Full Council rejected Mayor Jason Perry's 2026-2030 business plan by 39 votes to 29 over its lack of targets. He must bring it back on 9 December.
Croydon’s councillors have refused to adopt Mayor Jason Perry’s plan for the next four years. The Executive Mayor’s Business Plan 2026-2030 was voted down at Full Council on Wednesday 21 October, by 39 votes to 29, with no abstentions.
The result was announced by the Civic Mayor, who chairs the meeting, and can be heard on the council’s webcast of the meeting (“Council 21st October”). The printed minutes have not been published yet.
Every opposition group that spoke said it objected for the same reason: the plan sets out priorities but no measurable targets.
The quick answer
- What happened: Full Council did not agree the Mayor’s Business Plan 2026-2030.
- The vote: 29 for, 39 against, no abstentions.
- Why: Labour, the Greens, the Liberal Democrats and Reform UK all said the plan has no performance indicators, milestones or targets to judge it by.
- What happens next: the Mayor must bring a revised plan, or his reasons for disagreeing with the objection, to the next Full Council on Wednesday 9 December 2026.
- Does it stop anything? No statutory deadline is affected, the chair said on the advice of the monitoring officer.
What the plan is, and why the council has a say
The business plan is the council’s corporate plan. The report to Full Council says it is part of the council’s policy framework, so Full Council, not the Mayor alone, is responsible for adopting it.
The plan has seven priorities:
- a cleaner, safer Croydon
- a town centre that is busy, confident and thriving
- stronger local high streets and economies
- a fair deal for residents
- better roads, better journeys
- places people can be proud to call home
- backing families, young people and adults
The Mayor and Cabinet approved the draft on 24 June 2026. The report says it had not been changed since. A separate draft delivery plan sets out how it would be carried out. The report gave “none” as the alternative options considered, because the plan “reflects the mandate received from residents at the 2026 election”.
What was said in the chamber
Mayor Perry moved the plan. He said he had inherited a council in financial crisis in 2022 and that “four years on we have made significant progress”. He told councillors that in May residents “gave me a renewed historic mandate to continue that work”.
Labour group leader Councillor Stuart King said his group agreed with many of the aspirations. Its objection was the lack of measures. “Your first business plan contained 92 key performance indicators,” he said. “Here, five months on from the elections, your new plan has zero performance indicators.” He called it “not so much a moving of the goalposts as having no goalposts at all”.
Green group leader Councillor Ria Patel said the plan “lacks specific, measurable goals”. The Greens had tabled a published amendment, which under the council’s rules could be referred to but not voted on. It would have removed live facial recognition from the town centre section and a pledge to consult on scrapping 20mph limits, among other changes.
The Liberal Democrat and Reform UK speakers made the same point. Reform’s speaker told the Mayor he was “in a minority in this chamber” and should “come back with something better”.
Closing the debate, Mayor Perry said: “We have KPIs and targets across this council and they will all be brought together into a performance framework.” He said the plan was “already delivering”, and pointed to playground works, extended library opening hours and community collection days starting next month. He urged councillors to “support the will of the people”.
What happens next
After the vote, the chair invited each opposition leader to state their grounds for objecting. He then moved that the Mayor either submits a revised draft based on the objection, or tells the council why he disagrees with it. That response goes out with the agenda for the Full Council meeting on 9 December 2026. The motion was agreed on a show of hands.
The process is set out in the council’s Budget and Policy Framework Procedure Rules and the Council Procedure Rules, which the chair cited at paragraphs 5.12 and 5.13.
Labour’s leader warned that if the plan came back “without proper and fully developed robust delivery plan”, it risked the same outcome.
Also decided: an interim chief executive to January
Earlier in the same meeting, councillors agreed to appoint Mike Jackson as Interim Chief Executive until 31 January 2027. The appointment report says the Appointments and Disciplinary Committee chose him unanimously on 21 July, with the government-appointed commissioners’ agreement. It backdates the appointment to 17 August. He also becomes Returning Officer and Electoral Registration Officer. The council says work to recruit a permanent chief executive is continuing.
What it means for you
- Nothing changes in your services this week. The vote does not stop existing council work, and the chair said no statutory deadline is affected.
- The plan is linked to the budget. The report says the business plan will be delivered within the council’s financial strategy. The 2027/28 budget proposals, including the council tax rise, are a separate decision and are still out for comment. Our Croydon budget 2027/28 story explains them.
- You can watch the debate yourself on the council’s webcast page. The business plan item starts about one hour 23 minutes into the recording.
- The next round is 9 December. Papers for that meeting will be published on the council’s meetings page about a week before. You can also contact your ward councillor through the same site.
Have your say