There has been a steady increase in the number of Covid infections in Scotland since May, from around 1,000 cases per week climbing to 8,000 a week by June 21.

We’ve had a lot of outbreaks centred around our schools but it looks like the school summer holiday break has come just in time.

Hopefully, the numbers will start to fall over the coming weeks.

The good news is that although there have been rising infections, the number of hospitalisations and deaths have been low, and the UK Covid vaccination programme continues to offer protection for more Scots.

Last week the council agreed a £100,000 Communities Matter Fund which will be open to bids of between £250 and £3,000 from community groups.

The new fund was the result of a Labour motion to use a council underspend to support the recovery, helping groups and individuals who have been affected by isolation as they have been unable to meet and socialise.

The fund opens on July 1, so hopefully lots of local groups in Dumbarton and the Vale will put in a bid and make use of the various businesses as they reopen over the summer.

The fund runs until January, so bids can be put in for funding to support activities between July and December, so a summer event or a festive event would be possible.

At the council, we received a report on the delivery of council services which was very informative.

It showed how well the council had responded during the pandemic and how adaptable we had been to keep things ticking over, albeit at a reduced service level.

As well as recognising all the positive achievements, the report didn’t pull any punches and it highlighted areas where we hadn’t done as well as normal and a number of challenges we have to overcome.

There is a six-month backlog of repairs orders; we have significant waiting lists for occupational therapy assessments; there’s a shortage of craft workers, delays to new tenancies and council house moves; the cost of materials is increasing; and some services were also affected by absences.

The good news is that our officers are putting in place arrangements to address the issues including additional occupational therapy staff, recruitment of craft workers and where possible apprenticeships and the continued return to normality will mean improved services over time.

It’s been a really tough 15 months for our communities, local businesses, families and individuals, but the council has distributed £30 million of grant funding, provided support for vaccination centres and testing centres, supported vulnerable elderly and disabled people, supported children of key workers during the pandemic, and managed to reshape its services to meet changing priorities.

We will have a summer extravaganza to support children and families over the holidays.

I will finish by congratulating all our pupils on their assessments.

This is an exciting new part of their life, moving to university, college, apprenticeships or work.

Good luck for the future.