Council bids to recoup cash paid to former chief executive

By Tara O’Connor, Local Democracy Reporter

Croydon council has pledged to take legal action against its former chief executive in a bid to recover some of her more than £400,000 settlement.

Jo Negrini was awarded £437,973 when she was laid off in August 2020.

The council has also agreed to refer a damning report into failures and mismanagement at the authority to the Met.

The Penn Report outlined decisions that led to Croydon being the first London council in 20 years to issue a bankruptcy notice.

The two actions were agreed upon by the council’s appointments and disciplinary committee yesterday after private deliberations.

Mayor of Croydon, Jason Perry, said: “In the committee’s opinion it is strongly in the public interest to take legal action to recover as much of the monies paid to the former chief executive as is legally possible.

“In particular, taking legal action is an effective means of holding the former chief executive to account and restoring public trust and confidence in council processes.”

The 140-page Penn Report on the financial collapse of Croydon council was completed in February 2021 but not officially published for another two years.

It used interviews with staff to describe a “highly dysfunctional organisation,” and outlined how a small number of cabinet members were making decisions without appropriate scrutiny.

Ms Negrini has been approached for comment.

Pictured top: Bernard Weatherill House, Croydon council’s offices, in Fell Road (Picture: Tara O’Connor/BBC Local Democracy Reporting Service)