The problem of speeding cars and motorbikes has been brought to my attention, particularly along West Montrose Street, and in the roads by Hermitage Academy and Alder Gate.

I have raised this issue with the local police and, in particular, with the Area Inspector and the roads officer at the council.

The Area Inspector responded saying that they would increase patrols in the vicinity and will forward this information on to local policing and also make the safety camera partnership aware of the concerns raised.

This will allow them to add it to their review list for consideration of deploying a mobile speed van.

Good mental health is something we all value. So it was concerning to read from a Freedom of Information request, made by the Scottish Liberal Democrats, that 162 consultant psychiatrist roles out of 586 whole-time equivalent roles (WTE) across Scotland are currently vacant.

Furthermore, the health board with the largest number of vacancies is NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, which currently has 42 WTE vacancies.

Thus there is a dangerous staffing crisis within NHS mental health services, with vacancies at particularly high levels in rural and remote parts of the country.

I am sure many of you will have read that the Scottish Government in Holyrood announced their draft budget on December 19 and COSLA (Convention of Scottish Local Authorities) described the budget as leaving councils, such as Argyll and Bute, at real and significant financial risk for the coming year.

As it stands, it will mean cuts in every community in Scotland and job losses across Scottish local government.

Over the next month, I will be working with my administration colleagues on the Council to try and deliver a fair and balanced budget for Argyll and Bute.

A new learning cafe for job seekers is to open in Helensburgh.

LiveArgyll has set up the cafe to help job seekers with their digital skills, job search and CVs. It will run weekly on a Wednesday starting from January 24, from 1pm to 2.30pm, at Helensburgh Library and I will be popping along to one of the sessions to offer any support I can.

Everyone is welcome and there will be light refreshments available, and I heartily encourage job seekers to try out this new facility.

Finally, I would like to wish all my constituents a happy and healthy 2024.