Recent Comments
Tag Archives: Children’s Services
Outsourcing children’s home has proved costly and high risk
CROYDON COMMENTARY: The collapse of a multi-million-pound contract to manage a children’s home in the borough has exposed the flaws in the procurement process and sunk Mayor Perry’s claims of running a ‘more efficient’ council. Green Party councillor NATALIE VESTY, … Continue reading
Posted in Children's Services, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Natalie Vesty, Sanderstead, Stabilisation Plan, Stuart Collins
Tagged Care Homes, Children's homes, Children's Services, Cllr Natalie Vesty, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, St Christopher's Fellowship, Tory
5 Comments
‘Appalled’ Labour call for inquiry into children’s home contract
Council opposition makes call for investigation into the collapse of multi-million-pound contract, as charity placed in charge of home says council report does not ‘accurately reflect’ events. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES The Labour opposition group at Croydon Town Hall has … Continue reading
Posted in Children's Services, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Sanderstead, Stabilisation Plan, Stuart Collins, Stuart King
Tagged Care Homes, Children's homes, Children's Services, Cllr Stuart King, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, St Christopher's Fellowship, Tory
1 Comment
Council cancels £8.6m children’s home contract after 6 months
‘Hospital admissions’ of children in care are among serious concerns over the management of a home which was only registered in March. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Croydon Council has served notice on a contract for managing a children’s home less … Continue reading
Posted in Children's Services, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Sanderstead, Stabilisation Plan, Stuart Collins
Tagged Children's home, Children's Services, Cllr Andy Stranack, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Debbie Jones, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, St Christopher's Fellowship, Stuart Collins, Tory
4 Comments
Mother of four boys killed in Sutton fire sentenced to 10 years
Deveca Rose has been jailed for 10 years for the manslaughter of her four sons who died in a house fire on Collingwood Road, Sutton, while she was out shopping. Rose, 30, had left her two sets of twins alone … Continue reading
Cash-strapped council has spent £6.4m… to make more cuts
CROYDON IN CRISIS: After cuts to services of £137m in four years and with this year’s council budget out of control, official figures show that the council is spending millions more to find out how to save money. EXCLUSIVE by … Continue reading
Posted in 'Future Croydon', Adult Social Care, Children's Services, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, SEND
Tagged 'Future Croydon', Adult Social Care, Boston Consulting Group, Children's Services, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Digital Croydon, Impower, Katherine Kerswell, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Newton, No Future Croydon, SEND, Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, Tory
20 Comments
Mother convicted of manslaughter of four sons killed in fire
Social workers at Sutton Council had raised concerns about Deveca Rose and the state of her home on Collingwood Road three years before four boys, aged under five, died in a blaze at their home Deveca Rose, the mother of … Continue reading
Council consultants take six months to discover the obvious
CROYDON IN CRISIS: It has taken external consultants almost six months to discover that the council’s website is ‘jargon-heavy’, ‘corporate’ and ‘difficult’ to use. Those findings have cost the cash-strapped council at least £1m. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES After being … Continue reading
Posted in 'Future Croydon', Council Tax, Croydon Council, Katherine Kerswell
Tagged 'Future Croydon', Adult Social Care, Boston Consulting Group, Children's Services, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Digital Croydon, Impower, Katherine Kerswell, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Newton, No Future Croydon, SEND, Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, Tory
17 Comments
Dear Angela: It’s time for you to act and fund Croydon fairly
Last month, the Croydon Mayor wrote to the Deputy Prime Minister begging for an urgent meeting to resolve the council’s long-standing financial problems after 14 years of Tory austerity. Angela Rayner did not reply. So now ANDREW FISHER, pictured right, … Continue reading
Posted in Adult Social Care, Andrew Fisher, Children's Services, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Libraries, Section 114 notice, Steve Reed MP, Streatham and Croydon North
Tagged Adult Social Care, Andrew Fisher, Angela Rayner, Children's Services, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fund Croydon Fairly, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Public libraries, Section 114, Section 114 Notice, Steve Reed OBE, Streatham and Croydon North, Tory
16 Comments
Council’s controversial ‘interim’ children’s director set to leave
Our Town Hall reporter, KEN LEE, on the search to replace a £800per day corporate director at Fisher’s Folly, just in time for the next, key inspection Debbie Jones, the council’s septuagenarian director of children’s services, is to stand down … Continue reading
Council’s multi-million consultant deals to make more cuts
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Staff in Fisher’s Folly have already dubbed the plan ‘No Future Croydon’. After cuts of £100m from council budgets in four years, now the chief exec is forking out public money to find more ways of axing … Continue reading
Posted in 'Future Croydon', Adult Social Care, Children's Services, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, SEND
Tagged 'Future Croydon', Adult Social Care, Boston Consulting Group, Children's Services, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Digital Croydon, Impower, Katherine Kerswell, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Newton, No Future Croydon, SEND, Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, Tory
10 Comments
Newman’s Numpties join race to become Croydon’s new MP
Even political editor WALTER CRONXITE’s ghast was flabbered when he heard how some of those at the heart of the council regime that bankrupted the borough are now shamelessly chasing after selection for a new parliamentary seat Last week’s announcement … Continue reading
Posted in Alisa Flemming, Ben Taylor, Chris Philp MP, Chrishni Reshekaron, Croydon Central, Croydon East, Croydon North, Croydon South, Croydon West, Maddie Henson, Olga Fitzroy, Sarah Jones MP, Steve Reed MP
Tagged Alisa Flemming, Children's Services, Chris Philp MP, Chrishni Reshekaron, Croydon, Croydon Central, Croydon East, Croydon North, Croydon South, Croydon West and South Norwood, Labour, Maddie Henson, Natasha Irons, Olga Fitzroy, Sangeeta Gobidaas, Sarah Jones MP, Steve Reed OBE
13 Comments
Ombudsman finds council put 4-year-old at risk of gang crime
CROYDON IN CRISIS: In the latest adverse finding against Croydon Council, in a case that stretches back seven years, a young mother was ‘left to live in fear’ after she was subjected to threats at gun-point and her appeals to … Continue reading
#PennReport: Croydon has been let down by political leaders
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The report into the council’s financial collapse that has been withheld for nearly two years includes damning criticisms of some of the council’s most senior staff and political leaders. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Croydon’s dysfunctional council went … Continue reading
Posted in Alison Butler, Children's Services, Croydon Council, Guy van Dichele, Hazel Simmonds, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Lisa Taylor, Paul Scott, Report in the Public Interest, Richard Simpson, Section 114 notice, Shifa Mustafa, Simon Hall, The Penn Report, Tony Newman
Tagged #PennReport, Brick by Brick, Children's Services, Croydon, Croydon Council, Guy van Dichele, Hazel Simmonds, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, Lisa Taylor, Ofsted, Penn Report, Richard Penn, Richard Simpson, Shifa Mustafa, Simon Hall, The Penn Report, Tony Newman
3 Comments
Best Start centres under threat again from Flemming’s survey
Our council reporter, PEARL LEE, on the latest stitch-up survey being rushed through as a ruse to justify cuts to services for babies and toddlers Here comes another council “survey” where the information scraped from residents will be used to … Continue reading
Croydon In Crisis: Council can no longer cope with basic tasks
It was on November 11, 2020, that Croydon issued a Section114 Notice, effectively admitting they were bankrupt. Twelve months on, and now the council struggles to fulfil even the most basic of administrative services. EXCLUSIVE By STEVEN DOWNES Resident endures … Continue reading
Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Katherine Kerswell, Libraries, Report in the Public Interest, Section 114 notice
Tagged Children's Services, coronavirus, Council Tax, Council Tax Support, Covid-19, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon Libraries, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, Purley Pool
8 Comments
Flemming forced to drop plan to close two children’s centres
The council has been forced to back down from cost-cutting proposals, including closures, that will have impacted thousands of the borough’s children and the families. The council wanted to reduce its spend on its Best Start Children’s Centres by £1million … Continue reading
Ofsted discover ‘worrying signs’ of cuts on children’s services
Inspectors from Ofsted have warned that some of the borough’s most vulnerable children may be put at greater risk as a consequence of cuts and redundancies caused by the council’s financial collapse. Ofsted inspectors last month carried out their latest … Continue reading
Council ‘too quick to pass the buck’ over child abuse claims
Local Government Ombudsman orders Croydon to conduct an audit of child sexual abuse cases going back three years, after the authority’s response to a draft report ‘suggests wider systemic issues’ Croydon’s children’s services department may have “systemic” errors, according to … Continue reading
Woman charged with murdering her son worked for council
The mother of two-year-old Kyrell Matthews, who died at his Thornton Heath home in October 2019 after suffering 39 fractures, had been employed by Croydon Council… working with children in care. Inside Croydon has confirmed that Phylesia Shirley was a … Continue reading
‘Startling’ findings in Ombudsman report on children in care
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The council’s dilemma over cutting funding to the children’s services department has been highlighted by a report which says that youngsters in care are being let down by local authorities A report published by the Local Government … Continue reading
Criticism mounting around council’s £800 per day director
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The team of social workers which helped to drag the council’s children’s services department from an Ofsted rating of ‘Inadequate’ to ‘Good’ is breaking up, with increasing concern for the youngsters in the care of the local … Continue reading
Fears over children’s services as another director quits council
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Staff worry that an exodus of colleagues will desert bankrupt council before the worst of the cuts bite. EXCLUSIVE By STEVEN DOWNES Nick Pendry, Croydon’s director of early help and children’s social care, is to follow his … Continue reading
Newman ally Ali tipped as favourite to be council’s new leader
WALTER CRONXITE on the lacklustre contest among Labour councillors to become the Town Hall’s new chief Croydon Council should have a new leader as soon as tomorrow night. But the appointment looks as if it could present the borough with … Continue reading
Posted in Alisa Flemming, Alison Butler, Children's Services, Crime, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Paul Scott, Stuart Collins, Stuart King, Tony Newman, Woodside
Tagged Alisa Flemming, Alison Butler, Children's Services, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon South, Hamida Ali, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Ofsted, Stuart Collins, Tony Newman
6 Comments
‘Are you joking?’ Two council staffers in Birthday Honours
MBEs have been awarded to two members of Croydon Council staff in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, announced overnight. Val Burrell-Walker, 57, who has been the council’s fair access manager for school pupils for the past 15 years, and Rashida Baig, … Continue reading
Posted in Children's Services, Croydon Council, Education, Schools
Tagged Children's Services, Rashida Baig, Val Burrell-Walker
Leave a comment
£800 per day exec director job goes to ‘naughty step’ Jones
The Tower Hamlets council official who was in charge of that borough’s schools when Shamima Begum and two other girls were radicalised and escaped to Syria to become “jihadi brides” has just been appointed by Croydon as the borough’s interim … Continue reading
