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Tag Archives: Jo Negrini
Negrini and execs ‘failed to ensure council was acting lawfully’
CROYDON IN CRISIS: An auditors’ report into the ‘shoddy’ deal that handed the Fairfield Halls refurbishment to loss-making builders Brick by Brick hints at potential fraud and accuses senior officials of large-scale negligence. EXCLUSIVE by WALTER CRONXITE, Political Editor Some … Continue reading
Posted in Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, College Green, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Hamida Ali, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Lisa Taylor, Paul Scott, Planning, Report in the Public Interest, Richard Simpson, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, Shifa Mustafa, Tony Newman
Tagged Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Grant Thornton, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Labour, Lisa Taylor, London Borough of Croydon, Paul Scott, Report in the Public Interest, Richard Simpson, RIPI, Sarah Ironmonger, Shifa Mustafa, Simon Hall, Tony Newman
17 Comments
Boxpark’s £3m+ in council loans and grants under Newman
CROYDON IN CRISIS: While benefits to the borough’s most vulnerable are being cut, pools are being shut down and public services axed, the council has continued to hand out a juicy annual grant to a multi-million-pound business. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN … Continue reading
Posted in Boxpark, Business, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Jo Negrini, Tony Newman
Tagged Boozepark, Boxpark, Croydon, Croydon Council, East Croydon station, Jo Negrini, Labour, Roger Wade, Tony Newman
3 Comments
Tried calling Croydon Council? Please hold the line… forever
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Have you had difficulties getting through to the council, perhaps to report the latest missed bin collection, or when trying to make a Council Tax payment? According to sources at Fisher’s Folly, you’re just wasting your time. … Continue reading
Watchdog suggests Negrini’s pay-off may have been unlawful
CROYDON IN CRISIS: When the borough’s Labour leadership signed off on the £440,000 payment to the exiting chief executive, they failed to get agreement at full council. By STEVEN DOWNES Croydon Council’s £440,000 “reward for failure” paid to Jo Negrini … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Tony Newman
Tagged Audit Wales, Croydon, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Labour, Pembrokeshire County Council, Simon Hall, Tony Newman
12 Comments
Coulsdon centre celebrates as council agrees 25-year lease
There are celebrations coming to Coulsdon, after the local community centre was handed a reprieve from a Brick by Brick-inspired demolition order. “The year 2035 will see us celebrate our centenary, but we going to be celebrating this year too, … Continue reading
Monument planned for man behind monumental disaster
Our housing correspondent, BARRATT HOLMES, has found proposals for a piece of public art which proves that some involved in the Brick by Brick scandal and Fairfield Halls fiasco really have no shame A firm of developers wants to place … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Colm Lacey, Jo Negrini, Martyn Evans
Tagged Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Croydon, Greenwich, Jo Negrini, Landsec, London, Martyn Evans, Morden Wharf, Richard Upton, U+I
9 Comments
Eye! Eye! Croydon gets two gongs in Rotten Boroughs awards
The annual round-up of greed, venality and incompetence among the country’s local authorities has seen our council out-perform many others, yet again. But did satirical fortnightly magazine Private Eye miss a trick over one former ‘award-winner’? Perhaps the governance and … Continue reading
Croydon 2021: voter apathy, petrol queues and dodgy deals
DID WE HAVE NEWS FOR YOU: In our final instalment of our annual review of the stories that attracted the most attention in 2021, we reach the season of missed opportunities and not much fruitfulness, as far as Croydon Labour … Continue reading
Posted in 2021 Mayor Referendum, 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Brick by Brick, Business, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Croydon Park Hotel, Fairfield Halls, Hamida Ali, Jo Negrini, Paul Scott, Planning, Sean Fitzsimons, Steve Reed MP, Stuart King, Tony Newman, Wendy's
Tagged 2022 Mayoral election, Brick by Brick, coronavirus, Covid-19, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon Mayor, Croydon Mayoral election 2022, Croydon Park Hotel, Democratically Elected Mayor of Croydon, Fairfield Halls, Jo Negrini, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Paul Scott, Steve Reed OBE, STUART KING, Terrapin Group, Tony Newman, Westfield
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Croydon 2021: Macarnage, Fairfield fiasco and dropped Bricks
DID WE HAVE NEWS FOR YOU: Summer in south London’s rottenest borough saw simmering scandals over Brick by Brick and the Fairfield Halls fiasco grab national notoriety, and someone at the council finally admitted that the misconceived Westfield scheme was … Continue reading
Posted in "Hammersfield", BH Live, Brick by Brick, Business, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Jo Negrini, Neil Chandler, Paul Scott, Planning, Tony Newman, Whitgift Centre
Tagged Brick by Brick, Coulsdon, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Hammersfield, Hammerson, Jo Negrini, Paul Scott, Purley, Tony Newman, Westfield, Whitgift Centre
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Auditors investigated four unlawful actions over Fairfield Halls
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Twelve months after Grant Thornton was asked to conduct an audit of the botched and budget-busting refurbishment of the Fairfield Halls, their report has yet to be published. The delay seems likely to be because the auditors … Continue reading
Posted in Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Report in the Public Interest, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, Tony Newman
Tagged Alison Butler, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Grant Thornton, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, Report in the Public Interest, Sarah Ironmonger, Simon Hall, Tony Newman
8 Comments
Negrini lands cushty consultancy with ex-council supplier
EXCLUSIVE (and available in all good, and some not-so-good, newsagents): The exec who walked away with a £440,000 pay-out from the borough she helped to bankrupt has re-emerged with a juicy ‘consultancy’ from one of the firms she used to … Continue reading
Labour councillor’s 20-point plan to reduce service cuts
CROYDON COMMENTARY: Unions are tonight staging a protest outside the Town Hall against the council’s plan for another £38million-worth of cuts. Here, Labour councillor ANDREW PELLING, pictured left, outlines the ways he believes that the council can avoid causing harm … Continue reading
Posted in Andrew Pelling, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Katherine Kerswell, Planning, Refuse collection, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, Section 114 notice, Veolia, Waddon
Tagged Andrew Pelling, Conservative, Council Tax, Council Tax Support, Croydon, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Tory, Waddon
10 Comments
Council’s latest lame excuse: our phones don’t work properly
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Britain’s rottenest borough is now blaming faulty phone lines for needlessly prosecuting residents over Council Tax, when the householders can’t get through to Fisher’s Folly to make their payments. By STEVEN DOWNES Last month, on the first … Continue reading
The Sound of Silence is not the song we need from Town Hall
CROYDON COMMENTARY: Since audit regulations were amended in 2015, only five other local councils have been the subject of Reports in the Public Interest, with findings from their auditors of mismanagement or wrong-doing*. Croydon joined that list last year and … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Jo Negrini, Report in the Public Interest, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, Tony Newman
Tagged Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Ian Kierans, Jo Negrini, Labour, Nolan Principles, Report in the Public Interest, Tony Newman
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Council to be rocked by second Report In The Public Interest
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The £70m ‘Fairfield fiasco’ has provoked serious concerns with auditors over the potential misuse of public money, with bungling developers Brick by Brick under scrutiny. EXCLUSIVE By STEVEN DOWNES External auditors are to issue a Report In … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Ashcroft Theatre, Brick by Brick, Business, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Hamida Ali, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Paula Murray, Report in the Public Interest, Richard Ennis, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, Sean Fitzsimons, Shifa Mustafa, Tony Newman
Tagged Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Grant Thornton, Jo Negrini, London, Oliver Lewis, Report in the Public Interest, Richard Ennis, RIPI, Tony Newman
5 Comments
Chief digital officer quits council after splashing the cash
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Our Town Hall reporter KEN LEE on the latest high-profile departure from the council That loud splashing sound heard outside Fisher’s Folly yesterday? Could it be the noise you hear when another rat dives off the council’s … Continue reading
Labour wants to cut voluntary sector funding by a ‘full Negrini’
CROYDON IN CRISIS: A year after they gave a ‘golden handshake’ to the council CEO who helped bankrupt the borough, part of the £38.4m Town Hall budget cuts will impact dozens of charities and community groups. EXCLUSIVE By STEVEN DOWNES … Continue reading
Posted in Age UK Croydon, CAYSH, Charity, Community associations, Croydon CAB, Croydon Council, Croydon Vision, CVA, Hamida Ali, Jo Negrini, Mind in Croydon, South West London Law Centres, Steve Phaure, Whitgift Foundation
Tagged Asian Resource Centre of Croydon, Croydon, Croydon BME Forum, Croydon Carers Support Centre, Croydon Council, Croydon Voluntary Action, CVA, Hamida Ali, Jo Negrini, Labour, Steve Phaure, Whitgift Foundation
7 Comments
Director of planning’s bogus claim over Institute membership
Planning officers routinely ignoring the requirements of local plans, little or no enforcement of conditions applied when permission has been granted and the courts throwing out decisions of the council. STEVE WHITESIDE on a litany of shortcomings, and worse, at … Continue reading
CEO Negrini’s long campaign to shut down Inside Croydon
Croydon Council has back-tracked over releasing documents, despite a direction from the Information Commissioner, but not before some vital details were made public. By STEVEN DOWNES, Editor of Inside Croydon Jo Negrini, Croydon’s controversial former chief exec, had legal staff … Continue reading
Council paid £25,000 for legal threats against Inside Croydon
The council admits it used public resources to hire the Queen’s solicitors to make threats of libel action on behalf of Tony Newman and Jo Negrini. STEVEN DOWNES, Editor of Inside Croydon, writes that in doing so, the council’s senior … Continue reading
Ali promises to release report into ‘collusive, unhealthy culture’
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Has the council leader made another meaningless promise to the borough’s residents over ‘disciplinary action’ against those responsible for the Town Hall’s financial collapse? By STEVEN DOWNES The potentially dynamite but still unpublished Penn Report into possible … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Guy van Dichele, Hamida Ali, Hazel Simmonds, Improvement Board, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Lisa Taylor, Report in the Public Interest, Section 114 notice, Shifa Mustafa, Tony Newman
Tagged Brick by Brick, Croydon, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, Tony Newman
2 Comments
CEO Lacey quits Brick by Brick; deputy to leave company, too
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The incompetent chief executive and self-proclaimed ‘founder’ of the council-owned building company which bankrupted the borough has announced his departure – but councillors have been kept in the dark. By STEVEN DOWNES Colm Lacey is to leave … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Planning
Tagged Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Croydon, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Labour, London Borough of Croydon
9 Comments
Council appoints finance director with links to ex-CEO Elvery
Croydon councillors, including the leader of the Conservative opposition, have agreed to appoint as the council’s finance director someone who previously worked amid a “bullying culture” at another failing local authority. Richard Ennis’s appointment, to one of the most critical … Continue reading
