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Category Archives: Simon Hall
Libraries, pool and Arena may not open because of cash crisis
CROYDON IN CRISIS: More embarrassment for Tony Newman as Croydon-owned sports centre in his ward remains closed, while fears have been revived that the Labour-run council could flog off some libraries for housing Several of the borough’s public libraries and … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Croydon FC, Croydon Harriers, GLL - Better, Leisure services, Libraries, Simon Hall, Sport, Tony Newman, Woodside
Tagged Bradmore Green Library, Coulsdon Library, Croydon, Croydon Arena, Croydon Council, Croydon Public Libraries, GLL, Greenwich Leisure, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Norbury Library, Purley Library, Purley Pool, Shirley Library, Simon Hall, Tony Newman, Woodside
12 Comments
Children’s services suffers 30% cut in social workers
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Concerns are growing at Fisher’s Folly that cutbacks on hiring agency workers, implemented since January this year, could adversely impact some of the borough’s most vulnerable. KEN LEE reports Croydon Council’s children’s services department, which was given … Continue reading
‘Nuffink to do with us, guv’: council chiefs blame everyone else
The council will have only its second full meeting since March, with an Extraordinary Council Meeting being staged on September 28, called as a result of a motion of no confidence in council leader Tony Newman and his finance chief … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Simon Hall, Tony Newman
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Council, Labour, Simon Hall, Tony Newman
2 Comments
Newman excludes councillors from emergency budget details
20% budget cuts expected to be announced Jo Negrini’s pay-off figure confirmed as £440,000 Redundancy process for 400 council workers enters final two weeks Katherine Kerswell begins work as interim chief exec Tony Newman and Simon Hall will be presenting … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Simon Hall, Tony Newman
Tagged Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, Simon Hall, Tony Newman, Tory
4 Comments
Newman’s ‘sickening’ defence of Negrini’s £400,000+ pay-off
Newman failed to brief party colleagues on departing CEO’s pay-off ‘Golden handshake’ to Negrini may be even bigger than first estimated Negrini was given a £4,000 pay rise just days before she left Croydon Threat of backbench revolt by Labour … Continue reading
Posted in Alison Butler, Andrew Pelling, Bensham Manor, Croydon Council, Jamie Audsley, Jo Negrini, Joy Prince, Paul Scott, Robert Canning, Simon Hall, Tony Newman, Waddon
Tagged Alison Butler, Croydon Council, Jamie Audsley, Jo Negrini, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Paul Scott, Robert Canning, Simon Hall, Tony Newman, Waddon
3 Comments
Croydon in crisis: Council makes 20% cuts to adult services
KEN LEE, our Town Hall reporter, on the latest cuts at the council While Jo Negrini was having her lawyers haggle over the size of her six-figure pay-off for leaving her job as chief executive of the council, the scale … Continue reading
£400,000 ‘golden handshake’ is Negrini’s reward for failure
EXCLUSIVE: Croydon’s political leadership to come under increasing pressure as the full extent of the deal they cut with chief executive is revealed. By STEVEN DOWNES Jo Negrini will receive more than £400,000 under the terms of the deal that … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Simon Hall, Tony Newman
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Simon Hall, Tony Newman
19 Comments
Hall’s 1,000-word email plea to keep his cabinet finance post
It might not fill anyone with much confidence when the councillor in charge of cash-strapped Croydon’s finances brushes away more than £1million as if it didn’t matter, as he seeks to justify the council’s parlous financial situation, which includes a … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Property, Simon Hall
Tagged Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon Park Hotel, Labour, Simon Hall, Tory
3 Comments
Newman bypassed cabinet and colleagues on CEO decisions
Our political editor, WALTER CRONXITE, on the latest decision by decree from the council leader, and with a profile of the interim CEO who had a chequered career before joining Croydon Before she was announced yesterday as the interim replacement … Continue reading
Posted in "Hammersfield", Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Business, CPO, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Lisa Taylor, Shifa Mustafa, Simon Hall, Tony Newman, Whitgift Centre
Tagged Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Hammersfield, Hammerson, Jo Negrini, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Shifa Mustafa, Simon Hall, Tony Newman, Westfield, Whitgift Centre
12 Comments
‘I can’t guarantee we won’t issue a Section 114 notice’
After weeks of repeated denials from Town Hall chiefs that the council is broke, last night there was a refreshing outbreak of frankness by an official. KEN LEE reports One of the council’s most senior officials last night admitted: “I … Continue reading
‘Doing a Northampton’: dire warnings from council failures
KEN LEE, our Town Hall reporter, on how many of the failings from another council’s collapse can be recognised in Croydon’s crisis A report published last month about the financial collapse of a local authority has eerily familiar themes and … Continue reading
Administrators accuse council of forcing hotel out of business
EXCLUSIVE: The closure of the Croydon Park Hotel, with nearly 100 employees losing their jobs, could open the way for the site to be used to build more flats. By STEVEN DOWNES A confidential report from accountants carrying out the … Continue reading
Council to borrow another £30m to buy Brick by Brick flats
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
Newman’s claims over diversity miss the real ‘need for change’
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 Alison Butler, Callton Young, Clive Fraser, Croydon Council, David Wood, Jane Avis, Labour, Oliver Lewis, Paul Scott, Sean Fitzsimons, Simon Hall, Tony Newman
7 Comments
Croydon in crisis: IFS report shows council was ill-prepared
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
Residents quick to see through councillor’s skatepark offer
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 ABC, New Addington North, New Addington Residents' Association, New Addington South, Oliver Lewis, Simon Hall, Sport
Tagged Croydon Council, Felicity Flynn, Labour, Louisa Woodley, New Addington, New Addington Amateur Boxing Club, New Addington North, New Addington South, Oliver Lewis, Simon Hall, Timebridge Centre
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Council-owned Croydon Park Hotel calls in administrators
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
Newman hand-picks ‘Secret Seven’ to check on finance panel
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
Is Brick by Brick’s Theobald Road ‘Stasi prison’ now kaput?
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 North, New Addington South, Oliver Lewis, Paul Scott, Planning, Robert Canning, Simon Hall, Tony Newman, Waddon
Tagged Brick by Brick, Croydon, Croydon Council, Felicity Flynn, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Louisa Woodley, New Addington, Oliver Lewis, Paul Scott, Robert Canning, Simon Hall, Tony Newman, Waddon
7 Comments
Town Hall finances under urgent review by Southwark treasurer
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 Croydon, Croydon Council, Duncan Whitfield, Jo Negrini, Labour, Lisa Taylor, London Borough of Croydon, Simon Hall
4 Comments
Council calls in auditors as it faces covid cashflow crisis
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
Head quits as ‘high risk’ Virgo Fidelis struggles with budget
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
Our frontline heroes could lose their jobs, MP Reed warns
The frontline heroes we’re cheering today will lose their jobs tomorrow if the government break their promise to fund whatever’s necessary to get communities through this crisis. That’s according to Croydon North MP Steve Reed OBE, speaking in the House … Continue reading
Parliament to probe councils’ dodgy investment ‘strategies’
Croydon and other local authorities’ questionable investments in commercial property are about to be scrutinised by Parliament’s spending watchdog, as the Conservative government wises up to some of the dodgier “investments” by councils in their attempts to balance their books. … Continue reading
Posted in Jo Negrini, Property, Simon Hall, Tony Newman
3 Comments
