It's now a year since the local government elections and I am pleased to report that it has been a very successful year for the Labour administration.

We have done so much in our first year in office that sometimes it can be difficult to keep track.

When we formed the administration we immediately set about delivering on our manifesto commitments. We cancelled the stock transfer and put in its place a fully funded �85m programme to improve the quality of our housing.

We abolished the �56 care of garden scheme charge to pensioners and disabled people. We reinstated the grant to Antonine Community Sports Centre and invested a record �3.2m in our roads. In our recent budget we set aside an extra �117m for new capital projects such as a new Our Lady and St Patrick's Secondary School High, a new co-located Aitkenbar Primary, St Peters Primary and a new early education and childcare centre.

We also provided the money for a new �10m care home in Clydebank and a new �10m care home in Dumbarton and approved �1.7m for improvements in Levengrove Park.

In addition, we are investing in new cemetery capacity in Clydebank, Dumbarton, Alexandria and Gartocharn and in major infrastructure projects such as road improvement projects and a massive investment in ICT for schools and offices.

As well as the physical improvements we have had a significant focus on improving the quality of our services and this has resulted in improved quality in our residential care homes, improved educational attainment and achievement, and improved quality of our housing services.

These improvements could not have come about without the dedication and hard work of our teachers, carer, housing staff and many others. One of the council's key strategic priorities is Jobs and Growth and �2.8m was committed to this over the next five years.

Last year alone this investment led to 173 apprenticeships with the council.

This coming year we are expecting to take on another 60 apprentices to help young people. The council will also offer 100 apprenticeships through its Educational Services arrangements with the Action for Children programme which helps those most disadvantaged young people.

As well as this the council also agreed to further investment in youth employment and training opportunities in this year's budget a �300,000 project with a Clydebank -based organisation.

We had also identified a further match funding opportunity with Inspiring Scotland which means we could have another �400,000 pot of money to help young people in the area. In April this year also we submitted a bid to the Youth Employment Scotland Fund for �705,000 which would support work placements for 290 young people over the next year to 18 months.

Of course we still have lots of challenges and opportunities ahead but I am absolutely confident that we have the right leadership team to continue to deliver much needed improvements for local residents.