Monmouthshire has big plans to invest in our future but anyone undertaking home improvements lately will testify that inflation in the cost of construction is sharply increasing.

Not just the demand for good plumbers, electricians or plasterers, but also the cost of raw materials like timber, steel and plaster. The cause is a combination of factors but the upshot is that building things is significantly more expensive than in recent years.

As we begin the recovery from the pandemic, these cost pressures are particularly challenging at a time when governments and local authorities are working to build back better.

The construction industry is critical to the wider economy – to such an extent that it was one of the very few industries given a reprieve from the 2020 lockdown restrictions.

While we have bold ambitions to invest in modern facilities for our residents, we have to prioritise, and this means making difficult decisions, especially as cost pressures rise.

We’re continuing to renew the county’s schools.

A couple of years ago we completed new secondary schools in Caldicot and Monmouth.

Next year we begin construction on a new three to 18 school in Abergavenny – an exciting opportunity not just for the children and young people in the area, but an investment for the whole community.

We’re determined that this new school will be one of the first in the country to be zero carbon – a worthy goal, but one which increases the cost of the project by 10 to 15 per cent.

In the pipeline is a new care home for Portskewett to replace Chepstow’s Severn View and we’re also continuing a major investment programme in the county’s leisure centres.

We completely refurbished Monmouth Leisure Centre a couple of years ago and work is now under way on the first phase of a renovation of our Abergavenny site.

The upstairs will have an open plan gym with new equipment, a spin studio, a dance studio and a new viewing area for the swimming pool.

Chepstow’s swimming pool facilities will receive much-needed improvements over the next three months and we’ve also submitted a bid to the UK government’s Levelling Up Fund for cash to refurbish Caldicot Leisure Centre.

Finally, in the past few days, we’ve agreed to a £1m renovation of the Borough Theatre in Abergavenny – it’s surely the jewel in the crown of the county’s cultural offer, but is tired and in desperate need of investment.

Again, costs have escalated due to inflation in the construction sector, but we’re trying our best to address the shortfall and deliver on the needs of local residents as well as benefiting Monmouthshire’s communities.