In the last few weeks, the Government appears to have been singing a more optimistic tune.

It's a song that our economy is on the road to recovery - unemployment is reducing, and less people are claiming benefits. But if you listen closely, you hear a much less harmonious sound.

This sound is the impact of cuts to tax credits and child benefits for working families, which ignores the fact that most people claiming benefits are working people, and the Government's welfare reforms have hit them hard.

One which paints a picture of a Government which is still, sadly, ignorant of the lot of honest, hard working, decent families, struggling to make ends meet. So while pay may be up a little, it is still being outstripped by inflation. And with benefits being slashed, the impact on household incomes – as opposed to earnings – means that many are still in the red.

Here in the London Borough of Hounslow, we haven't ignored our residents. We've listened to what they have been telling us. We have not swallowed the Government's implausible lines. As families have struggled to keep their heads above water in the cost of living crisis, The Council has struggled in the teeth of a relentless onslaught of cuts to our budget.

£50 million is set to be taken from our grant in the coming years, on top of £60 million in savings we have had to make over the past four years. That’s £110 million less to spend on local services. Removed - as the Tory-led LGA keeps usefully reminding us - from the most efficient part of the public services.

We know the cost of living crisis is real, we know how much welfare reforms have impacted on ordinary families and we know that, even in the teeth of the cuts we have had to deal with, people still need our help.

That is why we are proposing to cut council tax, for a second year running, by half of one per cent. These cuts followed a six year freeze, and they offer some extra help for families as they do their best to maintain their standard of living. Some extra help from a Council, which, unlike the Government, understands the issues they face.

This Council is in touch with the reality of everyday life, and the challenges and struggles it presents.

This is the song that that we will sing, which is far more in tune with what people and families are actually experiencing.