Let me start by saying I hope you had a good Easter break and are managing to work through the leftover chocolate eggs at a reasonable pace.

It has been a busy month in East Renfrewshire and down at Westminster.

As you will have seen in the Barrhead News, I was delighted to welcome Barrhead’s own Goldihops beer, made by the Kelburn Brewery, into the Parliament Bar as its Ale of the Week. It was the talk of the bar and went down a storm, enjoyed by MPs and staff alike.

Tax has also been on the agenda at Westminster.

Thanks to steps taken by the UK Government, a typical basic rate taxpayer now pays more than £1,000 less income tax than in 2010.

In addition, two million workers got a pay rise, worth £650 a year to those working full-time, as a result of increases to the National Living Wage.

And 12 million pensioners benefitted from the state pension being increased by three per cent.

Meanwhile, fuel duty was frozen for the eighth year in a row, taking the total saving for a typical car driver to £850.

These measures will help to mitigate the impact of the three per cent increase in council tax by East Renfrewshire Council and the changes to income tax put in place by the Scottish Government, which will see 22,000 people in East Renfrewshire pay more tax than if they lived elsewhere in the UK.

It was also great to hear the incredible news that Super-ER-kids, who provide weekly activities for children with additional support needs, have received £26,000 for its Glee Club and Wee Glee Club.

I was delighted to help them along the road to their much-deserved reward.

Keep up the great work guys!

On a different note, I am concerned about flight path proposals by Glasgow Airport that will see a huge amount of air traffic going over Uplawmoor at low heights. I’m determined to do all I can to support villagers in objecting to the proposals.

I’m meeting representatives of both Glasgow Airport and the Civil Aviation Authority in the coming weeks to ensure concerns are heard in person, as well as seeking a meeting with the Secretary of State for Transport.

I will keep residents up to date via my website.

Finally, let me congratulate all our athletes who have been flying the flag for East Renfrewshire at the Commonwealth Games in Australia.

Well done to Lisa Tobias (weightlifting), David Smith and Nikki Manson (high jump), Erin Wallace (mixed team relay) and Sarah McCloskey (wrestling).