The Covid-19 pandemic has “shone a spotlight” on stark financial inequalities in Brent, according to a poverty commission.

A report presented to Brent Council on Monday (August 17) said the ongoing crisis had shown how deprived some areas of the borough are.

Brent has been among the hardest hit areas in the country, with poorer areas such as Harlesden suffering the most.

Lord Richard Best, who chaired the 2020 Brent Poverty Commission, said the borough had “taken a real battering” from the virus and that it “showed the challenges” faced by many of its residents.

He pointed out that it will also be left “vulnerable” as the country attempts to return to normal with so many people on furlough – the second highest in London.

The borough also has to deal with some startling statistics, which showed 33 per cent of households, and 43 per cent of children, are living in poverty.

Lord Best noted the important role of councils in combatting both Covid-19 and poverty in general, as he urged the Government to support them once bills associated with managing the pandemic have to be settled.

“[The commission] shows how important local authorities are in so many aspects of our daily life – we depend on them and forget that at our peril,” he said.

“I hope to goodness they get fully reimbursed – they are already struggling financially, and we should recognise the work they have been doing in this awful pandemic.”

The leader of Brent Council, Cllr Muhammed Butt, supported this call and said councillors would continue to “shout from the rooftops” for full government support.

Carolyn Downs, chief executive of Brent Council, added that this is particularly important amid fears of a second wave of the virus, noting the council “cannot, under any circumstances, go through what it did in the spring, in the winter”.

And Dr Madhukar Patel, chairman of Brent Clinical Commissioning Group, said the impact of Covid-19 had reinforced the link between poverty and poor health.

However, he said he and his colleagues were “shocked” at some of the conditions people in Brent have to live in and that work must start on reversing this “whether Covid hangs around or not”.

“This has been going on for a long time, and it will be around for a long time if we don’t do anything about it,” he said.