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Tag Archives: DLUHC
Gove holds back panel’s key report until after budget deadline
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The government appointed a panel of experts in early 2021 to oversee the operation of the ‘dysfunctional’ council. But after a delay of more than a year, they won’t publish their ‘assurance’ report until after the Tory … Continue reading
Posted in Community associations, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry
Tagged 15% Council Tax hike, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Department for Levelling Up, DLUHC, Improvement and Assurance Panel, Improvement Panel, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Michael Gove, Tony McArdle, Tory
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Tandridge is latest Surrey council to seek financial bail-out
Tandridge, one of Croydon’s boundary neighbours to the south, has become the latest Surrey council to appeal to central government for a financial bail-out. It is the second time that Tandridge District Council has sought a capitalisation direction – or … Continue reading
Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Section 114 notice, Tandridge District Council
Tagged Catherine Sayer, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Department for Levelling Up, DLUHC, Limpsfield, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Michael Gove, Oxted, Surrey, Tandridge, Tandridge District Council, Woking, Woking Borough Council
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No Council Tax hike without seeing the assurance panel reports
CROYDON COMMENTARY: Michael Gove is not only permitting the borough’s Tory Mayor to hike Council Tax without a referendum, he is doing so while withholding reports from his own panel of inspectors. Which suggests the government has something to hide … Continue reading
Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Report in the Public Interest, The Penn Report, Tony McArdle
Tagged 15% Council Tax hike, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Department for Levelling Up, DLUHC, Improvement and Assurance Panel, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Michael Gove, Robert Jenrick, Tony McArdle, Tory
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£540m debt write-off shows Perry has failed on finances
CROYDON IN CRISIS: His political opponents say the elected Mayor ‘has sold Croydon down the river for his own political reasons’, and his 15% tax hike is ‘punishment’ for residents. By STEVEN DOWNES Croydon’s council has been so “spectacularly useless” … Continue reading
Posted in Callton Young, Claire Bonham, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Peter Underwood
Tagged 15% Council Tax hike, £540m debt write off, Callton Young, Claire Bonham, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Department for Levelling Up, DLUHC, Improvement and Assurance Panel, Labour, Liberal Democrats, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Peter Underwood, Tory
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10,000 signatures! Now government has to answer our petition
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Government must now respond to the petition raised by Inside Croydon that opposes the imposition of a 15per cent Council Tax increase without first holding a cross-borough referendum on the matter. The 10,000 signature threshold for … Continue reading
Government to write off £540m of council’s debts, as Croydon becomes the Northern Rock of England’s local authorities
Tory minister Michael Gove asked to agree deal that wipes half a billion pounds from council’s mountain of debt After spending months complaining about council’s ‘unsustainable’ debt, Mayor Jason Perry is seeking to borrow another £224m Perry’s 15% Council Tax … Continue reading
Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Jane West, Jason Cummings, Katherine Kerswell, London-wide issues, Mayor Jason Perry, Rowenna Davis, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle
Tagged 15% Council Tax hike, £540m debt write off, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Department for Levelling Up, DLUHC, Jane West, Jason Cummings, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Michael Gove, Rowenna Davis, Tory
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Croydon’s 15% Council Tax hike: now is the time for action
CROYDON IN CRISIS: In the past day, there’s been an overwhelming angry rejection of the idea that ordinary, hard-working families in this borough should pay even more for the mistakes and incompetence of council officials and politicians. Which is why … Continue reading
Posted in Community associations, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Inside Croydon, Local media, Mayor Jason Perry
Tagged Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Department for Levelling Up, DLUHC, Green Party, Labour, Liberal Democrats, London Borough of Croydon, Michael Gove, Parliamentary petition, Tory, Town Hall petition, Wolfie Smith
8 Comments
The Perry Premium: Mayor fails to disclose he asked for 15%
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Of three basket-case boroughs, it was only Croydon that requested a special Council Tax hike, as Jason Perry breaks his silence It took Jason Perry more than two hours to get around to issuing a public statement, … Continue reading
Gove to Perry: ‘Mitigate the impact on those least able to pay’
By STEVEN DOWNES Mayor Jason Perry’s plans to raise a few bob extra by taking cash out of the purses of old age pensioners and the poorest in the borough got defeated in a Town Hall vote last week. Today, … Continue reading
Perry to preside over record-breaking 15% Council Tax hike
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The borough with one of the biggest Council Tax bills in London has just been given permission to make those bills even bigger. Much bigger. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Croydon, under Tory Mayor Jason Perry, has been … Continue reading
Posted in Adult Social Care, Brick by Brick, Children's Services, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle
Tagged Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Department for Levelling Up, DLUHC, Labour, London, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Michael Gove, Slough Borough Council, Thurrock Council, Tory
15 Comments
Gove’s funding increases have come too late to save Croydon
London’s precept to add nearly £40 to average bills, as Mayor Perry asks government permission for increase of at least 10% for Croydon’s Council Tax, reports WALTER CRONXITE, political editor After 12 years of Tory austerity, the government has taken … Continue reading
Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Jane West, Jason Cummings, London Councils, London Fire Brigade, Mayor Jason Perry, Mayor of London, Policing, Sadiq Khan, Section 114 notice
Tagged Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Department for Levelling Up, DLUHC, GLA, Greater London Authority, Jane West, Jason Cummings, London, Mayor Jason Perry, Mayor Sadiq Khan, Michael Gove, Sadiq Khan, Tory
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Croydon needs deal that could set precedent for all councils
CROYDON IN CRISIS: A government-appointed inspector, council directors and senior councillors all agree that throwing millions more at the cash-strapped council won’t fix its deep-seated problems. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES The Tories who control Croydon Town Hall have already done … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Jane West, Jason Cummings, Jo Negrini, Mayor Jason Perry, Mike Fisher, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle, Tony Newman
Tagged Boris Johnson, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Department for Levelling Up, DLUHC, Improvement and Assurance Panel, Improvement Panel, Jason Cummings, Jo Negrini, Labour, Liverpool City Council, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Michael Gove, Thurrock Council, Tony McArdle, Tony Newman, Tory
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Gove orders Council Tax review and reform of imperfect system
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The bad example set by our south London borough appears to have nudged Whitehall into looking at the failed system of local government finance. By our Town Hall reporter, KEN LEE Michael Gove has announced a review … Continue reading
Tory blame game over bankruptcy points finger at Westminster
There was something archly cynical, and deliberately misleading, about how Croydon’s Conservatives turned Tuesday’s announcement of the borough’s bankruptcy into an exercise in political point-scoring. None of which will help the borough’s residents, writes ANDREW FISHER Croydon’s Conservative councillors were … Continue reading
Posted in Andrew Fisher, Chris Philp MP, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Croydon South, Jason Cummings, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice
Tagged Department for Levelling Up, Devon County Council, DLUHC, Hampshire County Council, Jason Cummings, Kent County Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Michael Gove, Northamptonshire, S114, Section 114, Slough Council, Thurrock
8 Comments
‘There is no solution in sight’ warns council’s finance chief
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The council’s finances for 2023-2024 are worse than when Croydon first issued a Section 114 Notice, according to an official report released today. And a dispute over £73m of ‘missing’ housing funds could turn the financial black … Continue reading
Posted in Alison Butler, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Jane West, Katherine Kerswell, Lisa Taylor, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice, Tony Newman
Tagged Alison Butler, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Department for Levelling Up, DLUHC, Housing Revenue Account, HRA, Jane West, Lisa Taylor, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Michael Gove, S114, Section 114, Tony Newman, Tory
10 Comments
Gove’s broadside at builders over their ‘ugly’ developments
Michael Gove, in his second spell as the Tories’ Levelling Up Secretary, has declared war against “ugly” buildings, in an effort to reduce opposition to residential developments. That could be bad news for the profit-hungry developers who seek to replace … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Environment, Housing, Planning
Tagged Brick by Brick, Conservative, Croydon, Department for Levelling Up, DLUHC, Housing, Michael Gove, Planning, Tory
2 Comments
After nearly a year, Gove is sitting on two ‘improvement’ reports
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Millions of pounds of public money are at stake, a matter not to be sniffed at, but government minister is staying schtum over state of cash-strapped council’s finances. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Michael Gove, re-installed as Secretary … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Housing, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Report in the Public Interest, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle
Tagged Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Department for Levelling Up, DLUHC, Improvement and Assurance Panel, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, Mayor Jason Perry, Michael Gove, Robert Jenrick, Tony McArdle, Tory
1 Comment
Tory Mayor wants to keep finances under wraps for 9 months
Political editor WALTER CRONXITE on early signs of less accountability at the Town Hall under the Conservative administration Jason Perry, Croydon’s part-time Mayor, will tonight be accused of “closing down the books” by reducing the frequency of reports on the … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Jason Cummings, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice, Stuart King, Tony McArdle
Tagged Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon Mayor, Department for Levelling Up, DLUHC, Improvement Panel, Jason Cummings, Labour, Mayor, Mayor Jason Perry, Michael Gove, STUART KING, Tony McArdle, Tory
5 Comments
Factsheet and Twitter: Gove’s answer to council housing crisis
Measures to improve the state of social housing and to guarantee tenants a decent place to live have been announced this morning by the government – 15 years after similar proposals were first agreed. Michael Gove, as the Levelling Up … Continue reading
Council chief exec (no, not that one) fired for gross misconduct
Government-appointed commissioners at another Labour-run council have acted swiftly after Slough was handed a record-busting £307m bail-out. By our Town Hall correspondent, KEN LEE Croydon’s cash-strapped council this week lost its status as world record-holders for the biggest bail-out ever … Continue reading
Things are about to get even harder, warns report to ministers
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Government minister expresses concerns over the changes being made at council as it implements its ‘extremely challenging’ budget. By STEVEN DOWNES Croydon Council “are at a critical point of their recovery journey and there is more to … Continue reading
Kerswell dismisses ‘missing’ £73m as ‘accounting problem’
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Council chief exec relying on advice from veteran lawyer to overcome auditors’ objections to misuse of housing money. By STEVEN DOWNES Katherine Kerswell, Croydon’s £192,000 per year chief executive, and Hamida Ali, the council leader, can be … Continue reading
Government looks to ‘professionalise’ social housing staff
The squalid and inhuman conditions that Croydon Council tenants, many with young children, were forced to endure on Regina Road, South Norwood, has forced the government to announce a wholesale review of training and qualifications for those working in social … Continue reading
Gove won’t ‘level up’ with an extra £1.50 per person per year
With the government’s settlement for local councils announced this week, our columnist ANDREW FISHER takes a look at what Michael Gove and his so-called ‘Levelling Up’ department is really offering “Billions more for councils to build back better” reads the … Continue reading
Posted in Adult Social Care, Andrew Fisher, Callton Young, Children's Services, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Val Shawcross
Tagged Andrew Fisher, Conservative, Council Tax, Council Tax Support, Croydon, Croydon Council, Department for Levelling Up, DLUHC, Housing and Communities, MHCLG, Michael Gove, Tory
3 Comments
150 more councils close to financial brink, government admits
Other local authorities, including Tory-run councils, are also finding themselves in a slough of despond Croydon is just one of 150 local authorities that have been in urgent talks with Whitehall over their precarious financial situation following 18 months of … Continue reading
