Croydon’s Tories have been crowing loud in recent days over the failure of the Labour-controlled council, but they might need to temper their politically-charged triumphalism somewhat, given that Bexley has now also gone to the government with a begging bowl.
True Tory blue Bexley -with its own shiny civic offices, is also running out of money. Much like Croydon
Bexley, as you might guess, is Conservative-controlled.
Last week, Croydon became only the second local authority in 20 years to issue a Section 114 notice – effectively admitting it is broke. The previous English council to issue a S114 was Northamptonshire in 2018 – a county council that was run by the Tories.
Bexley made the decision to seek a capitalisation direction – much as Croydon is doing – at a cabinet meeting this week, to fund day-to-day spending in the face of “unprecedented” savings requirements. Continue reading
