Tag Archives: Michael Gove

Mayor Perry is told to wait for £18.5m Levelling Up boost

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Business interests in the town centre will benefit from Government cash for cycling and walking schemes. But doubts surround whether Mayor Perry will manage to deliver a six-year-old Labour plan to open up College Green. By our … Continue reading

Posted in Business, College Green, Croydon BID, Croydon Council, Cycling, East Croydon, Environment, Fairfield Halls, Mayor Jason Perry, Planning, Waddon, West Croydon, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Tory Mayor Perry admits: ‘Essentially, we’re insolvent’. Again

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Without significant help from Government, the council is unable to find a solution to its debt crisis. By STEVEN DOWNES Croydon Council’s intractable financial problems will never be resolved until the Government agrees to write off hundreds … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, London-wide issues, Mayor Jason Perry, Rowenna Davis, Section 114 notice | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

It’s a Brum do: fixing local government won’t come cheap

After the latest local authority’s finances crashed and burned, and with Michael Gove twiddling his thumbs doing nothing before the General Election, ANDREW FISHER, pictured right, looks at what needs to be done to fix local government in England Councils … Continue reading

Posted in 2024 General Election, Andrew Fisher, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Tandridge among 14 landlords rebuked by Gove over housing

Social housing is being badly managed by councils and housing associations across the country, and all the Tory government is doing is sending a few ‘stern’ letters to officials. By our housing correspondent, BARRATT HOLMES Tandridge District Council in Surrey … Continue reading

Posted in Housing, Lambeth Council, London-wide issues, Outside Croydon, Southwark Council, Tandridge District Council | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

We are witnessing the long, slow death of local government

‘We are staring into an abyss here, and it’s time we faced up to it’. Those were the words of a Conservative councillor in Croydon – in 2013. Here, ANDREW FISHER, pictured right, says that faced with austerity on a … Continue reading

Posted in Adult Social Care, Andrew Fisher, Children's Services, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Housing, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Libraries, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice, SEND | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 21 Comments

No government checks on council’s borrowing for 15 years

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Scandals and revelations from other busted boroughs demonstrate a deliberate lack of diligence by the Tory government Government failures to keep a check on the runaway borrowing of Croydon and other local authorities is likely to come … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Section 114 notice | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Council’s striking homelessness staff take their fight to Gove

Senior officials have been accused of deliberately sending in false data on homelessness, potentially costing Croydon as much as £3m per year. By our Town Hall reporter, KEN LEE Council staff working in Croydon’s housing and homelessness department have today … Continue reading

Posted in Community associations, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Dean Shoesmith, Housing, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Susmita Sen, Tony McArdle | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Petitioners tell ‘powerless’ Mayor Perry it’s time to stand down

Residents have reacted to last week’s announcement from Tory minister Michael Gove of new, increased statutory powers for the government commissioners overseeing the running of the cash-strapped council by demanding that Jason Perry, Croydon’s £82,000 per year elected Mayor, should … Continue reading

Posted in Community associations, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice, South Norwood Tourist Board | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 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

Posted in Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Councils’ collapse should have been halted by Sunak or Gove

Croydon is far from alone as a cash-strapped local authority. And bit by bit, evidence is emerging from the series of financial crashes of councils that implicates not only Michael Gove but also Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. By STEVEN DOWNES … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Gove finally admits it: Localism got councils all in a Pickles

Is the Levelling Up minister in denial about the extent of financial problems in local government? It certainly seems that way after his speech to the Local Government Association conference yesterday. By STEVEN DOWNES Michael Gove, the Secretary of State … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

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

‘The Tories in England are enthusiastic only about ground rent’

One-third of homeowners in Croydon are leaseholders, but the Government has flunked its promises to reform the service charge system. Citing Gramsci and Marx, Michael Gove and Sarah Jones, our columnist ANDREW FISHER, pictured right, explains why getting rid of … Continue reading

Posted in Andrew Fisher, Business, Housing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Perry admits he has failed to secure £540m debt write-off deal

CROYDON IN CRISIS: After a year in office, the Tory Mayor told a Purley audience last night that he has failed to ‘fix the finances’ and he won’t be opening the local swimming pool without lumbering the area with another … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 26 Comments

Perry admits he can’t take action against council’s bankrupters

Croydon’s part-time Mayor has always known that the actions of councillors and senior council staff ‘can decimate an authority… without any fear of recrimination’. But he’s been very reluctant to admit his impotency to the borough’s residents. By STEVEN DOWNES … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Guy van Dichele, Hazel Simmonds, Improvement Board, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Lisa Taylor, Mayor Jason Perry, Report in the Public Interest, Richard Simpson, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, Shifa Mustafa, Simon Hall, The Penn Report, Tony McArdle, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Greens, residents and LibDems put squeeze on Tory Surrey

Follow the yellow brick road: political editor WALTER CRONXITE takes a flight of fancy over the new political map of south-east England after last week’s local elections, which have given the LibDems much encouragement The fields of Surrey, Sussex and … Continue reading

Posted in Anna Jones, Caterham, Coulsdon, Epsom and Ewell, Mario Creatura, Mayor Jason Perry, Outside Croydon, Sarah Jones MP, Shasha Khan, Surrey, Tandridge District Council | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Kerswell condemns councils’ accountability as inadequate

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Yesterday’s meeting of the cash-strapped council’s disciplinary committee may have committed Croydon to tens of thousands of pounds of additional legal costs, with no guarantee of any success in the cases which might eventually be brought. And … Continue reading

Posted in Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Callton Young, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Report in the Public Interest, Richard Simpson, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, Shifa Mustafa, The Penn Report, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Councillors agree to chase Negrini for golden handshake cash

CROYDON IN CRISIS: The same committee which met in August 2020 to agree the £437,000 payment to the departing CEO today decided to ignore the advice of senior lawyers and spend more council cash in trying to recover the pay-off. … Continue reading

Posted in Brick by Brick, Callton Young, Croydon Council, Enid Mollyneaux, Jason Cummings, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Lynne Hale, Mayor Jason Perry, Patricia Hay-Justice, Report in the Public Interest, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, Section 114 notice, Shifa Mustafa, Simon Hall, The Penn Report, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Croydon put in special measures: ‘Worst of all possible worlds’

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Announcements from Westminster and Whitehall today put the borough under the control of unelected bureaucrats who are answerable only to a Tory Government minister – in a scheme that the Mayor has helped plot for months. By … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Report in the Public Interest, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, Section 114 notice, The Penn Report | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

‘Precautionary measure given the historic issues uncovered’

CROYDON IN CRISIS: At 12.15pm this afternoon, the council’s internal communications department issued the following statement to all staff, under the title, “Message from Executive Mayor Jason Perry and Chief Executive, Katherine Kerswell”. This is that statement in full: Dear … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Report in the Public Interest, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, Section 114 notice, The Penn Report | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Two years too late, Tory Government intervenes over council

CROYDON IN CRISIS: A Parliamentary written statement today effectively admitted defeat over the council’s bail-outs and ordered a Whitehall takeover of the council ahead of a possible £540m debt write-off Lee Rowley, the Tories’ local government minister, announced today an … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Report in the Public Interest, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, Section 114 notice, The Penn Report | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment