More than half of all adults across Wales have now been fully vaccinated.

At the time of writing, 2,257,737 people have had their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine and 1,659,754 people have had both.

It continues to be a superb effort. I want to thank everyone involved – from the healthcare professionals, the members of the Armed Forces and of course the volunteers who carry on contributing to our successful vaccine rollout here in Wales (the best of the four UK nations).

We must remember though we are not out of the woods yet. Welsh Government is doing everything they can to prevent a fresh wave of Covid cases with the delta (Indian) variant of Covid-19 on the rise.

The way we keep people as safe as possible is by speeding up the administering of second doses and over the next few weeks health boards across Wales are planning deployment of over half a million vaccine doses.

This is why Welsh Government have also decided to pause the relaxation on some of the coronavirus rules. Whilst I understand this is disappointing to some – it is about making sure we do not go back to where we were over the winter with high numbers of people in hospital with the virus.

As part of the ongoing response to the pandemic, Welsh Government have also announced retail, leisure and hospitality businesses will not have to pay any rates until April 2022. This is a stark contrast to England where the rates discounts came to an end last week.

Up till now, Welsh Government have backed Welsh businesses (including in Newport East and Severnside) with £2.5bn in support. This has helped protect in excess of 160,000 Welsh jobs which might otherwise have been lost.

Finally, I want to end, by saying I was very pleased to be elected as the chairman of the newly-established Local Government and Housing committee in the Senedd. Local councils have been at the centre of our response to the pandemic, and they will be critical to our recovery as we support our communities moving forward.

I am looking forward to chairing this committee which will scrutinise and hold Welsh Government to account. I want to also congratulate my friend and colleague Jayne Bryant MS (Newport West) who has been elected chairwoman for the Children, Young People and Education committee. She will do a fantastic job.

Need my help or advice? Please call 01633 222302 or e-mail john.griffiths@senedd.wales .