Cllr Shantanu Rajawat, Leader of Hounslow Council, has issued a statement in response to the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's Autumn Statement announced yesterday (Thursday, November 17).

He said: "The Chancellor's budget statement of earlier today has confirmed what many hard-pressed councils feared - planned reductions to public sector spending across the board. 

"Whilst we await the detail of the Council's funding settlement, expected later in December, we know that any reductions in public funding will stretch already limited resources.  

"Like councils across London we are already facing additional cost pressures which were not included in our budget for this year due to much higher inflation and rising prices, and the increase in borrowing costs due to increasing interest rates. These pressures come at a time when demand for our services is on the increase. 

"Hounslow has a track record of prudent financial management and will continue to look at ways to balance the books whilst protecting essential services and remaining ambitious in ensuring we create a greener, thriving, healthy and safe borough that people are proud to call home.

"These are difficult economic times, but we know from the pandemic that we can withstand great challenge and I'm confident we will harness all the energies and talents across our brilliant borough to get through the difficult times ahead. As a council we are committed to ensuring people get the support they need."