CROYDON IN CRISIS: At public expense (again), Mayor Perry deploys the council’s top lawyer to try to shut down reporting of his £50,000 pay-off to departing chief executive Katherine Kerswell. By STEVEN DOWNES “When’s a pay-off not a pay-off?” a …Continue reading→

Tamar Barrett, a company director who has been a Labour councillor for almost four years, has never submitted an accurate declaration of interest. Tonight, the councillor is seeking reselection in Thornton Heath. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES A councillor who is …Continue reading→

Who does your local councillor really represent? It’s a reasonable question for all residents to ask, particularly those in South Norwood. By WALTER CRONXITE, Political Editor Just who does Labour councillor Louis Carserides represent? It’s not an unreasonable question for …Continue reading→

CROYDON IN CRISIS: MP Natasha Irons says that ‘democracy is being undermined by Croydon Council’, as the Conservative-controlled authority is refusing to debate the situation at the carers’ centre on George Street and the on-off-on-again sale of listed building Heathfield …Continue reading→

Croydon Council was forced into yet another hugely embarrassing court room climbdown this morning, when a group of homelessness campaigners arrived at Croydon County Court following a summons for squatting in a long-disused children’s home in Reedham. The presiding judge …Continue reading→

EXCLUSIVE: It’s not just Chancellor Rachel Reeves who struggles to get her CV right, as SANDRA STEAD, our in-house number-cruncher, uncovers a fifth case of an elected representative in Croydon failing to keep proper records in their register of interest …Continue reading→

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Elected figures across the capital are pocketing generous ‘bonuses’ – all paid for by Council Tax-payers, just for attending a few committee meetings for the London Councils organisation. EXCLUSIVE by WALTER CRONXITE, political editor Croydon’s Tory Mayor …Continue reading→

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Louis Carserides is a third councillor forced to alter their register of interests after questioning from Inside Croydon, as the long-time aide of MP Steve Reed quits his government job. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES An Inside Croydon …Continue reading→

Another week, and another Croydon councillor has been found out as breaking the council’s code of conduct by failing to update their declarations of interest in a timely manner. This time it is Conservative council cabinet member Scott Roche, who …Continue reading→

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Another costly legal defeat over housing, as High Court Judge finds our local authority acted deliberately in contravention of its responsibilities under the European Convention on Human Rights. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES The High Court has given …Continue reading→

CROYDON IN CRISIS: The cash-strapped council paid a single firm of solicitors £2m over a two-year period. Now it has been forced to admit that it spent another chunk of public money in pursuing a housing case in which they …Continue reading→

By STEVEN DOWNES The Supreme Court yesterday threw out Croydon Council’s defence, after a case brought by a homeless disabled woman finally reached the conclusion that the local authority really does have to deliver on its statutory responsibilities, however badly …Continue reading→

A team of highly paid lawyers representing cash-strapped Croydon Council returned to the Supreme Court this morning for an appeal hearing that the authority has brought against a disabled woman and her three children. Yes… “Despite going bankrupt, Croydon Council …Continue reading→

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Facing threats from the council lawyer, auditors and even Keir Starmer’s Labour Party, some councillors are determined to vote ‘in the interests of residents’ tonight, also knowing that they could bring down Mayor Perry. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN …Continue reading→

#THELABOURFILES: Former party official has called for member of council’s ethics committee to be disqualified as a councillor over their role in handling documents stolen in a malicious internet hack attack. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Clive Fraser, the controversial Labour …Continue reading→

Staff at Fisher’s Folly had something to celebrate this week, after Croydon Council managed to make it into the annual Private Eye magazine round-up of the country’s rottenest boroughs for a sixth year in a row. Someone has even suggested …Continue reading→

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→

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→

CROYDON IN CRISIS: The notorious £437,000 payment made to former council chief exec was agreed at an ‘unlawful’ meeting and should never have been paid. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES The near-half-a-million pounds paid to Jo Negrini in August 2020 to …Continue reading→

Hailing a ‘victory for commonsense’ over legal threats against him, this website’s editor promises to continue reporting on matters surrounding the Penn Report and Croydon’s bungling efforts to bring those responsible for the borough’s bankruptcy to account A week after …Continue reading→

By STEVEN DOWNES, Editor, Inside Croydon Croydon Council is trying to silence Inside Croydon. Last week, they tried to get an injunction at the High Court to stop us publishing documents which the council had already placed in the public …Continue reading→

A High Court judge yesterday refused Croydon Council’s attempt to ‘unpublish’ documents that it had itself put into the public domain. STEVEN DOWNES, Editor of Inside Croydon, on a small victory for the freedom of the press Two years ago …Continue reading→

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Right to the very last, Croydon Council was trying to stop the publication of any part of the Penn Report. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Earlier today, Inside Croydon approached Katherine Kerswell, the council chief executive, with a …Continue reading→

Our council reporter, PEARL LEE, discovers that the new borough solicitor was, until last month, the director of private property companies Croydon has announced a new, permanent appointee to become the council’s senior legal official. They just don’t seem to …Continue reading→