Tag Archives: 15% Council Tax hike

‘Anarchy in Croydon’ fears as Mayor axes 22 safety officer jobs

Neighbourhood Safety Officers work to reduce fly-tipping and anti-social behaviour, and one worker facing redundancy warns that erasing his department is ‘a complete invitation to stabbings’. By STEVEN DOWNES A council workers’ union is claiming that cash-strapped Croydon’s decision to … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Crime, Croydon Council, Fly tipping, Katherine Kerswell, Knife crime, Mayor Jason Perry | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Politicians struggle to be heard over iftar’s soup slurping

KEN TOWL broke a Ramadan fast with two out of Croydon’s three MPs and two Mayors (one all togged up). He just couldn’t really hear much of what they had to say The acoustics aren’t great in the Braithwaite Hall, … Continue reading

Posted in Alisa Flemming, Braithwaite Hall, Chris Philp MP, Church and religions, Croydon Central, Croydon North, Croydon South, Faiths Together In Croydon, Ken Towl, Mayor Jason Perry, Sarah Jones MP, Steve Reed MP | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Kerrr-ching! Kerswell reckons £192,000 per year not enough

CROYDON IN CRISIS: The best-paid employee at the cash-strapped council is lobbying for a bumper pay rise – and is being supported in her claim by the part-time elected Mayor. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Barely a month after she helped … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 18 Comments

Average house prices in Croydon almost double in a decade

Estate agents and buy-to-let landlords feel the squeeze as Trussonomics begins to have an impact The cost of an average house in Croydon has increased by 92.4per cent in the 10 years since 2013, according to research based on figures … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Council Tax, Housing, London-wide issues | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Perry passes knife crime responsibility to community groups

Another announcement from the council appears to confirm the abandonment of the authority’s attempt to establish a violence reduction unit, and showed Mayor Jason Perry  abrogating responsibility for dealing with one of the most pressing issues in the borough today. … Continue reading

Posted in Community associations, Crime, Croydon Council, Katherine Kerswell, Knife crime, Lives Not Knives, Mayor Jason Perry, New Addington South, Policing, Sarah Hayward | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Council’s payroll staff vote to strike over redundancy plans

Chief exec accused of ignoring ‘serious whistleblowing complaint’, as one-quarter of staff in one council section are facing losing their jobs – and all those to be made redundant are BAME women Members of the GMB union working in the … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Croydon TUC, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Buy a piece of Council Tax protest art – and help local charity

Eye-catchingly bright yellow posters, featuring Croydon Mayor Jason Perry and the slogan “15% NOW YEAH!!” have been appearing around the town centre. More inspired than many of the offerings from the dullards in charge of the Borough of Culture, the … Continue reading

Posted in Art, Community associations, Council Tax | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Auditors and Government both losing patience with Kerswell

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Judged by the ill-considered political posturing going forward into tonight’s full council meeting, the borough’s Labour councillors haven’t yet worked out who it was that bankrupted the borough. By WALTER CRONXITE, political editor The conman is back. … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Kola Agboola, Mayor Jason Perry, New Addington North, Report in the Public Interest, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, Section 114 notice, Stuart King, Tony McArdle, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 25 Comments

‘In office but not in power’: tune in for the Croydon Insider

Posted in Andrew Fisher, Croydon Insider, David Morgan, Inside Croydon, Under The Flyover | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Tory Perry tries to appoint £123,000 ‘transformation director’

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Spend, spend, spend… the bad old habits of the dark days of the Negreedy era don’t seem to have been eradicated altogether, as CEO Kerswell looks to hire a new director to do her dirty work for … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Elaine Jackson, Improvement Board, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Neil Williams, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Council facing strike in payroll over discrimination claims

One-quarter of staff in one council section are facing losing their jobs – and all those being made redundant are BAME women Union members in Croydon Council’s payroll department at Fisher’s Folly are being balloted over strike action in response … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Croydon TUC, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Council Tax fightback begins with community action meeting

The Croydon Assembly is to stage a “community strategy meeting” this Thursday, two weeks after Mayor Jason Perry was allowed to impose his 15per cent Council Tax hike on the borough’s residents when every single Labour councillor abstained on Town … Continue reading

Posted in Community associations, Council Tax, Croydon TUC, Mayor Jason Perry | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Call for Tory Mayor to resign after Government’s takeover

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Reaction to yesterday’s Government announcement that the Whitehall-appointed improvement panel will effectively take over the running of the cash-strapped council has met with near-universal criticism There have been calls for Jason Perry to resign as Mayor after … Continue reading

Posted in Claire Bonham, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Esther Sutton, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Ria Patel, Tony McArdle | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 29 Comments

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

A Budget that subsidises profiteers and bungs £1bn to wealthy

ANDREW FISHER looks at what Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s Spring Statement means for the long-suffering people of Croydon. Plus: how to call-out a Tory MP’s lies, live on BBC television There is an old saying in the House of Commons. It’s … Continue reading

Posted in Andrew Fisher, Council Tax, Mayor Jason Perry | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

‘Restructuring’ has housing workers facing £3,000 pay cut

Our Town Hall reporter, KEN LEE, on the latest shocking cost-cutting measures being imposed on council staff Croydon Council could be heading for a series of strikes later this year, after senior managers at Fisher’s Folly moved to cut some … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Fly tipping, Housing, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Susmita Sen | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Allowing 15% hike is ‘protecting Council Tax payers’ says Gove

Inside Croydon’s petition to Parliament against the decision to allow councils, including Croydon, to increase Council Tax above the 5per cent cap without first conducting a referendum – as is usually required by law – achieved the 10,000-signature threshold on … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry | Tagged , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Business bonus: retail giant Ikea gets £1.5m rateable value cut

CROYDON IN CRISIS: As the borough’s residents brace themselves for Mayor Perry’s 15% Council Tax hike, one of the biggest businesses on the Purley Way looks to be about to see their bills slashed. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Croydon’s residents … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Coulsdon, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Ikea, Mario Creatura, Mayor Jason Perry, Property, Purley Way, Valley Park | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

You can depend on Croydon Labour: they always let you down

By STEVEN DOWNES, Editor, Inside Croydon In the end, it was all so sadly predictable. Yet even old cynics didn’t believe it was really going to happen in such a swift and shabby manner until they actually saw it all … Continue reading

Posted in Alisa Flemming, Callton Young, Chris Clark, Claire Bonham, Community associations, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Esther Sutton, Jane West, Janet Campbell, Karen Jewitt, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Patricia Hay-Justice, Ria Patel, Stuart King, Tamar Barrett (was Nwafor) | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

And here are the Labour councillors who broke their word over the 15% tax hike and abandoned the people of Croydon

STUART KING. Leader of the opposition Councillor King took over as Labour group leader in May 2022. Had spent previous eight years mostly holding senior positions, including cabinet posts, in the Labour council administration of Tony Newman, Alison Butler and … Continue reading

Posted in Alisa Flemming, Amy Foster, Brigitte Graham, Callton Young, Catherine Wilson, Chris Clark, Chrishni Reshekaron, Christopher Herman, Clive Fraser, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Enid Mollyneaux, Humayun Kabir, Humayun Kabir, Janet Campbell, Karen Jewitt, Kola Agboola, Leila Ben-Hassel, Louis Carserides, Maddie Henson, Manju Shahul Hameed, Mayor Jason Perry, Mike Bonello, Mohammed Islam, Nina Degrads, Patricia Hay-Justice, Patsy Cummings, Sean Fitzsimons, Sherwan Chowdhury, Stella Nabukeera, Stuart Collins, Stuart King, Tamar Barrett (was Nwafor), Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Only three councillors were as good as their word and stood up for the people against Tory Mayor Perry’s 15% Council Tax hike

In the end, after hours of bluster and posturing, just three of the borough’s 70 councillors stood up for the residents that they represent and were as good as their word, voting against the Conservative Mayor’s budget and his 15per … Continue reading

Posted in Claire Bonham, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Esther Sutton, Ria Patel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Here’s the Mayor and 33 Croydon Tory councillors who THREE times voted in favour of hitting you with a 15% Council Tax hike

JASON PERRY. Mayor of Croydon Elected in May 2022 with a margin of fewer than 600 votes. Is paid £82,000 per year by the council. His office answers the phone just 20 hours per week. Stood on a election promise … Continue reading

Posted in Adele Benson, Andrew Stranack, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Fatima Zaman, Helen Redfern, Ian Parker, Jade Appleton, Jason Cummings, Jeet Bains, Joseph Lee, Lynne Hale, Margaret Bird, Maria Gatland, Mario Creatura, Mayor Jason Perry, Michael Neal, Ola Kolade, Richard Chatterjee, Robert Ward, Scott Roche, Simon Brew, Simon Fox, Sue Bennett, Tony Pearson, Yvette Hopley | Tagged , , , , , , | 25 Comments