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Tag Archives: Council Tax
Coulsdon flats, women boxing, tram troubles – and Council Tax
The latest episode of our Croydon Insider podcast takes a deep delve into the news behind the headlines, as the borough’s residents face another above-inflation increase to their Council Tax, just as Mayor Jason Perry awards himself and senior council … Continue reading
Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Croydon Insider, Gianella A Basile, Inside Croydon, Johnny Dobbyn, Under The Flyover
Tagged Brian Finegan, Brick by Brick, Coulsdon, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Trams, Gianella A Basile, Johnny Dobbyn, New Addington, Patreon, Paul Ford, Podcast, The Croydon Insider, The Sweet Science of Bruising, Theatre Workshop Coulsdon
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Starmer shocker: could Gorton and Denton happen here?
Our resident psephologist, WALTER CRONXITE, crunches the numbers after a disastrous by-election result at Gorton and Denton for the Labour Prime Minister, with local elections across London, including in Croydon, just 70 days away The Green Party’s historic parliamentary by-election … Continue reading
Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Croydon East, Croydon West, Natasha Irons, Rowenna Davis, Sarah Jones MP, Steve Reed MP, Streatham and Croydon North
Tagged 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon mayoral election, 2026 local elections, Andy Burnham, Camden, Cllr Rowenna Davis, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Gorton and Denton byelection, Green Party, Hackney, Hannah Spencer, Keir Starmer, Lambeth, Lewisham, London Borough of Croydon, Manchester, Natasha Irons MP, Sarah Jones MP, Southwark, Steve Reed OBE, Tony Newman, Tory, Zack Polanski
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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
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£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
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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
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Labour refuse to respond to Cummings’s budget challenge
WALTER CRONXITE, Political Editor, on a sham challenge issued to rival political parties by a borrowing-dependent Conservative administration that is trying to con the public that they have ‘fixed the finances’ As Tory Mayor Jason Perry prepares to deliver what … Continue reading
Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Claire Bonham, Commissioners, Conrad Hall, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Croydon Greens, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Esther Sutton, Fairfield, Jason Cummings, Mayor Jason Perry, Peter Underwood, Ria Patel, Section 114 notice, Stuart King
Tagged 2026 council budget, 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon mayoral election, 2026 local elections, Cllr Stuart King, Commissioners, Conrad Hall, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Green Party, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Lollipop patrols, Mayor Jason Perry, Peter Underwood, Simon Hall, Tony Newman, Tory
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33% Council Tax increase: Mayor Perry’s legacy for Croydon
Typical households will be paying £600 more in Council Tax in the coming year than they did before the Conservative Mayor took office, while yet more services are cut. But part-time Perry and his councillor colleagues did vote themselves a … Continue reading
Posted in 'Future Croydon', 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Commissioners, Conrad Hall, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Croydon Greens, Katherine Kerswell, Peter Underwood, Section 114 notice, Stuart King, West Thornton
Tagged 33% Council Tax hike, Cllr Stuart King, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Peter Underwood, The Green Party, Tory
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Rubbish contractors don’t know how many bins there are
Four years after being caught out ripping out 1,000 street bins – all to make work for rubbish contractors Veolia a bit easier – and now Croydon Council is forced to admit it has no real idea of how many … Continue reading
Posted in Inside Croydon
Tagged Allders, Andrew Fisher, Coulsdon, Coulsdon banking hub, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Golden handshake, Hammersfield, Katherine Kerswell, Kerswell yoghurt, Labour, Litter Free Norbury, Mayor Jason Perry, Pay-off, Surrey Street, Tony Hooker, Tory, Unibail Rodamco Westfield, URW, Veolia, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
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CEO quit council with £50,000 pay-off to not work for 3 months
This was awkward: Jason Perry, the politician who promised to clawback money from the massive golden handshake paid to the previous council CEO, in October found himself overseeing a pay-off to Katherine Kerswell, as she resigned after five years as … Continue reading
Posted in Inside Croydon
Tagged 000, Allders, Andrew Fisher, £50, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Golden handshake, Hammersfield, Katherine Kerswell, Kerswell yoghurt, Labour, Mayor Jason Perry, Pay-off, Surrey Street, Tory, Unibail Rodamco Westfield, URW, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
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Croydon and council at centre of new £100m housing scandal
The housing scandal at Regina Road was appalling, but by September 2025, Croydon found itself embroiled in another dreadful instance of the shortcomings of tall residential towers. Plus our writers get lost searching their way through the half-closed shopping mall, … Continue reading
Posted in Inside Croydon
Tagged Allders, Andrew Fisher, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Hammersfield, Jeremy Corbyn, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Mayor Jason Perry, Nigel Farage, Purley Pool, Reform, Reform Ltd, Reform UK, Sharon Carby, Tory, Unibail Rodamco Westfield, URW, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
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How Farage’s party picked a dead woman as election candidate
Into August, and the news stories just kept coming, including the latest moves by Westfield to make the Whitgift Centre ever more inaccessible, and the public library where council contractors chucked thousands of books on to the street. There was … Continue reading
Posted in Inside Croydon
Tagged Allders, Andrew Fisher, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Hammersfield, Jeremy Corbyn, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Mayor Jason Perry, Nigel Farage, Purley Pool, Reform, Reform Ltd, Reform UK, Sharon Carby, Tory, Unibail Rodamco Westfield, URW, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
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The cash-strapped council paying consultant £726 PER HOUR
The dog days of a long, hot summer are not usually a time for significant news stories. But that wasn’t to be the case in Croydon as readers flocked to this news site for our coverage in in July and … Continue reading
Posted in Inside Croydon
Tagged Adecco, Allders, Andrew Fisher, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Dean Shoesmith, Hammersfield, Ian Dunt, Katherine Kerswell, Kevin Day, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Mayor Jason Perry, Purley Pool, Tory, Unibail Rodamco Westfield, URW, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
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When council boss blocked staff from reading Inside Croydon
Our review of the year’s Croydon news continues with a ecelctic mix of the infuriating and the absurd, as the unelected and unaccountable £204,000 per year public servant at the head of the council looked increasingly all at sea JUNE … Continue reading
Posted in Inside Croydon
Tagged Allders, Allders Parade, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fiona Fletcher-Smith, Hammersfield, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Mayor Jason Perry, Purley Pool, Tory, Unibail Rodamco Westfield, URW, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
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After 120 years, the Eagles live the dream at Wembley cup final
As we reach the month of May in our review of the biggest and best news stories of the year, there was one report, direct from the National Stadium, that had many Croydon folk walking on air for days afterwards… … Continue reading
Posted in Inside Croydon
Tagged 2025 FA Cup final, Allders, Allders Parade, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Crystal Palace, Crystal Palace FC, East Croydon station, FA Cup, FA Cup final, Hammersfield, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Mayor Jason Perry, Peter Gillman, Purley Pool, Roisha Hughes, Selhurst Park, Sutton Council, Tory, Trinity School, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
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April fool! Plus: school goes co-ed, new owners for old pub
As we continue to sweep through the biggest and most important news stories of 2025, the latest part of our annual news review arrives at the month of the annual Council Tax hike APRIL Trinity boys’ school confirms that it … Continue reading
Posted in Inside Croydon
Tagged #BridgeToNowhere, Allders, Allders Parade, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Crystal Palace, Crystal Palace FC, East Croydon station, FA Cup, Hammersfield, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Mayor Jason Perry, Purley Pool, Roisha Hughes, Selhurst Park, Sutton Council, Tory, Trinity School, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
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Council’s closed doors, Selhurst security, Bridge to Nowhere
Here’s more of the most significant or best-read news stories of 2025, as we delve behind the headlines with Inside Croydon reports from the past 12 months MARCH No Access Croydon: Kerswell closes off Fisher’s Folly to public The increasingly … Continue reading
Posted in Inside Croydon
Tagged #BridgeToNowhere, Access Croydon, Bernard Weatherill House, Chris Philp MP, Cllr Ria Patel, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Crystal Palace, East Croydon station, Fairfield Halls, Fisher's Folly, Hammersfield, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Mayor Jason Perry, Purley Pool, Purley Pool Towers, Selhurst Park, Sutton Council, Tory, Westfield, Whitgift Centre
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2025 in review: Purley Pool, porkie pies and a busted budget
As we approach the year’s end, we continue with our review of 2025 by taking a look at some of the Inside Croydon reports which generated most public interest FEBRUARY Croydon In Crisis: budget overspend now close to £100m The … Continue reading
Posted in Inside Croydon
Tagged #BridgeToNowhere, Chris Philp MP, Cllr Ria Patel, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Crystal Palace, East Croydon station, Fairfield Halls, Hammersfield, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Mayor Jason Perry, Purley Pool, Purley Pool Towers, Sutton Council, Tory, Westfield, Whitgift Centre
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That was the year that was: Inside Croydon’s pick of 2025
As we approach the year’s end, here’s the first part of our review of 2025, and a look at some of the Inside Croydon reports which generated most public interest JANUARY 2025 It was the grimmest of starts to the … Continue reading
Posted in Inside Croydon
Tagged #BridgeToNowhere, Chris Philp MP, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Crystal Palace, East Croydon station, Fairfield Halls, Hammerson, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Mayor Jason Perry, Sutton Council, Tory, Westfield, Whitgift Centre
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Labour government to give Croydon £120m funding boost
Multiple-year settlements for councils in England and an end to the postcode lottery that has been local authority funding from Whitehall, as £78bn is allocated in effort to ‘end deprivation’. By STEVEN DOWNES Croydon Council will receive an extra £40million … Continue reading
Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Croydon Greens, Mayor Jason Perry, Peter Underwood, Rowenna Davis, Steve Reed MP
Tagged Alison McGovern MP, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Green Party, Labour, London, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, MHCLG, Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, Peter Underwood, Steve Reed OBE, Streatham and Croydon North, Tory
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Croydon and 99 other councils may seek government bail-outs
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Latest indications across local government finances are that minister Steve Reed is going to have to provide so much exceptional financial support in 2026 that it won’t be ‘exceptional’ any longer. By STEVEN DOWNES There was a … Continue reading
Posted in Abi Brown, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Debbie Warren, Ged Curran, Jackie Belton, Jane West, Katherine Kerswell, London Councils, London-wide issues, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice
Tagged Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, EFS, Exceptional financial support, Jane West, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, London Councils, Mayor Jason Perry, MHCLG, Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, The Budget, Tory, Unbalanced budget
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Finance chief leaves council three months sooner than planned
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Weeks after the abrupt departure of CEO Katherine Kerswell with a £50,000 ‘farewell present’, the early exit of head of finance Jane West prompts speculation that she has become the latest council boss to receive a generous … Continue reading
Posted in Commissioners, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Debbie Warren, Elaine Jackson, Ged Curran, Ian Golland, Jane West, Katherine Kerswell, Kristian Aspinall, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice, Uncategorized
Tagged Commissioners, Conrad Hall, Conservative, Council budget, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Debbie Warren, Ged Curran, Ian Golland, Jane West, Kerry Critchlow, Kristian Aspinall, Lambeth, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, MHCLG, Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, Newham, Steve Reed OBE, Tory
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That was the year that was – and 2026’s prospects look bleak
ANDREW FISHER, in his final iC column of 2025, considers the past year in Croydon, and how that might affect next May’s Town Hall elections. PLUS: How Your Party’s grassroots are being denied money and data to be able to … Continue reading
Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Andrew Fisher, Croydon Council, Croydon Greens, Croydon South, Croydon West, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Peter Underwood, Rowenna Davis, Section 114 notice, Streatham and Croydon North
Tagged 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon mayoral election, 2026 local elections, Andrew Fisher, Cllr Rowenna Davis, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Green Party, Jeremy Corbyn, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, Liberal Democrats, London, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Peter Underwood, Tory, Your Party, Zack Polanski, Zarah Sultana
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Reed confirms council funding formula will favour Croydon
#FUNDCROYDONFAIRLY: Government announces it will re-set its system for deciding grants to local government and, at last, cash-strapped Croydon might receive a fairer share. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES The Labour government has today announced that it is to scrap “outdated … Continue reading
Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Housing, Mayor Jason Perry, Rowenna Davis, Steve Reed MP
Tagged 2026 Croydon mayoral election, 2026 local elections, Cllr Rowenna Davis, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, MHCLG, Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, Steve Reed OBE, Tory, Waddon
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More churn at the top as interim directors leave the council
The rapid turnover among senior staff at Fisher’s Folly suggests that the ‘leadership issues’ which were in-part responsible for Commissioners being sent in to run Croydon Council may continue to be a problem for those left behind after Katherine Kerswell’s … Continue reading
Posted in Commissioners, Croydon Council, Elaine Jackson, Heather Cheesbrough, Karen Agbabiaka, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Nazeya Hussain, Nick Hibberd, Section 114 notice, Venetia Reid-Baptiste
Tagged Chris Wortley, Commissioner, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Elaine Jackson, Ged Curran, Jane West, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, MHCLG, Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, Nazeya Hussain, S151 Officer, Section 114 Notice, Tony Ralph, Tory, Venetia Reid-Baptiste
13 Comments
