Incompetent Labour TWO weeks ago, the council approved its budget for 2011/12.

What transpired on the night beggars belief.

The SNP administration put forward our proposals, taking into account the results and input from public consultations and independent councillors.

We also had another £1m given to us by the Scottish Government, to help with the reduction in Supporting People Funding.

Throughout this whole budget process, which began in December when we published a draft budget for consultation, the Labour opposition has resolutely refused to engage with us, offering no ideas on how we could take a budget forward for the good of the people of West Dunbartonshire.

It's now obvious why they didn't engage; they had no ideas.

Labour produced their own budget, which was so full of mistakes and incorrect figures, that legal and financial officers ruled it incompetent.

If Labour wants to be taken seriously, they really will have to raise their game, and maybe get someone who can count to do their sums.

Regeneration funding THERE was good news for Clydebank, as John Swinney announced further cash for Clydebank Rebuilt in his budget.

Both myself and Des McNulty wrote to John in support of Clydebank Rebuilt, and it's good to see that he took our concerns about funding seriously.

The only sour note was that Des McNulty voted against this extra money for Clydebank, but thankfully, regional member, Gil Paterson MSP, was there to support the local area.

Registration offices LAST week, councillors had to make a difficult decision, when we decided reluctantly to close the Clydebank Registration Office.

We agreed that an authority with a population of around 90,000 couldn't justify spending public money on three offices when we considered that Glasgow, with more than half a million residents, has just one office.

It was clear that this was an area where a saving could be achieved without any great detriment to the service provided.

West Dunbartonshire's registration office will be in the municipal buildings in Dumbarton, which is adjacent to Dumbarton Central rail station and major bus routes, and allows easy access from all parts of West Dunbartonshire.

Nobody should have to travel more than eight miles to register a birth, death or marriage.

St Margaret's Hospice THE Town Hall is undergoing major refurbishment and the council will be unable to hold meetings there for the next year.

SNP and independent councillors, keen to see meetings continue in Clydebank, moved that committee meetings scheduled for Clydebank should be held in the St Margaret's Hospice meeting room, generating some much needed income for the Hospice. I was stunned when every Labour councillor voted against this.

It appears that unless an idea comes from their ranks, they won't support it.

We held our first meetings in the hospice last month, and we've been made very welcome.

I'd like to thank Sister Rita and her team, and I look forward to attending many more meetings in the year ahead.