Cllr Shantanu Rajawat, Leader of Hounslow Council, released the following statement in response to the Chancellor’s Budget 2024:

“This week the Chancellor announced his 2024 Budget Statement, and it is exactly as we thought it would be – a Budget that is more of the same, a continuation of fourteen years of Tory economic failure, with no long-term plan for Local Government and the vital services it provides to our residents across the borough.

The Chancellor cannot say he was not warned. The Local Government Association wrote to him in January of this year noting that Councils up and down the country are facing significant challenges in balancing their budgets without effecting local services. Indeed, investment in councils has the potential to reduce costs falling on other public services and support the delivery of key initiatives, such as housing and economic growth. This has been ignored and the Chancellor’s paltry 1% rise in public spending for the next parliament effectively represents a cut, not an increase, when considering the escalating service demands and the cost of living crisis affecting our residents here in Hounslow. It is no surprise to hear that this Parliament is the worst one on record for living standards.

While we welcome the extension of the Household Support Fund, a key source of funding that has helped millions of households facing hardship, it is disappointing that is only for a short period. But this sums up this Tory Government’s approach – short termism, rather than a proper long term plan. No long term plan to fix the Housing Crisis. No long term plan to address the pressures in the Adult Social Care sector. No long term plan on effectively funding Councils.

Councils, such as your Labour administration in Hounslow, continue to transform services and think outside the box to protect our residents against this Tory austerity. You only need to look at your Labour-run Hounslow Council’s recently passed Budget to see how we are protecting frontline services in the face of these challenging times. However, the fact is that core spending power in 2024/25 has been cut by 23.3% in real terms compared to 2010/11. And the Chancellor’s Budget Statement offers nothing for our public services.

Jeremy Hunt’s Budget shows that this is a UK Government that is not functioning, with no solutions. It’s time to turn the page on more than a decade of Tory failure. The country now needs a Labour Government to support Councils like Hounslow to deliver the high level of public services that residents deserve.”