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Tag Archives: Budget
Perry has stabilised council finances in state of perpetual crisis
TV and radio politics pundit ANDREW FISHER, right, sat through three hours of false claims and spin at the Town Hall last night, as Croydon’s £87,000 per year lame duck Mayor still says he has done a decent job “I … Continue reading
Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Andrew Fisher, Commissioners, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Housing, London-wide issues, Mayor Jason Perry, SEND
Tagged 2026 council budget, 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon mayoral election, 2026 local elections, Andrew Fisher, Budget, Capitalisation direction, Commissioners, Conservative, Council budget, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, EFS, Exceptional financial support, Labour, London, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, MHCLG, Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, Tory
9 Comments
£84,000 per year Tory Mayor approves his own pay rise
EXCLUSIVE: It’s trebles all-round for directors at Croydon’s cash-strapped council, as there’s a second generous pay rise in 12 months for council chiefs, while allowances paid to councillors are also to rise, and amount to £1.6m per year. Yet long-suffering … Continue reading
Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Commissioners, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Housing, Katherine Kerswell, London-wide issues, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice, SEND
Tagged 2026 council budget, 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon mayoral election, 2026 local elections, Budget, Capitalisation direction, Cllr Scott Roche, Commissioners, Conservative, Council budget, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, EFS, Elaine Jackson, Exceptional financial support, Jenny Rowlands, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, London, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, MHCLG, Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, S114, S114 notice, Section 114 Notice, Tony Newman, Tory
3 Comments
Perry begs for another £119m to balance his busted budget
Croydon’s Conservative Mayor, who has hiked Council Tax by 33% since 2023, still needs another £119m government bail-out to make his council budget balance. By STEVEN DOWNES Jason Perry, Croydon’s Conservative Mayor, has got his begging bowl out again to … Continue reading
Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Adult Social Care, Children's Services, Commissioners, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Housing, Lambeth Council, London-wide issues, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice, SEND
Tagged 2026 council budget, 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon mayoral election, 2026 local elections, Budget, Capitalisation direction, Commissioners, Conservative, Council budget, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, EFS, Exceptional financial support, Labour, London, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, MHCLG, Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, S114, S114 notice, Section 114 Notice, Steve Reed OBE, Tory
8 Comments
20,000 homes in Croydon to be hit by Reeves’s ‘mansion tax’
What parts of Croydon are likely to be hit by the ‘mansion tax’? Our housing correspondent, BARRATT HOLMES, peers through the estate agents’ window… Pearls were being well and truly clutched at the Bog Standard this week, as the full … Continue reading
Posted in 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Housing, London-wide issues, Mayor Jason Perry
Tagged Addington Hills, Addington Palace, Bishops Walk, Budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves, Evening Standard, Gideon Osborne, Gravel Hill, Homes and Property, house prices, London Standard, Mansion Tax, Property price inflation, Property prices, Purley, Right-to-buy, Selsdon, South Croydon, Upper Woodcote Village, Waddon
15 Comments
12,500 Croydon children lifted out of poverty by scrapping the two-child benefit cap. But what about homelessness?
ANDREW FISHER pores over the fine detail in the Budget, including more income tax, lower energy bills and frozen rail fares, and highlights some of the important areas that were not addressed by Chancellor Rachel Reeves Just over a year … Continue reading
Posted in Andrew Fisher, Croydon Council, Croydon East, Croydon West, Natasha Irons, Sarah Jones MP, SEND
Tagged Andrew Fisher, Budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon East, Croydon West, Electric vehicles, Labour, London, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Sadiq Khan, Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan, Natasha Irons MP, Sarah Jones MP, SEND, Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, Tory, Tourist Tax
8 Comments
Croydon’s 6.6% unemployment rate is among worst in capital
Croydon has one of the worst unemployment rates in London, according to the latest figures. There are 1.8million unemployed across the country, which the Office for National Statistics said, outside the covid pandemic, is the highest level nationally since August … Continue reading
Posted in Bromley Council, Business, Lambeth Council, London-wide issues, Merton, Southwark Council, Sutton Council
Tagged Bromley, Budget, Budget 2025, Chancellor Rachel Reeves, Conservative, Croydon, Department of Work and Pensions, DWP, Jobseekers Allowance, Labour, Lambeth, London, Merton, Office for National Statistics, ONS, Rachel Reeves, Southwark, Sutton, Tory, Underemployment, unemployment
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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 2025 Council budget, Budget, Conservative, Council budget, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, David Wickens, Exceptional financial support, Exit Strategy, Improvement and Assurance Panel, Improvement Panel, Jane West, Katherine Kerswell, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, MHCLG, Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, Stabilisation Plan, Tony McArdle, Tory, Unbalanced budget
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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 2025 Council budget, Budget, Conservative, Council budget, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Exceptional financial support, Exit Strategy, Improvement and Assurance Panel, Improvement Panel, Jane West, Katherine Kerswell, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, MHCLG, Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, Stabilisation Plan, Tony McArdle, Tory, Unbalanced budget
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 2025 Council budget, Budget, Conservative, Council budget, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Exceptional financial support, Improvement and Assurance Panel, Improvement Panel, Jane West, Katherine Kerswell, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Tory, Unbalanced budget
6 Comments
Bad for disabled people. Bad for unemployment. Bad for growth
Our columnist ANDREW FISHER on the Chancellor’s Spring Statement and the impact it could have on Croydon Last week, Labour announced it would cut £5billion from the social security benefits that disabled people receive. In the Orwellian, anti-truth language now … Continue reading
Posted in Andrew Fisher
Tagged Andrew Fisher, Budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves, Ellen Clifford, Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves, Spring Statement
2 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 2025 Council budget, Alasdair Stewart, Budget, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Karen Agbabiaka, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Louis Carserides, Planning, Scrutiny and Overview Committee, Scrutiny committee, Tory
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 2025 Council budget, Alasdair Stewart, Budget, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Jo Negrini, Karen Agbabiaka, Katherine Kerswell, Kristian Aspinall, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Louis Carserides, Scrutiny and Overview Committee, Scrutiny committee, Steve Iles, Tory
8 Comments
Tories back Perry to have another go as £82,000 per year Mayor
Remember, remember, the fifth of November… There might be an election going on elsewhere today, but in Croydon the selection results are already in, and local Conservatives are standing full-square behind part-time Perry in his bid to remain as Mayor. … Continue reading
Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Neil Garratt, Rowenna Davis
Tagged Budget, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Green Party, Keir Starmer, Labour, Liberal Democrats, London, London Assembly, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Rachel Reeves, Tory, Two-child benefit cap, Winter Fuel Payment
3 Comments
Dear Rachel: Croydon’s a microcosm for much of what is wrong
Ahead of next Wednesday’s Budget, the first Labour Budget in 14 years, columnist ANDREW FISHER, right, has penned this open letter to Chancellor Rachel Reeves Dear Rachel, Record NHS waiting lists, a housing crisis, growing levels of child poverty, backlogs … Continue reading
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
Chancellor’s Council Tax bombshell: how Budget hits Croydon
Our new columnist ANDREW FISHER, pictured left, looks at what this week’s Budget will mean for Croydon’s residents, businesses and for the services provided by the local authority Nearly 50,000 households in Croydon receive Universal Credit. The £20 per week … Continue reading
Posted in Andrew Fisher, Business, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Education, LSBU campus
Tagged Andrew Fisher, Budget, Council Tax, Rishi Sunak, Universal Credit
4 Comments
London’s boroughs make eve of Budget appeal for covid help
CROYDON IN CRISIS: According to London-wide figures published today, unemployment in the city is approaching half a million people while covid-19 has cost every borough in the capital £66m. In Croydon, the latest estimate of the budget overspend has now … Continue reading
