Croydon Council has announced it will be taking unprecedented action to hold former senior leaders to account for misconduct, wrongdoing and failures in governance that contributed to the authority’s financial crisis. The council will be referring a series of reports on the council’s failures to the police; and referring individuals to relevant professional institutions who operate a disciplinary code in relation to their membership.
Croydon’s Executive Mayor Jason Perry is also set to write to Michael Gove, the Secretary of State, the Committee on Standards in Public Life, the Chair of the House of Commons Select Committee on Local Government and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), asking them to urgently review councils’ powers to hold individuals to account for catastrophic failures in governance.
Jason Perry, Executive Mayor of Croydon, said:
Like so many residents I feel angry about what has happened to my hometown. I feel as strongly as they do that those responsible, ought to be held to account for their part in Croydon’s downfall.
The scale and severity of Croydon’s financial collapse is unprecedented and that is why we are recommending unprecedented steps. The council has issued three Section 114 Notices; it has had to make savings of £90m over the last two years and another £36m this year; it has £1.6bn toxic debt in total and has had to seek permission to borrow £369m from government.
That is why we will be referring these reports to the police, and to any relevant professional bodies, so that the individuals named in the reports can be properly held to account.
