The leader of Camden Council said the town hall wants to be treated as an “equal partner” by the government in the fight against coronavirus.

Cllr Georgia Gould also called on Whitehall to provide “full support financially” as the coronavirus crisis continued.

She was speaking at a council cabinet meeting which saw the council’s finance chief Cllr Richard Olszewski discuss the financial perils the town hall will face because of the support work it has undertaken during the pandemic.

Cllr Gould said local government “should be leading” the national response to the virus and added: “We are trying to be constructive. We want the government to succeed. We need the government to succeed because it’s the safety of our communities in play here.

“But if we take capacity out of local authority we take away all of that rapid responsiveness and the relationships and trust of our staff.”