Brent Council has been forced to scrap £285,000 worth of savings proposals due to the Covid-19 pandemic – and has warned it may have to lose services due to “intense” pressure.

A report to the council’s cabinet examining its medium-term financial outlook showed it can no longer expect to bring in additional income for 2020/21 across three areas due to the impact of social distancing measures.

The council intended to review all existing leases across its portfolio to generate £200,000 but officers said government guidance had hampered the prospect of increasing commercial rental income.

A further £50,000 will be missed from potential revenue generated by increased activity in Wembley, while an expected £35,000 from the building control team is no longer viable.

The report also noted there is likely to be a delay in achieving almost £4.6 million worth of savings for this financial year.

These include the establishment of family hubs in the borough, review of homecare packages and an increase in new accommodation for independent living (NAIL).

However, at this stage, the council is confident they can still be realised in line with the budget set out before the coronavirus outbreak.

Cllr Margaret McLennan, who is responsible for finance at Brent Council, noted there are likely to be additional pressures of between £11 million and £30 million once the full impact of Covid-19 is calculated.

She repeated her call to the Government to reimburse councils for the additional money they have spent on combating the impact of the pandemic.

“This is not a position this authority should be in, because we have been extremely prudent over the years. We will continue to lobby to get the money back,” she said.

The Government has given Brent Council £21.8 million worth of financial support during the crisis – including £3.4 million in the latest tranche, which was £600,000 more than anticipated.

However, Cllr McLennan said this “simply doesn’t cut it” when compared to additional costs and lost income totalling almost £48 million.

And Cllr Muhammed Butt, leader of Brent Council, warned that the council will face more years of “tough decisions” if it does not receive adequate government backing.

“The pressures going forward are going to be intense,” he said.

“We will have to look at which services we might have to remove, and it will be a difficult process.”