Dee Corsi, Chief Executive, New West End Company, said: “Today’s Comprehensive Spending Review marked a pivotal moment for the Government to set the political course for the remainder of the Parliament. 

“London is an important driver of jobs, investment, and tourism, playing a vital role in achieving national growth. To remain a vibrant economic and cultural destination it needs ongoing investment for key transport and infrastructure projects – and crucially, policing must be properly funded to ensure safer streets. 

“The much-needed long-term settlement for Transport for London is welcome, but the absence of further commitments from Treasury on other London infrastructure projects is disappointing – particularly as investment in the capital would deliver economic growth across the UK.

“And whilst the Chancellor has revealed that police spending will increase by 2.3% a year in real terms, the detail tells a different story. With the Home Office budget squeezed in the coming years, it’s hard to see how this will deliver the additional, visible, on-the-ground policing that businesses and communities so urgently need. This limited uplift will do little to undo the persistent underfunding of the Metropolitan Police Service, and we remain concerned it may still result in fewer officers.

“We continue to urge the Government to provide targeted, ringfenced support for flagship high streets – including those in the West End – as failing to do so puts them, and the UK’s wider economic recovery, at serious risk”.