Tag Archives: Abi Brown

Commissioners switch email in effort to protect whistleblowers

CROYDON IN CRISIS: After complaints that staff could not trust that their messages to the government-appointed Commissioners would be secure from their council bosses, a MHCLG official has set up an independent channel. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Three months after … Continue reading

Posted in Abi Brown, Commissioners, Croydon Council, Debbie Warren, Elaine Jackson, Ged Curran, Improvement Board, Jackie Belton, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Nathan Elvery, Section 114 notice | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Kerswell gets ‘vote of confidence’ in email from Commissioner

Two months since the government sent in Commissioners to run Croydon’s cash-strapped and chaotic council, a round-robin message to staff today suggests that the team has already ‘gone native’. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Staff working in Fisher’s Folly, cash-strapped Croydon … Continue reading

Posted in 'Future Croydon', Abi Brown, Commissioners, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Debbie Warren, Ged Curran, Improvement Board, Jackie Belton, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice, Stabilisation Plan | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Now Kerswell’s deputy CEO joins the rush for council exits

EXCLUSIVE: To lose one of her trusted inner circle might be unfortunate for Croydon chief exec Katherine Kerswell, but to lose two is beginning to look like an exodus. By STEVEN DOWNES Elaine Jackson, the senior council executive who Croydon … Continue reading

Posted in Abi Brown, Commissioners, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Debbie Warren, Elaine Jackson, Ged Curran, Improvement Board, Jackie Belton, Jane West, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice, Stabilisation Plan | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Go West! Cash-strapped council’s finance chief is set to quit

EXCLUSIVE: Councillors were kept in the dark about departure of council’s S151 officer, as her exit is linked to the government’s appointment of Commissioners. By STEVEN DOWNES Jane West, Croydon’s finance director since 2022, is to stand down from her … Continue reading

Posted in Abi Brown, Commissioners, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Debbie Warren, Ged Curran, Improvement Board, Jackie Belton, Jane West, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice, Stabilisation Plan | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Tory improvement panel ‘clearly failed’, says Tory councillor

In the first break with the omerta adopted by Mayor Jason Perry and council CEO Katherine Kerswell over the so-called ‘improvement panel’, a senior Tory councillor says that the appointees of the Conservative government ‘failed’. By WALTER CONXITE, Political Editor … Continue reading

Posted in 'Future Croydon', Commissioners, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Ged Curran, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Robert Ward, Section 114 notice, Selsdon and Addington Village, Stabilisation Plan | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

£642,000: the annual cost of government’s four Commissioners

The government might have decided to send in Commissioners, but it will be Croydon’s Council Tax-payers who will be picking up the bill. Yet again. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Croydon’s long-suffering residents will be expected to pay the generous daily … Continue reading

Posted in 'Future Croydon', Abi Brown, Commissioners, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Debbie Warren, Ged Curran, Improvement Board, Jackie Belton, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice, Stabilisation Plan | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Minister McMahon orders in Commissioners to run council

STEVEN DOWNES reports on another day of shame for Croydon’s Tory Mayor and his £204,000 chief executive, as government minister orders ‘a short and sharp reset, with fast action… to shift the dial on the council’s recovery’ The government today … Continue reading

Posted in 'Future Croydon', Abi Brown, Commissioners, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Debbie Warren, Ged Curran, Improvement Board, Jackie Belton, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice, Stabilisation Plan | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 23 Comments

Meet the Commissioners: council experts sent to save Croydon

Just who are the Commissioners named today by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to have been appointed with the task of steering Croydon Council off the rocks of toxic debt and crass mismanagement? Last month, local government … Continue reading

Posted in 'Future Croydon', Abi Brown, Commissioners, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Debbie Warren, Ged Curran, Improvement Board, Jackie Belton, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice, Stabilisation Plan | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments