WHAT IS ‘PEOPLE FIRST’?
1. Culture
‘People First’ means putting people at the heart of every decision that is made. Council officers will be asked to treat every resident as if they were a member of their family and spend every pound as if it was their own money. We should celebrate and promote staff that do this and crack down on those that don’t.
2. budget
No more expensive consultants! Jason Perry has recently spent millions on external consultants and 4,000 new laptops for his staff. We might need some external advice, but our chief consultants will be the people of Croydon!
Where savings have to be made, I will ruthlessly prioritise the protection of frontline workers. We will reduce the Council’s dependence on agency staff. And if more cuts have to be made, we will look at cutting bureaucracy and management first.
I will make sure that we get real ‘best value’ for residents. This means investing in prevention rather than slashing services to make short-term cuts that often cost us more in the long term.
Jason Perry was elected on a platform to ‘fix the finances’. He has failed. It’s time for a different approach. As Mayor, I will work relentlessly to secure a funding deal for Croydon from central government that works, and to drive economic growth.
3. partnership
Croydon’s businesses, institutions, community groups and charities are our greatest strengths. But so many times I hear stories from potential investors and community partners that they’ve offered to help the Mayor and just been told to go away - or never even heard back!
That changes when I’m Mayor.
I’ll work with everyone and anyone to bring investment and renewal to Croydon. And I’ll prioritise Council contracts for local organisations over out-of-town outsourcing wherever I can.
I will look to devolve power and budgets to local neighbourhoods and communities.
rowenna's plan for croydon
We face huge challenges here in Croydon, especially with our finances. No-one is saying that there are any simple solutions to these problems - but there is still so much that we can do.
Jason Perry has given up on Croydon. He sees policy as something that’s simply ‘done to’ people. For me, it’s the opposite – it's something we all do together. What follows isn’t a manifesto (I’d need your help with that!) but I hope it gives you some sense of my ideas and priorities.
WHAT DOES ‘PEOPLE FIRST’ MEAN FOR POLICY?
growth
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We can’t tax and cut our way to prosperity. Croydon needs growth to make everyone all over Croydon better off - not just a few powerful landowners and developers. We need investment and change across our borough so that people feel pride in their high streets and a desire to shop in Croydon’s town centre again. I’ve already shown senior business leaders around our town. If I win, I’ll be inviting a whole lot more!
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I’ve already written about how we regenerate town centres in my report ‘Earning & Belonging’ (click here to read the report). As Mayor, I’ll put those findings into practice.
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I’ll press Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield not just for plans but for dates to fix our broken town centre. But I won’t wait for someone else to act, so I’ll help the interim ‘pop-up’ economy as much as a I can too.
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I will look to use Compulsory Purchase Orders to unblock development, and take tough action against developers who sit on existing buildings in bad condition without doing anything to fix them.
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I will focus on regenerating our district centres, including Thornton Heath, Norbury, South Norwood, Addiscombe, New Addington, South Croydon, Selsdon and Coulsdon, and ensure the council supports the setting up of business associations for all of our district centres that do not currently have one.
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I will be a constant voice for Croydon, lobbying the Labour Government and the Mayor of London for fair funding of outer boroughs like ours and campaigning to extend our tram and rail links into the heart of London.
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I will lobby educational institutions in London and the surrounding areas to site more university campuses here in Croydon.
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I will beef up the council’s bidding team to make sure we are available to properly bid for and use all available development funding.
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I will push TfL and National Rail to restore pre-Covid train and bus services.
Crime
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Eradicating domestic abuse and Violence Against Women and Girls will be a major priority of my administration. We will safeguard victims and survivors, with a stronger focus on children, and strengthen action against perpetrators.
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I’ll bring a new focus on prevention, community engagement, and implementing a public health approach – tackling crime not just in isolation, but in terms of how it links to problems in areas like housing, education and health.
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I’ve been to Malmo in Sweden to learn from their Mayor and police about how they turned their town around after years of gang violence with a community approach focused on prevention. We can be just as successful here in Croydon in the fight against knife crime.
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I will work with leading voluntary sector organisations to ensure proper care and follow-up for victims of domestic abuse, including care packages and look to rollout ‘Ring’ doorbells for those potentially at risk.
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I will help rebuild community trust in the police, working with them to increase recruitment, make our police officers more diverse, encourage local people to join the police, and to restore the concept of policing by consent. I will ask different communities to help all authorities have greater cultural competence.
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I will tackle anti-social behaviour, potentially using new Respect Orders to help reduce public drinking and drug use, and make sure that offenders are also connected to the services they need to stop cycles of reoffending.
housing
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Croydon needs more homes – and not just flats for commuters! Right now, there are 86 hectares of brownfield land that lack full planning permission. We need appropriate management of brownfield sites, engagement with developers, and enforcement of an amended Local Plan to ensure we accelerate the delivery of new housing.
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Stronger partnerships with Housing Associations, and better relationships with social housing partners, can help provide more beautiful, affordable housing that fit Croydon’s character.
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I want to see a strong Landlord Licensing Scheme that covers the whole of Croydon, setting benchmarks for affordability, safety, and decency to help ensure privately-rented housing and temporary accommodation meets decent standards.
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Housing should be for Croydon residents first, and we will prioritise local people on Council waiting lists. We should also use the landlord licensing scheme to incentivise landlords to prioritise temporary accommodation for Croydon residents, rather than those being placed far away from home by other boroughs.
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We should learn from Southwark council’s success in tackling homelessness and adopt their ‘No First Night Out’ and ‘Housing First’ models to combat rough sleeping. During Covid we managed to all but eliminate rough sleeping in Croydon and we should have the same aim now.
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Residents in temporary accommodation should be given a proper welcome to the neighbourhood, including details on their rights, a named council officer to help them and a list of local voluntary and charity organisations that might help.
Environment AND Cleanliness
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I’ll work to lower energy bills for thousands of households by supporting home insulation and renewable energy, especially for social housing and fuel-poor households. Groups like Croydon Community Energy already know how to lower energy bills and generate returns for our community. As Mayor, I’ll support them to go further and faster.
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I commit to publishing an updated climate strategy within my first 12 months of office, and to providing annual progress updates. I will work across party lines on this to make sure it can last the test of time.
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I will adopt a zero-tolerance approach to fly-tipping and use every possible means to tackle it: private enforcement, CCTV, the naming and shaming of frequent offenders, and the full use of Council powers to seize and crush offenders’ vehicles.
Children and young people
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I will establish a ‘Croydon Baccalaureate’ which would include a 45-day placement with a local company and the chance of a real job at the end of it. I've visited the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, to learn from the success of this programme there. As Mayor of Croydon, I will push for the maximum possible devolution of skills budgets from central government to come to Croydon.
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I will ensure all four of our Family Hubs are up and running within one year of taking office.
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I will work with local educational institutions to develop a Croydon-specific programme for young people not in education, employment and training (‘NEET’) to equip them with the skills and confidence they need to apply for jobs.
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I will support the creation of an app for Croydon’s young people to enable them to access all the opportunities and services that are available to them.
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I will do everything possible to support children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (‘SEND’), pushing for a ‘SEND Champion’ on all school boards.
...And what about some fun?
I’d love to explore the possibility of some more ways to show off our creativity and talent:
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A Croydon Marathon (to showcase the beauty of London’s greenest borough!)
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A Croydon’s Got Talent show (inspired by New Addington’s Got Talent successes!)
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An Airshow (to celebrate our fantastic aviation heritage)
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Croydon Food Festival (building on the fantastic one in South Croydon!)
This is not an exhaustive list! But it’s a start. Croydon can’t be fixed by any one person, even if they are Mayor. So please share your feedback on these ideas with me and send me your own. As long as they put People First, I want to hear about them!