Croydon (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Ahead of Croydon Council’s budget meetings, Green councillors propose a 50% cut in the Mayor’s special allowances, urging more realistic financial policies.
“Honesty about the mess we are in and fairness in making those who can afford to lose more face the biggest cuts” are the guiding principles of the Green Party’s amendments to Mayor Jason Perry’s budget plans for Croydon CroydonCouncil.
How could cutting special allowances by 50% impact Croydon Council?
Green council members are demanding that Special Responsibility Allowances (SRAs) be slashed by 50% so that funds can be used to preserve frontline service employment, while Conservative and Labour council members are seeking salary increases for themselves.
Wednesday marks the first of two planned budget-setting meetings for Mayor Perry at Town Hall.
It will also establish the 2025–2026 Council Tax, which is expected to rise by 4.99% from April to give Croydon residents the second-highest Council Tax in London.
Green council members have opposed Mayor Perry’s budgets for the past two years and demanded that the government provide Croydon with equitable funding.
Since the municipal elections in 2022, the Conservatives have held influence over the elected mayor. However, when anything is put to a vote, there are only 33 Conservatives and 37 Labour, Green, and Liberal Democrats in the Town Hall Chamber.
However, in spite of Green resistance, Labour council members’ choice to abstain from final Budget votes has enabled the Conservatives to enact a 15% increase in council taxes in 2023 and an additional 5% increase last year, all the while reducing services.
Ria Patel and Esther Sutton, the Green council members for Croydon, are urging the mayor to be transparent with the people of Croydon.
He must acknowledge that he is once more requesting that they pay more for less.
Additionally, he must admit that he is not “fixing the finances,” as he claimed before running for office in 2022. In actuality, the situation is just getting worse, and this year’s budget deficit is much larger than it was last year.
Perry’s council asked for a £136 million bailout, which the government agreed to this week.
They added:
“We all know that Croydon is massively in debt due to financial mismanagement under Conservative and Labour administrations. We have also seen a massive cut in central government funding in real terms for Croydon Council over the last 15 years.
There are no signs that the new Labour government has any intention of restoring council funding to pre-2010 levels.
The £136million might fill this year’s hole in Mayor Perry’s Budget, but Greens are demanding a long-term settlement to fund Croydon fairly in years to come.”
In order to close the gaps in his budget, Mayor Perry is requesting authorization to sell off even more of our council’s assets since he is still having difficulty making his numbers match up.
The government-appointed improvement panel, which is considering selling off any assets they can, including the Fairfield Halls and Heathfield House, which were put up for auction this week on a 125-year lease, is pushing him to do this.
The mayor is being asked by Croydon’s Greens to be honest about this and to acknowledge that selling off assets is not a solution to the challenges.
They say,
“The only way Croydon is going to get out of the mess we are in is for central government to step in and significantly increase funding, write-off large amounts of the debt, or preferably both.”
The Greens are also urging Mayor Perry to make cuts more equitable until then.
As of right now, the Mayor’s Budget suggests raising the salaries of senior Conservative and Labour council members as well as himself.
He has proposed increasing Mayor Perry’s annual compensation to £84,000.
Croydon’s Greens say,
“It is completely wrong for senior members of the council to be giving themselves a pay rise while they are sacking front-line staff and reducing the services we get from our council.”
The ineffective and inefficient process being employed to revise the council’s constitution has previously been criticized by Councillor Patel.
By giving themselves Special Responsibility Allowances for both cabinet and shadow cabinet positions—despite the fact that those positions are now useless—Tory and Labour have collaborated to maintain the previous two-party cabinet arrangement.
The Greens are demanding that the council constitution be amended to eliminate these cabinet and shadow cabinet positions. Additionally, they have reiterated their demand to reduce Special Responsibility Allowances by 50% from the previous year.
The same idea is being applied by Greens to senior municipal employees as well.
Croydon Council is providing residents with fewer services, but senior officials’ total compensation has increased since 2022. One suggestion is given by the Croydon Greens to raise the council chief executive’s salary by about £12,000, to £204,000 annually.
The Greens want to reduce the number of senior directors in the upcoming months and freeze the salaries of council executives who already earn £100,000 or more annually.
They want the money saved by the council’s executive directors and SRAs for council members to be reinvested in front-line services.
They intend to use the funds to assist in resuming the youth services that the mayor recently discontinued.
Greens also seek to increase funding for citizens in other areas, such as counseling private renters and debtors and stepping up efforts to lessen violence against women and girls.
The plan to reduce their allowances was rejected by both Conservative and Labour council members last year, but they allowed the mayor’s tax increases and job and service losses to proceed.
They added:
“We will find out soon whether they vote against the Greens’ proposals again this year.”
What other measures are Croydon’s Greens suggesting to address the council’s financial issues?
They are applying cost-cutting strategies without losing necessary services. This could entail renegotiating supplier contracts, cutting energy use, or simplifying operations.
Liabilities can be decreased or income might be generated by reviewing and optimizing asset utilization. For instance, leasing or selling unused homes for community purposes.
Holding public consultations to collect input from locals on priorities for the budget and ways to improve service delivery.
Considering alternate funding options, such as collaborations with nearby companies or civic associations, to assist particular initiatives without exclusively depending on council finances.
Residents and stakeholders’ trust can be increased by making sure financial reporting is transparent and decision-making processes are accountable.
Promoting more government assistance specifically designed to alleviate Croydon Council’s historical mismanagement problems.