I want to start my column by congratulating Councillor Fiona Hennebry on her by-election win to serve as one of the four members of Clydebank Central Ward.

This was always going to be a real challenge for Labour as based on the 2022 council elections, the SNP would have been a shoe-in.

However, the combination of having a fantastic candidate and a strong group of determined campaigners meant that Fiona was elected with almost 50% of the votes.

While we were campaigning for Fiona, the General Election was called and I was delighted that our Provost, Councillor Douglas McAllister was also elected as the MP for the West Dunbartonshire constituency, again securing almost 50% of the votes.

As the holidays end, I hope you all managed to enjoy the few days of sunshine we had during the summer. The weather was kind to us at this year’s Scottish Pipe Band Championships when we welcomed more than 120 bands from around the world to Levengrove Park. This year’s event marks 25 years since the first event in 1999 in Balloch Park. Thanks to all the visitors and all our employees who worked hard to ensure this year’s event was another great success.

I recently attended a meeting of the Glasgow City Region Cabinet to hear about the progress on the infrastructure projects including our plans for the former ExxonMobil project. The site is currently undergoing remediation before it is transformed into a mixed-use development, with storage, distribution, industrial, business and office space. This is a hugely ambitious project, which is expected to support almost 1000 jobs and will benefit our area for years to come.

Since I last wrote my column, I have attended a number of COSLA leaders meetings to discuss a range of local government matters such as the visitor levy, local government pay, and the significant financial challenges facing councils. In West Dunbartonshire we have a huge recurring revenue deficit for 2025/26 of £14.6m which rises to £50.95m by 2030. We need to increase our revenue and reduce our costs and the Scottish Government need to help us to find more money for councils like West Dunbartonshire to help to support local jobs and services. As council leader I will continue to argue for more funding for our area.