Croydon Council plans legal action against former chief executive Jo Negrini

Croydon became the first London council in 20 years to issue a bankruptcy notice

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

Jo Negrini was awarded £437,973 when she left the council in August 2020.

An investigation later found there were "significant failings" in the report given to the authority's appointments committee which made the decision on the payment.

BBC London has approached Ms Negrini for comment.

It was previously reported that she left the council after an alleged "breakdown in trust" between her and ex-council leader Tony Newman.

'Highly dysfunctional organisation'

An investigation called the Penn Report was commissioned to look into the decision and wider actions that led to Croydon being the first London council in 20 years to issue a bankruptcy notice.

The 140-page report on the financial collapse of the 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.

On Thursday, the council announced that it was going to try to reclaim at least some of Ms Negrini's pay-out.

It also pledged to refer a report into failures and mismanagement at the authority to the Metropolitan Police.

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

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Croydon's mayor 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."

'Completely unacceptable'

Mr Perry said that the "scale and severity of Croydon's financial collapse is unprecedented and that is why we are recommending unprecedented steps".

The council had to make savings of £90m over the last two years and another £36m this year, he said.

It must contend with this while having a total debt of £1.6bn and having to seek permission to borrow £369m from the government, he added.

"It is completely unacceptable that individuals who held positions of trust should escape the consequences," he added.

"Nor should they be rewarded for their failures while our residents, businesses and partners continue to pay the price.

"They must be held to account - that is why I have consistently pushed for the council to take the strongest possible action against those responsible."

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