TOWN Hall chiefs were last night considering the implications of Chancellor Rishi Sunak's spending review.

The chancellor forecast a grim outlook for the economy ­— and implement a pay freeze for many public sector workers.

Leader of the Labour Group Cllr Nick Peel described the review as a "huge missed opportunity".

He said: "The chancellor's statement should go down in history as a huge missed opportunity to regrow the economy. He held back on what could have been bold and ambitious plans for a fast track boost to the economy in capital spending, green initiatives and job creation programmes.

“He didn’t take the opportunity to invest, as he should have done, in public services.

"Instead he announced a pay freeze for millions of our key workers in the police, fire service, teaching and councils.

"If that isn’t bad enough, this comes on top of the fact that we have hundreds of people at Bolton Council, currently delivering vital services, who do not know if they will be in work this time next year.

“The chancellor's deafening silence on council funding was a kick in the teeth to all those who have been at the forefront of tacking this crisis. When he got up to speak, Bolton faced around £40 million in cuts next year, and when he sat down, nothing had changed.

“Adult social care, children’s services, environmental services and pubic health have faced a rise in demand from the public, not a drop, yet will be expected to carry on delivering the services people need with less money and with less staff, simply because the Government have mismanaged the covid crisis from the very beginning!"

The devastation caused by coronavirus will see the economy shrink by its largest amount for 300 years and Government borrowing reach levels previously unseen in peacetime.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak warned there would be lasting damage with the economy shrinking by 11.3 per cent in 2020 and not recovering to pre-crisis levels until the end of 2022.

Unemployment is forecast to hit 2.6 million by the middle of 2021, official forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said.

The chancellor said: “Our health emergency is not yet over. And our economic emergency has only just begun.”

The dire state of the public finances mean many public sector workers will see their pay frozen.

The chancellor said he “cannot justify a significant, across-the-board” pay increase for all public sector workers given the difficulties faced in the private sector. Over a million nurses, doctors and others working in the NHS will get a rise but increases for the rest of the public sector will be “paused” – except for 2.1 million workers earning below the median wage of £24,000, who will receive at least £250 extra.

The overseas aid budget is being slashed by billions of pounds – prompting the resignation of Foreign Office minister Baroness Sugg.

The cut to the aid budget sees the Government reneging on a legal pledge and manifesto commitment.