I’m not normally one for clock-watching but I’ve been taking note of the fact that it’s now starting to get light around 7am and that the days are getting lighter by a couple of minutes every day. 

This has cheered me up a bit as I know that spring and summer are getting closer. One of the benefits is that the days will get warmer and we can all reduce our energy usage as well and spend more on other essentials. 

Energy bills have been absolutely horrendous, and many of my constituents, old and young, have been really struggling and cutting back on other things just to get by.  

I’ve also been doing a bit of clock-watching as we slowly head towards the council budget setting on March 1. I’ve been through the budget process before but never anything on this scale. And it has been heart breaking having to make really difficult decisions which can affect people who rely on our services and those that are doing their very best to provide the services our communities need. But the underfunding from the Scottish Government means we can’t continue to deliver the same services we did last year.

On a more positive note, in my role as deputy housing convener, I attended an official opening of some new housing in Queens Quay along with the cabinet secretary for social justice, housing and local government, Shona Robison. I really enjoyed it especially when I was invited by one of the tenants to see inside her home. It was great to have a chat and a bit of a nosey, and the views onto the Clyde were absolutely beautiful. 

It shows the difference we can make to people’s lives when we work together to meet housing needs. I know that My colleague, Councillor Gurpreet Johal, is keen to get more housing in our area and to do everything we can to improve the homes we already have.

One of our local priorities is to address the long-standing issue of dampness. We’ve had meetings to discuss this, and are trying to find solutions to repair damp homes and get them back into the housing allocations for new and existing tenants.    

I hold my surgeries at the same time as the Tullichewan Tenants so I get to hear tenants views and issues first hand which I find really useful. They are really friendly and well organised and do regular walk rounds and proactively chase up any issue they find with council officers who are also very supportive and do a great job as well. 

I’ve been asked to chair the next AGM which I’m really looking forward and it shows how a small group of people can make a real difference to their community.