“We are on track – that’s the main thing,” she said. “There is pressure in some areas, particularly in housing, and we need to keep a long term view of things, but, we are on track.

“We will have to work with our resources to make sure we stay within our budget and deal with the challenges ahead.”

She added that the main objective of the council’s finance department is to “achieve a balanced budget by 2021”.

Her words were echoed by Cllr Muhammed Butt, leader of Brent Council, who championed Brent’s achievements – especially when compared with other London boroughs – but issued a frank warning to the public.

He said: “It won’t be easy, but we will need to find the money we need from somewhere because any extra funding just won’t be there.

“There will be challenges ahead but we will have to deal with them as and when they come.”