Tag Archives: Jason Cummings

Perry’s Tories opt to send in the heavies to borough’s poorest

CROYDON IN CRISIS: After hiking Council Tax by 15%, the Tory Mayor and his finance chief are now using ‘an in-house army of bailiffs’ to go after residents on benefits who have fallen into arrears. By STEVEN DOWNES While Jason … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, South West London Law Centres, Stuart King | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Croydon’s Tories opt to set up ‘Mr 15%’ Cummings for a fall

Political editor WALTER CRONXITE looks at the election chances of Croydon East’s version of ‘Captain Oates’: noble but utterly futile The party conference over for another year, one of the newest Constituency Labour Parties, Croydon East, will formally begin its … Continue reading

Posted in 2024 General Election, Croydon East, Jason Cummings | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Cummings in bid to defy the ‘Curse of Barwell’ for selection

Political editor WALTER CRONXITE on the shortest of short lists for Croydon Conservative members to pick from for a parliamentary candidate Gavin Barwell’s former staffers, thrusting, keen and eager Tory politicians, must be beginning to think that there is some … Continue reading

Posted in 2024 General Election, Croydon East, Jason Cummings | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Go Nads! Barwell enters row over right-wing MP’s resignation

Absentee peer has a pop at nine-carat ex-MP Nadine Dorries in a Twitter spat likely to spark further rows as the Conservatives look to select their parliamentary candidate for new Croydon East constituency, reports our political editor WALTER CRONXITE Gavin … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Central, Croydon East, Gavin Barwell, Jason Cummings, Shirley South | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Revealed: Croydon’s laziest and costliest local councillors

Across the country, outside London, people have been going to the polls in local elections today, often voting for the same tribe just as they always do, or voting on national issues over which the councillors they are voting for … Continue reading

Posted in Addiscombe East, Addiscombe West, Broad Green, Chris Philp MP, Claire Bonham, Croydon Council, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Helen Redfern, Jason Cummings, Margaret Bird, Mike Bonello, Old Coulsdon, Paul Scully MP, Richard Chatterjee, Rowenna Davis, Scott Roche, Sherwan Chowdhury, Shirley North, Shirley South, Simon Fox, Stuart Collins, Sue Bennett, Waddon, Woodside | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

37-34: Mayor’s 15% Council Tax hike rejected in budget vote

ANDREW FISHER sat through the three-and-a-half hours of last night’s budget non-setting meeting, so that you didn’t have to Labour, Green and Liberal Democrat councillors voted together last night to reject the budget proposal from the borough’s Conservative Mayor, Jason … Continue reading

Posted in Adele Benson, Andrew Fisher, Andrew Stranack, Community associations, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Jane West, Jason Cummings, Mayor Jason Perry, New Addington, New Addington North, Rowenna Davis, Tamar Nwafor | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

15% tax hike sends council hurtling into constitutional crisis

ANDREW PELLING on how Mayor Perry faces a humiliating defeat over his controversial first budget because of some less-than-clear legislation, while the borough’s councillors could be in for some very long nights in the Town Hall Chamber Cash-strapped Croydon Council … Continue reading

Posted in Alisa Flemming, Andrew Pelling, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Jane West, Jason Cummings, Mayor Jason Perry, Stuart King | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Kerswell finally prepares to publish long withheld #PennReport

CROYDON IN CRISIS: The council’s £193,000 per year CEO has descended into the realms of Alice In Blunderland with her latest excuses for ignoring elected councillors and the public. By STEVEN DOWNES Katherine Kerswell, Croydon’s chief executive, claims that it … Continue reading

Posted in Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Guy van Dichele, Hazel Simmonds, Inside Croydon, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jason Cummings, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Lisa Taylor, Mayor Jason Perry, Report in the Public Interest, Richard Simpson, Shifa Mustafa, Simon Hall, The Penn Report, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Fixing our ‘home grown’ problems has to start right here

CROYDON COMMENTARY: Having sought government permission to increase Council Tax from April by three times the nationally capped level, Conservative councillor JASON CUMMINGS sets out his reasons why We have all watched with a sense of horror over the last … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Jason Cummings, Mayor Jason Perry | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Meeting over Council Tax hike over-subscribed within hours

CROYDON IN CRISIS: All places at a public Q&A session about the Tory Mayor’s 15% Council Tax increase were snapped up within hours of being released – even though the council gave the event little publicity. By STEVEN DOWNES An … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Rowenna Davis | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

The end is nigh: Brick by Brick’s final tower block is sold off

Our housing correspondent, BARRATT HOLMES, on the council’s increasingly desperate efforts to flog off the last developments from its inept house-builder Flyover Towers, the final development by Brick by Brick, Croydon Council’s bankrupting building firm, has been sold as a … Continue reading

Posted in Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Housing, Jason Cummings, Property, Report in the Public Interest, Section 114 notice | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 10 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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Croydon is in a right Pickles and it is easy to work out why

Thurrock, Warrington, Nottingham, Slough, Liverpool, Sandwell… Croydon is far from alone among basket-case boroughs. ANDREW FISHER traces the common cause back to Whitehall Pay more, get less. That seems to have been the message from many councils across the country … Continue reading

Posted in Andrew Fisher, Croydon Council, Jason Cummings, Mayor Jason Perry, Report in the Public Interest, Tim Pollard, Tony McArdle, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Perry is now asking Croydon public how to fix financial mess

CROYDON IN CRISIS: After issuing the first pre-emptive S114 Notice in British history, the borough’s £81,000 per year Mayor is using a budget survey to justify future cuts to services. By WALTER CRONXITE, political editor Bereft of ideas – beyond … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Jane West, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Tories accuse Labour of ‘shocking mistakes’ over budgets

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Mayor Perry has made a political play with the  Conservative government in an effort to re-set the council’s finances. Again. By our political editor, WALTER CRONXITE Croydon’s Conservatives were quick to play the blame game this morning … Continue reading

Posted in Callton Young, Hamida Ali, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Mayor Perry has ‘second thoughts’ about investing in Croydon

‘Things are going to get worse before they get better,’ said the borough’s £81,000 per year part-time Mayor last week, as he begins to find his Town Hall task a bit of a struggle, reports WALTER CRONXITE, political editor Jason … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Art, Boxpark, Business, CPO, Croydon Council, CVA, LOST, Mayor Jason Perry, Planning, Property, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Perry misses scrutiny meeting on council’s £19.3m overspend

CROYDON IN CRISIS: According to the borough’s part-time Mayor, the council budget is ‘just numbers on paper’. By KEN LEE Part-time Mayor Jason Perry didn’t bother to show up for last night’s scrutiny committee meeting at the Town Hall, where … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Jane West, Jason Cummings, Mayor Jason Perry, Richard Ennis, Section 114 notice | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Mayor makes rapid U-turn as report confirms £19.3m overspend

CROYDON IN CRISIS: A report to be discussed at the Town Hall tonight confirms the deepening financial problems facing the borough’s new Mayor. EXCLUSIVE by WALTER CRONXITE Part-time Mayor Jason Perry has been forced to admit that his Conservative administration … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Dr Ola Olasode, General Purposes and Audit Committee, Improvement Board, Jane West, Jason Cummings, Mayor Jason Perry, Richard Ennis, Section 114 notice | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

4 former council bosses charged by police… as Croydon waits

Investigations into wrongdoing in local government can take many years. A meeting at the Town Hall next week could provide a long-awaited chink of public accountability into the mismanagement – possibly worse – that led to Croydon Council’s financial collapse, … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Guy van Dichele, Hazel Simmonds, Jason Cummings, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Lynne Hale, Mayor Jason Perry, Report in the Public Interest, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, Simon Hall, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Fairfield: £300k council fraud investigation and still no answers

EXCLUSIVE: Council says its specialist investigators have yet to find anything around the £67m botched refurbishment of the arts centre which needs to be reported to the police. By STEVEN DOWNES An investigation to discover if there was any fraud … Continue reading

Posted in Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Business, College Green, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Jason Cummings, Jo Negrini, Property, Richard Simpson, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, Robert Ward, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments