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The CRO’s view (1) – What now for girls’ education after closure of Old Palace School?
The news that the Old Palace School is to close was received in Croydon with shock, sadness and dismay. Pupils, parents, teachers and alumnae have been expressing their outrage at the John Whitgift Foundation’s announcement that the school is due to close in two year’s time. The Foundation states that the reason for this is the financial inviability of Old Palace School due to financial pressures caused by the cost of living crisis and the rising expense of maintaining and developing property.
Old Palace School was taken under the wing of the John Whitgift Foundation in 1993 who later absorbed another popular girl’s private school, Croham Hurst in South Croydon in 2008, which, like Old Palace School, was noted for its excellent academic results. Part of the reasoning for the merger of these two girls schools into the Whitgift Foundation was the protection that being part of a larger charitable organisation would give the two schools more stability and protection in the future. Yet the provision of girls’ education by the Whitgift Foundation is due to stop, only 15 years later.
A school in a Palace (photo John Whitgift Foundation) It is clear therefore that the outcome of this closure will be that, other than the very small co-educational sixth form at Trinity School, the John Whitgift Foundation will no longer be offering education for girls in Croydon.
Putting the rights and wrongs of the private provision of education and the favourable treatment given by the government in allowing private schools to register as charities, thus avoiding VAT, the fact remains that some parents will opt for private education for their children either by paying the fees themselves or applying for bursaries to pay their child’s school fees.
Why does the Whitgift Foundation feel that in a modern environment it is in any way acceptable to close down their provision of schools for girls and keep their boys’ schools at Whitgift School and Trinity School open? It is true that the John Whitgift Foundation has been suffering from the financial problems that we have all been suffering with over the past few years, but disrupting the education of girls without even considering the amalgamation of one (or even both) of the boys’ schools into co-educational establishments smacks of discrimination against promising young women of a very old-fashioned kind. This disruption of education can have a lasting detrimental effect on the careers and lives of a large number of Old Palace girls.
Old Palace alumna, Croydon Central MP Sarah Jones has been in touch with the Chair of the Whitgift Foundation and has raised her concerns about the provision of education for girls at the Whitgift Foundation.
‘Finally, on the issue of teaching girls in the future, the Foundation …will be applying every sinew to work out what comes next’.
Sarah Jones MP
John Whitgift himself owed his appointment as Archbishop of Canterbury and as a privy councillor to a highly educated woman. Closing this school at very short notice and forcing the girls to face a change in schools will cause great disruption to the girls’ education. Also, just as importantly all important friends and social groupings will be shattered. The CRO does not think that John Whitgift would approve of what seems to be an ill thought out and discriminatory closure.
John Whitgift – Devoted servant to an educated woman 
The CRO’s View – our new series of opinion pieces on Croydon’s latest news.
We are taking a more in-depth look at issues affecting Croydon and the people that live and work here.
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Public sector union organises Council Tax protest march
Taking to the streets – protesters making their voices heard yesterday. Demonstrators took to the streets of Croydon on Saturday to continue the protest against directly elected mayor Jason Perry’s plans to hike the council tax by 15%. Public sector union the GMB called on their members working at Croydon Council to join a march from Mayday University Hospital to the steps of the Town Hall in Katharine Street.
The protesters were supported by marchers from community groups as well as Labour and Green Party councillors opposed to the 15% increase.
On the march – Councillor Callton Young At the rally at Croydon Town Hall a range of local speakers included Councillor Stuart King, the leader of Croydon Council’s Labour group of councillors, Councillor Callton Young, shadow cabinet member for Finance as well as GMB Union members from Croydon Council.
Addressing the crowd from the Town Hall steps Stuart King was heavily critical of Jason Perry’s plan for the increase in council tax. ‘Jason Perry is making Croydon residents pay for the mistakes of his government. We will be paying more for less services, all I can say to this is no, no, no’
Croydon TUC executive members with their banner. (L to R) President Kevin Smith, Margaret Smith, Secretary Roy Aird and EC member and former Mayor of Croydon Peter Spalding The CRO spoke to President of Croydon Trades Council, Kevin Smith who was present at the march with colleagues from the Trades Council. He said ‘We are here today to support trade union colleagues who are really up against it. Not only have their wages not kept up with inflation for over a decade, but also they will now have a huge increase in their council tax to add to all the other increases coming their way because of the cost of living crisis.
He continued ‘It was good to see all sorts of people here today with representations from opposition members of the council, community groups as well as us trade unionists. The atmosphere was great, we got lots of good reaction waves from the public and car horns blasting in support. We even had a few people join the march. We are looking forward to a great turnout for the lobby of councillors at the Town Hall on Wednesday 8th March at 6pm’.
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Unions and community groups to march against 15% council tax hike
The campaign against the directly elected mayor’s plan to impose a 15% increase on the Croydon council tax is gathering steam as the GMB Union announce their march demanding fair funding for Croydon.
Members of the GMB Union, as public sector workers have been particularly hard hit by the freeze on local government funding by central government. Public sector wages have failed to keep up with inflation for more than a decade resulting in local government workers finding it difficult to keep up with rising prices. The proposed cuts in this year’s council budget and the 15% council tax rise means that Croydon Council workers and other public sector workers are being hit by a double whammy.
Kevin Smith, President of Croydon Trade Union Council is urging members of the public to join with local government workers on Saturday to show their opposition to the cuts in central government funding and the 15% council tax increase. He says ‘Croydon Council has had a tough time. The Tory austerity policy has decimated Croydon’s local government funding and Council workers now have wages that are only a fraction of the worth they were in 2010. Mayor Perry is now making Croydon residents pay for the mistakes of his government’.
Mr Smith added ‘The Mayor should go back to Michael Gove and ask when are the government going to fund Croydon fairly? He should pursue the shortfall in Croydon’s central government funding we have missed over the last decade and demand an immediate increase in funding to similar levels to our neighbours in Lambeth. Hammering the people of Croydon with a 15% hike is not how Croydon’s financial problems are sorted out’.
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So now it’s the People -v- Perry?
Can Croydon’s progressive councillors keep Perry’s 15% council tax rise at bay?
Protesters outside the Town Hall tonight This evening saw a packed council annual budget meeting and hordes of protesters unfurling banners outside the town hall to protest against the executive Mayor’s sudden decision to attempt to impose hard a 15% council tax rise on hard pressed Croydon council tax payers.
Presenting a petition to the council on behalf of 25,000 Croydon residents, Ken Towl spoke starkly to Jason Perry. His message was clear – ‘you don’t have a mandate, you make us pay for the failings of politicians and put the burden on the shoulders of the people of Croydon’.As the evening went on, council member after member reiterated this point stating that at no point during his campaign did Perry say he was even considering a council tax raise of this size. What is hard to understand is why Perry even dreamed that it would be possible to get the budget through the Council.
The balance of power in Croydon is anti-conservative with thirty seven Labour, Green and Liberal democrats having the ability to win votes in the Council chamber. Croydon may have a Conservative mayor, but the council could best be described as No Overall Control. The first two big mistakes that Perry made were firstly grabbing all executive power to himself and secondly selecting a cabinet made up entirely from the minority conservative group. If Perry was serious about making the mayoral system work in Croydon, he would have selected his cabinet in such a way that properly reflects the political representation of the full council.
The Council’s brand-new mayoral system does not give many decision-making powers to the full council, but one power that they do have is setting the budget. Croydon’s virtually brand new Mayor is trying to get his first budget agreed and is finding out that being an executive mayor does not mean that the Council will agree with him. Now his budget seems to be well and truly stuck in the system and Mayor Perry doesn’t seem to have the faintest clue how to unstick it.
The Mayor needs to get a dose of reality. The council has the ability to vote down his budget. If he wants to get a budget through the council, he needs to get the council on board, or at least of majority of them. At the moment the numbers on the Council simply do not add up in his favour.
Perry’s budget was voted down by the council this evening by 37 votes to 34. The opposition lodged their objections, with Labour stressing that the 15% rise in Council Tax is excessive. Councillor Stuart King, the leader of the Labour group suggested that the Mayor makes use of the time revisiting the budgetary proposals he was developing in early February which did not include this massive Council Tax rise. Likewise Councillor Ria Patel, speaking on behalf of the Greens said that the Green Party was opposed to the budget due to the excessive rise, but they also wanted to see more clarity how residents can access the hardship provision. Cllr Patel also stressed that the Greens wanted to see more work done on the effects of the budget on biodiversity.
Mayor Perry seems to have a lot of work to do before the meeting next week, but one thing is very clear. He may have narrowly won the mayoral vote, but his political party did not win the necessary number of votes for him to do whatever he likes.
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Trade unions and community groups call for mass lobby of council tax meeting on 1st March 2023
Croydon Trades Council is calling for all Croydon residents who are concerned about the proposed 15% council tax hike and further cuts to services to lobby their local councillors to let them know just how horrified Croydon people are about the effects of the increase in council tax during a cost of living crisis as well as the cuts to vital council services which will hit Croydon residents from every walk of life.
Croydon residents can lobby their councillors in different ways. Community groups including residents associations, ratepayers group, disability organisations, schools, faith groups, trade unions and many more will be gathering at the Town Hall on Wednesday 1st March to show their concern about the council budget which means that Croydon people pay more to get less. The lobby is due to start at 6pm, but it may be worth turning up a bit early as there will be a lot of people keen to speak to their councillor before the meeting.
Croydon residents are also able to lobby their councillor by writing to them by post or by email. To find the name of your local councillor please use this link to find out their name and contact details. Most wards in Croydon have two or even three local councillors. You can choose one councillor to write to, or even write to all of your ward councillors.
Kevin Smith, President of Croydon Trades Council said ‘We have been extremely concerned about the effect that this rise in council tax along with the cuts to important services will have on Croydon residents across the whole of the borough as well as council staff who will be losing their jobs’. He added ‘Mayor Jason Perry has ploughed on with this cruel budget regardless, so it is now time for Croydon residents to stand up for our friends, family, colleagues and neighbours. Croydon residents are in this together, so please let your local councillors know how you feel about Perry’s council tax hike’.
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Trade unions and community groups speak out against Perry’s 15% council tax hike
A true blue council tax hike A meeting led by Croydon Trade Union Council was held yesterday (Saturday 18th February) at Ruskin House in Coombe Road.
The well-attended meeting had trade union members, disability rights groups, ratepayers associations, anti racism groups, former councillors and a former mayor of Croydon discussing a campaign to persuade Croydon Mayor, Jason Perry to abandon his plans to hike the council tax rate in Croydon by 15%.
Speaker after speaker condemned the decision by the Mayor to increase the council tax by this huge amount. Criticism was also levelled against Secretary of State for Communities, Housing and Levelling up Michael Gove, who has dispensed with the statutory requirement to have a local referendum if an increase of more than 4.99% is proposed.
The meeting also discussed the huge cuts in funding from central government which have caused large shortfalls in budgets available to fund basic council services. Kevin Smith, President of Croydon Trade Union Council said that ‘any campaign to halt this appalling increase in council tax must also be seen in the light of the low level of Croydon’s central government grant in comparison with our neighbouring boroughs. It is vital that we campaign hard to see that Croydon is fairly funded. We obviously cannot rely on the Croydon Mayor to represent Croydon’s interests’.
Meet at the Town Hall to lobby your councillors say Council Tax protesters The Council is meeting on March 1st at 6.30pm to discuss the proposed budget and Croydon TUC and the other co are asking Croydon residents to come to the Town Hall entrance in Katherine Street to lobby their local councillors. The lobby is due to start at 6pm, but as it may be busy it may be an idea to turn up from 5.30pm onwards.
Kevin Smith said ‘Croydon TUC represents Croydon workers and we know from our day to day work that the cost of living increases have had a severe effect on our members. This council tax hike, coupled with yet more cuts that are proposed are going to make life unbearable for our hard working members. Please come along to the lobby to make your voice heard and if you are not able to come, let your friends, work mates and neighbours know. Let’s show the Mayor that this hike is utterly unacceptable’.
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Spring Ceilidh on at the Fairfield Halls – 23rd March 7.30pm onwards
‘jig yourself into a frenzy’ say Time Out After what seems like an endless winter, spring is finally about to spring and what better way to celebrate than by going out dancing?
Here at the CRO we like a bit of dancing and this event seems like just the job.
Join Slide, a group of dancers and Croydon creatives who are organising fun and vibrant projects and events in Croydon and Ceilidh Tree for a fun evening of social dance suitable for all ages and abilities. With live music all night, expect authentic folk sound with fiddles, accordion, guitar and an amazing caller from Ceilidh Tree who will keep the dance floor packed. No need to bring a dance partner, come on your own or bring your friends and family!
Expect lots of laughing, fun and frivolity!
New to a Ceilidh? Ceilidhs are a traditional Irish and Scottish social dance where you dance with a partner and in groups. A professional caller will explain each dance before the live band takes us all through each fun sequence. You can join in with as many dances as you like or take a break and grab a drink at the bar!
Sounds good to us!
Find out more and buy tickets here.
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Major ULEZ upset for Mayor Perry
An upward slog for Perry? Since Croydon’s decision to adopt the directly elected executive mayor model to run the local council, questions have been raised about the duties and responsibilities of ward councillors. Why does the council need these ward councillors? And what is it that they actually do?
The role of a councillor is multifaceted but in short a councillor represents the interests of their constituents by the making of policy and the monitoring of the implementation of this policy. The CRO was asked recently for a view on the role of a councillor, especially in the light of the new situation in Croydon where the executive Mayor has reserved all decision making powers for himself. Our view is that an elected councillor’s most important role is to hold the executive mayor to account either through hard process, such as council meetings, scrutiny meetings and consultations or through informal ‘soft’ process such as publicity and campaigning work on important issues that affect Croydon.
Last night’s council gave an indication of how councillors in Croydon can use their soft powers to hold their mayor to account. Mayor Perry does not command a majority in the Council chamber and this led to an upset for Perry last night as councillors voted down his motion to oppose London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s clean air plans for the Ultra Low Emission Zone expansion to the outer London boroughs. In a dramatic moment after a drawn vote Civic Mayor Alisa Flemming used her casting vote to throw out Perry’s motion. Likewise in a later motion proposed by the Labour group about the government’s refusal to allocate levelling up funding to Croydon was passed, again using the casting vote of the civic mayor.
Croydon is new to the directly elected mayor process, but it would seem that one of the first lessons that Mayor Perry should learn is how to carry a majority of the council with him. As Croydon has a progressive majority with Labour, the Greens and a Liberal Democrat forming the largest body of councillors, Mayor Perry is going to need to learn some more about the arts of negotiation and compromise in order to avoid regular upsets like last night.
The budget meeting(s) in March should prove interesting.
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Get your skates on in Croydon!
Finding her feet – a newcomer to roller skating at the Whitgift Square rink Centrale and the Whitgift Centre are sponsoring a free roller skating rink in Whitgift Square for visitors to enjoy some fun (and perhaps pick up a new, active hobby?) from now until Christmas Eve. Yes, you read that right, free.
Opening times for the rink are :-
Monday to Saturday 12.00 – 18.00
Sunday 12.00 – 17.00
There are still walk-in spaces available. Come along and have fun at this FREE event.
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Peter Underwood selected to stand for Green Party in by-election
The Croydon Green Party have selected Peter Underwood, a Croydon resident for 20 years as their candidate to stand in the Selsdon Vale and Forestdale by-election.
Peter Underwood, hoping to turn Selsdon Green Peter stood as the Green candidate for executive mayor of Croydon in May and also stood in Fairfield ward where he missed being elected by 23 votes.
Peter is a Selsdon resident and is active in his local residents’ association. His day job is co-ordinating volunteers for two charities that aim to improve Croydon’s open spaces. Peter has spent a large part of his career working in the civil service and hopes to bring his expertise on the workings of government to his work as a local councillor.
Let the CRO have your news about the Selsdon Vale and Forestdale by-election. Email us at newsdesk@croydoncro.co.uk
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