Croydon (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Croydon Mayor Jason Perry misled residents by falsely claiming other London councils use an appointments-only system like Access Croydon’s new policy.
Katherine Kerswell, the council’s £204,000 chief executive, told the public earlier this month that Access Croydon was closing, saying the decision was “in line with local authorities across London.”
This is stated somewhat differently on the council’s website, where it is said that it “is in line with many London councils.”
However, how many is “many”? The Croydon Council has declined to comment.
Croydon urged the council to list the other councils that only use appointments. This query has never received a response from the council’s publicity division.
As if by magic, however, Mayor Perry—whose tagline is “Listening to Croydon”—sent out a formal letter attempting to defend further separating his council from the people it is meant to represent.
“These changes to Access Croydon are part of the council’s action to protect local services by becoming more efficient,” Perry wrote.
“The appointments system will enable the council to triage and prioritise demand appropriately.”
In the pre-appointment-only days, Access Croydon already had a system in place that gave cases priority when they came into the council offices, but Perry neglected to acknowledge this.
The misleading statement that Perry’s appointment-only system “is in line with neighbouring councils like Lambeth, Haringey, Wandsworth, Southwark, Bromley, and Sutton” was made later in his letter.
Croydon examined Perry’s comments inside. It’s not true.
As Perry stated, neither Sutton nor Southwark councils have an appointments-only system, according to representatives and their websites.
In contrast to Kerswell’s assertion that appointments-only are “in line with local authorities across London,” Croydon’s elected mayor was only able to identify six of the 33 local authorities in London that had such systems in place. Moreover, two of those were fabricated.
Therefore, Croydon is actually out of step with 28 other London councils due to its new policy of barring its own citizens from entering the borough.
As you might have expected, the transition to the appointments-only system has also resulted in some organizational chaos.
According to several council insiders, it was “chaos” in the beginning.
Additionally, Kerswell was compelled to warn employees about their behavior when entering and exiting the facility within two days of the new system’s implementation. Security personnel had become the focus of abuse because tensions had gotten so strained.
Additionally, those who arrived at the council offices seeking emergency housing after being made homeless were sent to the Central Library, where they were instructed to utilize one of their computers to schedule an appointment and register their homelessness.
Although the council has never stated how many or how they are prioritized, there are some same-day appointments available at their offices.
“I assume it will lead to staff reductions at some point. It is all about delivering the new target operating model: a self-service, virtual council, where you get to talk to a half-baked AI,”
one angry member of staff said.
Kerswell managed the council’s £6.4 million expenditure on outside consultants in 2024 in order to get their opinion on how to make additional cuts.
In the meantime, Croydon’s council tax will have increased by 27% since Jason Perry was elected mayor starting next week.
The council still owes £1.4 billion. Under Perry, Croydon recently applied for and received a record £136 million in special financial help from the government for the upcoming fiscal year.
What are the main arguments against the new appointments only system at access croydon?
Critics contend that by asserting without supporting data that the approach is typical of London municipalities, Jason Perry and the council have deceived the public. Trust in the council’s decision-making process is weakened by this lack of openness.
Access to essential services may be restricted by the appointments-only system, especially for individuals who want immediate assistance or lack the computer competence to make online appointments. Vulnerable populations that depend on walk-in services may be disproportionately impacted by this.
Critics contend that although the council provides same-day appointments for urgent housing support, this could not be enough for all situations or unforeseen needs that call for prompt care.
By making it more difficult for people without dependable internet access or those who are unfamiliar with digital booking systems to access council services, the new method may worsen already-existing disparities.