Tag Archives: Penn Report
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
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
94% want Met Police to investigate Labour’s Newman and Hall
CROYDON IN CRISIS: An online poll conducted for this website shows an overwhelming number of the borough’s residents think that the former council leadership should face police action for an offence that carries a maximum life sentence. EXCLUSIVE by WALTER … Continue reading
Jewitt says there was no wrong-doing – by her charity’s boss
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Many senior figures in the local Labour Party continue to try to deny that there was anything wrong with the way the former leaders behaved in the lead-up to the borough’s bankruptcy, as a speech at the … Continue reading
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
Newman’s defence slips: there’s ‘no evidence’ of wrongdoing
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The latest in-depth coverage of the borough’s bankruptcy by a national newspaper sees the former Labour council leader dump blame on his erstwhile colleagues. By STEVEN DOWNES The council leader who oversaw Town Hall meetings and gatherings … Continue reading
Kerswell still holds out over Penn Report’s recommendations
CROYDON IN CRISIS: ‘Those with the biggest responsibilities and with statutory duties let the organisation down’ according to the investigation into the council’s financial collapse. The two-year delay in publication appears to have let down the borough’s residents and council … Continue reading
Newman breaks his silence to tell Mail: I did no wrong
CROYDON IN CRISIS: With the Penn Report into possible wrong-doing at the council expected to be released by officials shortly, the former council leader has responded to reports in the national press. By STEVEN DOWNES The Daily Mail today became … Continue reading
Taxing times for Perry as he deploys Negrini as his ‘dead cat’
Try not to get your hopes up too much ahead of next week’s Penn Report meeting, suggests STEVEN DOWNES. The Mayor might be over-promising before under-delivering again Is Jo Negrini being used as a “dead cat” by Croydon Mayor Jason … Continue reading
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
Mayor Perry: ‘It’s going to get worse before it gets better’
CROYDON IN CRISIS: It didn’t take very long once he became Croydon’s first executive Mayor after telling the electorate that he had a plan, that Jason Perry was forced to admit that he never had a plan at all. By … Continue reading
Bankrupt council paid firm of solicitors £2m over two years
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The council used to have a senior official known as the ‘Borough Solicitor’. These days, the cash-strapped council is out-sourcing much of its legal work to a single firm of solicitors, at huge cost. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN … Continue reading
Three PMs and a Funeral: tumultuous months for Croydon
Being featured in a television documentary, standing up against Croydon Council in the High Court and getting a mention in despatches from Private Eye were among some of the highlights of the end of 2022 for Inside Croydon, as this … Continue reading
Negrini’s dodgy pay-off now gets attention from the trade press
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Borough’s most senior lawyer, responding to advice the council received almost nine months ago, says that the meeting that agreed to pay £437,000 to departing chief exec was ‘potentially unlawful’. By STEVEN DOWNES The council’s glacially slow … Continue reading
#PennReport: No referrals sent to staff’s professional bodies
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Recommendations for action made by auditors, a Local Government Association report and two sets of legal experts have not been acted on by the current CEO. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Confidential legal advice provided to Croydon Council … Continue reading
Council threatens injunction over reports it published itself
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Having published two confidential reports on its own website last week, today Croydon Council’s top legal official threatened this website with a High Court injunction. By STEVEN DOWNES The myth that Jason Perry, Croydon’s part-time Mayor, has … Continue reading
‘Better than evens’ chance of winning Negrini legal case
CROYDON IN CRISIS: After doing their utmost for almost two years to suppress the findings and recommendations of the Penn Report investigation into the council’s financial collapse, Katherine Kerswell’s blundering local authority managed to publish two confidential legal reports on … Continue reading
#PennReport: Negrini staged a power-grab over councillors
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The long-withheld Penn Report describes a dysfunctional local authority where the former CEO was accused of ignoring elected representatives and keeping vital information from them. In our latest extract, we reveal what one Labour cabinet member really … Continue reading
#PennReport: Cover-ups and denial over Brick by Brick failure
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The ‘highly dysfunctional’ council had ‘no transparency or accountability’ over the way it handled millions of pounds of public money. And this latest extract from the Penn Report shows that some key figures refuse to accept responsibility … Continue reading
Judge orders CEO Kerswell to face tribunal over racism claims
Our Town Hall reporter KEN LEE on the latest development in the increasingly messy aftermath of Croydon’s bankruptcy Katherine Kerswell, Croydon’s £192,474 per year chief executive, will have to face up to 11 days in an Employment Tribunal and claims … Continue reading
#PennReport: Staff speak out about ‘scandalous’ bullying
CROYDON IN CRISIS: In an online poll conducted over the weekend, the overwhelming majority of iC readers – 92.5% – said that wanted to read more from the Penn Report into ‘possible wrong-doing’ at their local council. So, because Mayor … Continue reading
Mayor breaks silence to say he won’t publish #PennReport
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Part-time Perry took four days to respond to questions over the refusal to publish a controversial report, only to confirm that he is not in charge of the council. By STEVEN DOWNES Four days after he was … Continue reading
#PennReport: National media follow-up on Croydon crisis
Inside Croydon’s exclusive coverage of the Penn Report has already been followed-up by national newspapers, the country’s best-selling fortnightly satirical magazine, and even the trade magazine for local councils have been publishing material this week which Croydon Council has failed … Continue reading
