Tag Archives: Section 114 Notice

£603,000: the soaring costs of Croydon’s ‘improvement’ panel

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Three years since Tony McArdle and his government-appointed team of troubleshooters were parachuted into the council, there are mounting questions about what they have achieved. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES The Government-appointed chair of Croydon Council’s “improvement and … Continue reading

Posted in Adult Social Care, Children's Services, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Libraries, Section 114 notice, SEND, Tony McArdle | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Government blocks public inquiry into collapse of councils

Any suspicion that the Establishment that controls local and national government doesn’t want the public to find out about the shady deals that go on in Town Halls up and down the land will have been confirmed with the news … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Katherine Kerswell, Outside Croydon, Section 114 notice | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

No hiding place for Jason Perry, Croydon’s impotent Mayor

CROYDON IN CRISIS: From a couple of hundred attendees soon after he was first elected, Croydon’s part-time Mayor is now drawing crowds of only a couple of dozen for his council-funded promotional tour. KEN TOWL went along to South Norwood … Continue reading

Posted in 2026 council elections, Croydon Council, Harris Academy South Norwood, Ken Towl, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice, South Norwood | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

It’s time for our elected councillors to stand up for Croydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Saddled with £1.4bn of ‘toxic’ debt, Mayor Perry has been rendered paralysed in his management of the cash-strapped council’s finances. Ahead of tonight’s budget meeting, ANDREW PELLING outlines some of the options for the borough’s politicians There’s … Continue reading

Posted in Adult Social Care, Children's Services, Community associations, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Croydon Greens, Esther Sutton, Improvement Board, Jane West, Jason Cummings, Katherine Kerswell, Planning, Ria Patel, Sarah Jones MP, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

It’s the same in Croydon and Birmingham: Pay More, Get Less

In this week’s column, ANDREW FISHER, pictured right, looks at the criminalisation of journalism through the treatment of Julian Assange, and he charts the latest  undermining of local councils by central Government It could be worse. You could live in … Continue reading

Posted in Andrew Fisher, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Tony McArdle | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

‘Can’t deal with debt’ admits Perry as he borrows £38m more

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Council staff morale ‘at an all-time low’ according to a national newspaper report, while the bankrupt borough’s part-time Mayor’s only answer to its financial struggles is to borrow even more money Last week, Inside Croydon columnist Andrew … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Perry to host webinar on his plans for more cuts and more debt

Croydon Mayor Jason Perry is staging a webinar on Monday, at which the public can “hear more about the council’s budget proposals for next year”, according to the council. Perry and Jason Cummings, the cabinet member for finance, the Tory … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Jane West, Jason Cummings, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Mayor Perry confesses: it could take 10 years to fix this mess

Jason Perry, cash-strapped Croydon’s £84,000 per year Mayor who was elected last year on a manifesto promise that he would “fix the finances”, now reckons it could take him until 2034 to get the job done. And part-time Perry feels … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 22 Comments

Backlash against Hunt as Tory-run councils feel the squeeze

Malign neglect of local government after 13 years of savage spending cuts has created an ‘existential threat’ to council services. ‘Things are starting to fall apart at the seams,’ warns a Tory source “Flagship” Conservative-run county councils could suffer financial … Continue reading

Posted in Adult Social Care, Children's Services, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Housing, Improvement Board, London Councils, London-wide issues, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

‘Teetering on the edge’: Hunt does nothing for local councils

TV politics pundit ANDREW FISHER, pictured right, assesses the fine detail of the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, and amid the tax giveaways for the already wealthy, identifies the glaring gaps in financial provision for the NHS, teachers and local authorities like … Continue reading

Posted in 2024 London elections, Andrew Fisher, Council Tax, Croydon Council | 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

99% councils miss accounts deadline in ‘public admin disaster’

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Only 101 people in the country are qualified to carry out essential audit work on public bodies, the lack of proper scrutiny putting £100bn of public spending at risk according to a report from a Commons committee … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Section 114 notice | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 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

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

Tory Perry tries to appoint £123,000 ‘transformation director’

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Spend, spend, spend… the bad old habits of the dark days of the Negreedy era don’t seem to have been eradicated altogether, as CEO Kerswell looks to hire a new director to do her dirty work for … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Elaine Jackson, Improvement Board, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Neil Williams, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 16 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

Perry left pot-less after failed bid for £20m levelling up money

Our Town Hall staff reporter, PEARL LEE, on the latest disappointing set-back for the Conservative Mayor Despite growing social deprivation in the borough and its failing town centre economy, Croydon has failed in its bid for £20million of Levelling Up … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Neil Garratt, Paul Scully MP, Section 114 notice, Sutton Council | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments