Tag Archives: 2025 Council budget

Official figures show Croydon’s £90.8m in unpaid Council Tax

Croydon households owe £90.8million in unpaid Council Tax, the second-highest level in London, in what reports say is another indication of the cost-of-living crisis. It is also another sign of cash-strapped Croydon’s poor administration, with an increasing rate of non-collection. … Continue reading

Posted in 'Future Croydon', Business, Commissioners, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice, Stabilisation Plan, Tony McArdle | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Agency spend scandal: Perry blasted for ‘ridiculous shambles’

EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Rowenna Davis, the Labour Party’s candidate for Croydon Mayor, has described the cash-strapped council’s “runaway” spending on agency staff as “disgusting” and “unforgivable”. “It’s a ridiculous shambles,” Davis said. Davis, a councillor for Waddon ward and, … Continue reading

Posted in 'Future Croydon', Business, Children's Services, Commissioners, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Dean Shoesmith, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Rowenna Davis, Section 114 notice, Stabilisation Plan, Tony McArdle, Waddon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

You can be confident that the council’s targets will not be met

CROYDON COMMENTARY: After council chiefs admitted that they ‘cannot deliver a balanced budget’, DAVID WICKENS says that their ‘Stabilisation Plan’ is an admission of failure After Croydon Council released its “Stabilisation Plan” last week, I had a quick look back … Continue reading

Posted in 'Future Croydon', Council Tax, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Stabilisation Plan, Tony McArdle | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Kerswell’s ‘Stabilisation Plan’ has failed before it is approved

CROYDON IN CRISIS: The fourth rescue plan issued by our cash-strapped council in as many years ‘cannot deliver a balanced budget’. By WALTER CRONXITE, Political Editor “Desperate” and “deluded” are a couple of the kinder things that have been said … Continue reading

Posted in 'Future Croydon', Council Tax, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Jane West, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice, Stabilisation Plan, Tony McArdle | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Council chief West warns staff that finances ‘remain serious’

CROYDON IN CRISIS: The council appears to be sleepwalking into another financial crisis, without a full meeting at the Town Hall for three months, while bosses at Fisher’s Folly waiting for the next government directive. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES “Our … Continue reading

Posted in 'Future Croydon', Council Tax, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Jane West, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

They voted to raise your Council Tax, then to increase their pay

TOWN HALL SKETCH: Things don’t sound too good in the Chamber these days, and it is not just because the council has hired a cheaper contractor for its audio system. As tempers frayed at the most important meeting of the … Continue reading

Posted in 'Future Croydon', Amy Foster, Avril Slipper, Callton Young, Christopher Herman, Claire Bonham, Council Tax, Croydon Carers, Croydon Council, Croydon Greens, Esther Sutton, Ian Parker, Jason Cummings, Katherine Kerswell, Kola Agboola, Mayor Jason Perry, Ria Patel, Rowenna Davis, Sean Fitzsimons, Section 114 notice, Stuart King | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Cut Mayor’s special allowances by 50%, say Croydon’s Greens

CROYDON COMMENTARY: Ahead of the council’s more-heat-than-light annual Budget meetings that begin this week, PETER UNDERWOOD highlights how the councillors of one party at the Town Hall are presenting some realistic proposals Honesty and fairness. They are the themes of … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Croydon Greens, Esther Sutton, Fairfield, Fairfield Halls, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Peter Underwood, Ria Patel, Youth Services | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Government’s local council settlement still not enough – LGA

A leading think tank and the largest association of local councils say that the funding from central government that has been announced this week is still not enough to deal with steepling increases in costs faced by town halls across … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

For planner Cheesbrough, budget increase is ‘non-negotiable’

CROYDON IN CRISIS: All those public consultations that don’t ever make any difference to what the council sets out to do? This week, one director made it clear that they are indeed pointless exercises, as KEN LEE reports Croydon Council … Continue reading

Posted in Alasdair Stewart, Business, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Karen Agbabiaka, Louis Carserides, Planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 21 Comments

Directors leave scrutiny short of answers over council job cuts

KEN LEE reports from the frontline of budget discussions at the cash-strapped council, after a meeting where everyone is working very, very hard, but no one in charge bothered to turn up equipped to provide any answers  Councillors from both … Continue reading

Posted in Alasdair Stewart, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Karen Agbabiaka, Kristian Aspinall, Libraries, Louis Carserides, Scott Roche, Stella Nabukeera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Perry and Kerswell ask for your ideas to fix their budget mess

Our Town Hall reporter, KEN LEE, on Mayor Perry and the council directors’ latest lame efforts to make a (empty) silk purse out of a debt-laden sow’s ear Could there ever have been a more misleading headline to a council … Continue reading

Posted in Adult Social Care, Children's Services, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments