Members will have seen the change that has been made on Cabinet and I am extremely grateful to Councillor Nicole Burnett for her dedication and professionalism as Cabinet Member for Social Services and Early Help.

I would also like to offer a warm welcome to Councillor Jane Gebbie as the new Cabinet Member who is very energetic, passionate and experienced.

Urgent changes to the way in which people receive their Covid-19 booster vaccinations are being introduced as national efforts to fight the spread of the new Omicron variant get underway.

The move follows the recent announcement from Welsh Government confirming that all eligible adults in Wales will be offered a Covid-19 vaccination booster shot by the end of the month.

To achieve this, Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board now needs to deliver 166,000 boosters across the region by 31 December 2021.

The Chief Executive and I together with the Leaders and Chief Executives of RCT and Merthyr Councils met with the Chief Executive of Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board to discuss and progress the rapid acceleration of the vaccination programme, to achieve these targets. 

For Bridgend, it means that a number of important changes need to be introduced at the Ravens Court vaccination centre.

To accommodate more appointments, opening hours are being extended to cover 7am-10pm. The only exceptions will be on Christmas Eve (7am-2pm) and New Year’s Eve (7am-4pm).

The centre will also remain operative every day of the week, including bank holidays, apart from on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

Because the centre will be open earlier in the morning and later at night, additional external lighting and shelters are being installed.

Inside the centre, boosters and standard vaccinations will be carried out alongside one another. New vaccination lanes are being set up to accommodate this, and extra staff are being brought in to ensure the process can run smoothly. We have seconded 5 extra staff to assist in the operation of this.

While walk-in appointments for booster vaccinations are not currently available, walk-in slots will continue to be offered to eligible people who need to receive a first or second dose of the vaccine.

Once they have had their jab, the amount of time people will need to wait before leaving the premises is being reduced to five minutes.

The appointments are being arranged now and will be automatically offered to every eligible adult within the county borough.

People will not need to contact the health board or local GP, but should expect to receive an appointment via a text message. Only those who have not provided a telephone contact number will receive an appointment via post, which is different to that which applied for the two previous doses.

Even if it is on Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve, I cannot emphasise strongly enough how important it will be for people to accept the offered appointment.

It remains essential for people to ensure they receive the booster. This remains vital for improving our levels of protection against the fast-moving Omicron strain, and we need to do all that we can to keep ourselves, our friends, family, workmates and neighbours safe.

The appointments will start to come through very soon, and we will be issuing further information on the booster roll-out.

In other news, I’m sure members will be pleased to know that a new contractor has been appointed for the construction of the Welsh medium childcare facility planned at land off the Isfryn Industrial Estate in Blackmill.

After the previous contractor went into administration, Stafford Construction Ltd a local and experienced firm, has been awarded the contract for the work.A new schedule is currently being finalised, and construction is expected to begin in the New Year.

The hub will be one of four all-new Welsh medium childcare facilities planned for Bridgend County Borough.

Designed to serve the Ogmore Valley, the settings will provide 16 sessional Welsh-medium childcare places, together with six places for children up to two, and wraparound or out-of-school provision for 52 weeks of the year.

Once completed, it will feature new play space, quiet rooms, storage facilities, offices and a car parking area with room for up to seven vehicles. With new landscaping to the front and side of the hub, soft play facilities will be installed as well as a canopy capable of providing children with shelter and shade outdoors.

At the same time, Stafford Construction have also started work on the new Welsh-medium childcare facility based at Bettws.

Based at the site of the former Boys and Girls Club, this will serve the Garw Valley and surrounding valleys gateway area and features similar facilities to its Blackmill counterpart.

With two further hubs still to come in Porthcawl and Bridgend, this represents a significant £2.8m investment into Welsh language facilities and services, and also underlines the council’s ongoing commitment towards childcare and promoting the Welsh Language.

I am sure that members will welcome this good news, and that like me, you are looking forward to seeing the hubs take shape.