum, now says it wants the public’s help to sort out its financial mess. WALTER CRONXITE on the inherent contradictions contained within the Croydon Renewal Plan being … Continue reading
Posted in Alison Butler, Croydon Council, Katherine Kerswell, Paul Scott, Simon Hall, Tony Newman
Tagged Alison Butler, coronavirus, Covid-19, Croydon, Croydon Council, Emergency Budget, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Paul Scott, Simon Hall, Tony Newman
8 Comments
Brick by Brick under ‘review’ in council emergency budget
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Our political editor, WALTER CRONXITE, reports on the publication of a 24-page document which is an admission of six years of failure, and which comes ahead of ‘the most difficult few months the council has seen’ Brick … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Children's Services, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Simon Hall, Tony Newman
Tagged Brick by Brick, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Emergency Budget, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Simon Hall, Tony Newman, Tory
6 Comments
Veteran councillor in call to hunt down whistleblowers
The council press office should be made ‘to defend’ Labour councillors, while council staff who talk to this website need to be hunted down according to one Newman loyalist who has warned colleagues that the leader’s job ‘is not open’. … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Simon Hall, Toni Letts, Tony Newman
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Simon Hall, Toni Letts, Tony Newman
9 Comments
Croydon in crisis: Emergency budget cuts may not be enough
EXCLUSIVE: There’s simmering discontent among the Town Hall’s ruling Labour group over their leadership’s inconsistent messaging, secretiveness and bungling, while the council’s new chief exec has made a good first impression. By STEVEN DOWNES “It’s like a fresh breeze through … Continue reading
