There is no doubt that 2020 will rightly be remembered as one of the most dreadful and heart-breaking years in our history.

The Covid-19 global pandemic has brought much suffering and misery to many and it is such a tragedy that so many people have lost their lives and so many families have been left to grieve.

The restrictions we have faced, because of the need to drive down levels of transmission to save lives, are unprecedented. Although these are necessary, they have been a real burden to people, businesses and our wider community.

I am concerned about the impact on people’s mental health as it has meant that we have restricted the way we engage with family and friends, our community, and services that are important to us.

I have seen first-hand through my advice calls, the financial impact the pandemic is having - with people being made redundant or seeing their hours dramatically reduced, and many having to claim inadequate social security benefits for the first time in their lives.

I want to ensure that our mental health services are available to those who need their support and I thoroughly commend the professionalism and dedication of all staff. I am pleased that we have secured an additional £120,000 by March 2021 to better enable young people to access mental health and emotional wellbeing services. A specialist group will help us develop and improve this vital service.

The development and production of the various vaccines gives us great optimism for the future. In West Dunbartonshire we have already started rolling out our Covid-19 vaccination programme in line with Scottish Government guidance.

The first wave has seen us target frontline health and social care staff. Vaccination of our care home residents has begun, and we plan to have administered the first dose to all care home residents by the end of the month.

As the supply of vaccine increases, we will increase the number of clinics available to all those eligible in the first wave of vaccinations. Our roll-out will be done in line with the national vaccination programme, but please be rest assured that we will do everything possible to reach everyone as soon as practical.

It is important that we look beyond this pandemic. We must secure the best possible outcome for our town by ensuring that services and financial support from government are there to help us rebuild. I will work hard with colleagues to ensure that we have that vision, that we get the resources we need, and that we continue to regenerate our town to meet our desire of a better future past this pandemic.