My top priority is to fix our council finances so that we can provide Croydon residents with the good services and value for money they rightly deserve. This week we’ve published Croydon’s budget proposals for 2025/26, which set out how the council is responding to unprecedented funding challenges and delivering major change to provide our residents with efficient and cost-effective services.

In the past two years we have made more savings than any other council in London. However, Croydon has a £1.4bn historic debt burden, which is neither sustainable nor fair on our taxpayers. I have written to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Angela Rayner, about the need for an urgent solution to address this debt.

We are determined to play our part in meeting these challenges in a way that puts residents first. Through 2025/26, we will continue our drive to fix the council’s finances, making the significant changes needed to provide efficient, value for money services for our residents. Find out more.

Croydon Harvest

Last weekend I was delighted to attend our popular Croydon Harvest and to join residents enjoying the wide range of events on offer. The Harvest featured the Walnut Fair, showcasing folk dance and crafts and a fantastic food market. Traders took part in the fair that dates back to the 14th Century. Events even included a giant fox puppet riding on a scooter, which featured in The Guardian. The historic Walnut Fair returned to Croydon in miniature form, taking over Pollock’s Toy Museum – myself and Deputy Mayor, Councillor Lynne Hale, enjoyed seeing the display and meeting museum volunteers. It was great to see the community come together and celebrate our borough in Autumn. Thank you to all our partners, artists and creatives who made it happen.

Museum of Croydon – have your say

The Museum of Croydon is reviewing its service and is inviting residents and visitors to have their say. We want you to tell us what activities and events you would like to see there and what stories you would like the museum to tell about Croydon. Take part in the survey here.

World Mental Health Day

Yesterday was World Mental Health Day, a reminder that we all need to take care of our wellbeing and look out for signs that people might need some support. Croydon offers free trauma informed training to help with this – find out more.

Uganda Independence Day

The flag of Uganda was raised outside the Town Hall on Wednesday, as we marked Uganda Independence Day and celebrated the contributions of our Ugandan community in Croydon. Thank you to everyone who took part.

Have a good weekend.

Jason Perry

Executive Mayor of Croydon