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Tag Archives: Improvement and Assurance Panel
Gove’s ‘improvement’ panel handed £1,000 per week pay rise
Trebles all-round! Self-professed ‘friend of Suella Braverman’ has given generous pay rises to the unelected bureaucrats overseeing Croydon’s cash-strapped council Michael Gove and his Conservative Government have just added another £50,000 per year on to the costs of running Croydon’s … Continue reading
Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Report in the Public Interest, Section 114 notice, The Penn Report, Tony McArdle
Tagged Brian Roberts, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Department for Levelling Up, DLUHC, Improvement and Assurance Panel, Improvement Board, Jon Wilson, Mayor Jason Perry, Michael Gove, Pamela Leonce, Phil Brookes, S114 notice, Section 114, Section 114 Notice, Statutory powers, Tony McArdle, Tory
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Perry claims ‘progress’ and gets set to hike Council Tax again
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Typical households’ bills will have risen by £388 in less than two years under the Tory Mayor, who has still failed to get a Government deal to write off some of the borough’s debts The borough’s Council … Continue reading
Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice
Tagged 15% Council Tax hike, 20% Council Tax hike, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Improvement and Assurance Panel, Improvement Panel, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Tory
6 Comments
Colonnades sold by council for £25m under purchase price
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The Government-enforced fire sale of council assets is about to see the borough lose even more money, on a commercial property that has been making millions for the borough. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Croydon’s Mayor and Tory … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Croydon Council, Croydon Park Hotel, Improvement Board, Jane West, Property, Purley Way, Simon Hall, Tony McArdle, Waddon
Tagged Boxpark, Colonnades, Croydon Council, Hammersfield, Hammerson, Improvement and Assurance Panel, Improvement Panel, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Purley Way, Waddon, Westfield, Whitgift Centre
13 Comments
Cost of Kier case against council nearly doubles in four years
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Our Town Hall reporter, KEN LEE, on how the risks of a multi-million-pound court case brought by road repairs contractors have been known to the local authority since at least 2019 The dispute between Croydon Council and … Continue reading
Didn’t I do well?! Kerswell gives herself a pat on the back
CROYDON IN CRISIS: It is three years to the week since the emergency committee meeting, attended by Jason Perry, that decided in secret to give £437,000 to Jo Negrini to leave her job as council CEO. Today, Negreedy’s replacement, Katherine … Continue reading
Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Hazel Simmonds, Improvement Board, Jane West, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle
Tagged #PennReport, 15% Council Tax hike, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, DLUHC, Electoral Commission, Improvement and Assurance Panel, Information Commissioners Office, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, LGA, LGC, Local Government Association, Local Government Chronicle, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Michael Gove, Penn Report, The Penn Report, Tory
20 Comments
Government panel given extra powers and new commissioners
Council to remain under the supervision of government-appointed panel, which has been given extra statutory powers, until 2025. By STEVEN DOWNES No matter how many times, or in how many different ways, that Jason Perry, Croydon’s piss-poor, part-time Mayor, stamps … Continue reading
Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Housing, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle
Tagged 15% Council Tax hike, Brian Roberts, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Department for Levelling Up, DLUHC, Improvement and Assurance Panel, Improvement Panel, Katherine Kerswell, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Michael Gove, Pamela Leonce, Statutory powers, Tony McArdle, Tory
9 Comments
Gove’s ministerial statement on state of Croydon finances
At lunchtime today, Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Communities and Housing, dropped a written statement to the House of Commons – just before the start of the summer recess – on the progress, or otherwise, made … Continue reading
Perry enters new plea to government to write-off council debts
CROYDON IN CRISIS: ‘This is not something we will be able to fix alone,’ the borough’s Mayor conceded in a recent letter to the Tory government – who haven’t bothered replying to his request. By our Town Hall correspondent, KEN … Continue reading
Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle
Tagged 15% Council Tax hike, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Department for Levelling Up, DLUHC, Improvement and Assurance Panel, Improvement Panel, Jane West, Labour, Lee Rowley, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Michael Gove, Slough, Thurrock, Tony McArdle, Tory, Woking
11 Comments
From part-time to powerless: Perry’s first year under scrutiny
WALTER CRONXITE, political editor, on how the public are already seeing through Croydon’s failing Tory Mayor Jason Perry, Croydon’s £82,000 per year elected Mayor, is likely to be given a “Must Do Better” rating when he presents his report on … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Rowenna Davis
Tagged 15% Council Tax hike, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Improvement and Assurance Panel, Improvement Panel, Jo Negrini, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Rowenna Davis, Scrutiny and Overview Committee, Scrutiny committee, Tony McArdle, Tory
12 Comments
Auditors and Government both losing patience with Kerswell
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Judged by the ill-considered political posturing going forward into tonight’s full council meeting, the borough’s Labour councillors haven’t yet worked out who it was that bankrupted the borough. By WALTER CRONXITE, political editor The conman is back. … Continue reading
Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Kola Agboola, Mayor Jason Perry, New Addington North, Report in the Public Interest, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, Section 114 notice, Stuart King, Tony McArdle, Tony Newman
Tagged 15% Council Tax hike, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Grant Thornton, Improvement and Assurance Panel, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Rowenna Davis, S114 notice, S24 notice, Section 24 notice, STUART KING, Tony McArdle, Tony Newman, Tory
25 Comments
Fairfield Halls struggling to sell tickets for Culture opener
Our veteran arts correspondent, BELLA BARTOCK, on the council-owned arts centre’s struggle to win back its old audiences There’s mounting, and justifiable, concern that the Fairfield Halls, despite the best-efforts of its new-ish operators, are failing to win back audiences … Continue reading
Posted in Art, BH Live, Borough of Culture 2023, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Improvement Board, Music, Neil Chandler, Tony McArdle
Tagged BHLive, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Improvement and Assurance Panel, Improvement Board, London Mozart Players, Neil Chandler, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Swedish Philharmonia, Tony McArdle
15 Comments
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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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
3 Comments
Kerswell warns staff: it’s 15% Council Tax hike or your jobs
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Katherine Kerswell, the £192,474 per year council chief exec who less than a year ago said that the borough ‘was not teetering on the edge of bankruptcy’, when clearly it was, has now told her staff that … Continue reading
Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Tony McArdle
Tagged 15% Council Tax hike, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Improvement and Assurance Panel, Improvement Panel, Katherine Kerswell, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Tory
25 Comments
Conservative Mayor Perry loses 3 votes at Town Hall meeting
ANDREW PELLING reports from the Press Gallery on success for Labour, Green and LibDem councillors in opposing Tory moves to cut Council Tax benefits to old age pensioners and the poor Jason Perry, the Conservative Mayor of Croydon, lost three … Continue reading
Posted in Alisa Flemming, Amy Foster, Andrew Pelling, Callton Young, Chris Clark, Claire Bonham, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Jason Cummings, Jeet Bains, London-wide issues, Mario Creatura, Mayor Jason Perry, Nina Degrads, Rowenna Davis, Sherwan Chowdhury, Stuart King, ULEZ expansion
Tagged Alasdair Stewart, Alisa Flemming, Amy Foster, Andrew Pelling, Callton Young, Chris Clark, Claire Bonham, Conservative, Council Tax, Council Tax Support, Croydon, Croydon Council, Green Party, Improvement and Assurance Panel, Jason Cummings, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Mayor Jason Perry, Nina Degrads, Rowenna Davis, Tory, ULEZ
4 Comments
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
8 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 government delays finance reports to help Mayor Perry
CROYDON IN CRISIS: It’s almost nine months since Whitehall released the last quarterly report from its Improvement Panel on the state of the cash-strapped council’s finances, prompting accusations of political favours for the Conservatives. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES It’s not … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Jason Cummings, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Report in the Public Interest, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle
Tagged Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon Mayor, Department for Levelling Up, Green Party, Greg Clark, Improvement and Assurance Panel, Improvement Board, Jason Cummings, Labour, Liberal Democrats, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Mayor of Croydon, Michael Gove, Robert Jenrick, Tony McArdle, Tory
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