A £600,000 fund collected through donations from Westminster’s richest residents to tackle homelessness is “just a drop in the ocean” compared with government cuts, a Labour councillor said today.

The leader of Westminster Council’s Labour group Adam Hug welcomed the money, but said it was “dwarfed” by millions of pounds cut from the borough’s rough sleeping contracts in recent years.

“We just need to be honest that it’s a drop in the ocean compared to the scale of the cuts Westminster has faced year on year, with another £36 million in cuts due this year,” he said.