I?m really encouraged to hear that since it was announced on Monday that people aged 25-29 can now have their Covid jab, there?s been a huge swell of bookings being arranged. The National Booking Service reported almost 500,000 appointments being reserved across the country within the first five hours, suggesting there?s a good deal of enthusiasm for vaccination among people in their twenties.

Added to those who have already taken up the offer of a vaccination ? over three-quarters of the national adult population having had their first dose and more than half now fully vaccinated - this is great news and stands us in good stead for bringing the virus under control. We need to keep going and encourage anyone we know who is eligible who hasn?t had theirs yet to grab their jab as soon as possible.?

Today I represented Nottingham at the first G7 U7 Summit, which brought city leaders from across the globe together virtually to discuss a range of topics, including the role cities play in reaching net zero carbon. Representatives from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the USA as well as the G7 guest countries of Australia and Korea took part and called on world leaders to set out a clear vision for the role cities can play in the post-pandemic recovery.

It was clear to everyone present that cities have been particularly badly hit by the pandemic and that dialogue and cooperation between cities around the world, including in the roll-out of vaccines, is vital. There was also agreement that cities are the places most capable of driving recovery and renewal through greener, more inclusive economic growth, vitally important to the wellbeing of surrounding regions as well as nations. This is something we have long recognised in Nottingham and I?m proud that we are forging ahead with ambitious plans to become carbon neutral by 2028.

Tree cover was an important item discussed today, did you know that tree-cover in cities has declined by 50% since 1992 whilst the need to cool urban areas has increased 25% since 1970. We must work to protect our citizens from impacts of the Climate Crisis and our tree-planting programme will help with this.

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Ahead of a debate in Parliament this evening I have joined many other Nottingham City Councillors in signing an open letter by the National Education Union urging the Government to value and invest in all our children. Post pandemic we need an ambitious plan for education recovery, significant investment is desperately needed to repair the damage done to the nation?s pupils because of Covid.

Education attainment in early life can effect what people achieve later in life and restricted access to school during the pandemic has had an enormous impact on this as well as impacting on children?s physical and mental health.

The Government?s current proposals amount to ?50 per child, many countries have already committed to spending significantly more such as the US and the Netherlands who are spending ?1,600 and ?2,500 per pupil respectively. Nottingham?s children are worth a lot more than ?50 and the Government needs to urgently scale up their ambition.

The council?s consultation about libraries comes to an end this Friday so if there?s something important to you or something else you want from a modern library service, please take ten minutes to complete the survey. All responses will be entered into a prize draw, with the chance to win a family ticket to the Titus: T.rex is King exhibition at Wollaton Hall & Deer Park this July.

I?m really happy that we?re finally enjoying a longer spell of lovely sunny weather. Whenever the weather is nice, lots more people visit our parks, which is brilliant. But the downside is that a minority of selfish people leave behind their litter or dog poo. So we want to ask all the responsible park lovers to help us by:

• Taking all your litter away
• Letting us know about a full bin so we can empty it ? and never leave litter next to a bin
• Report fly-tipping, litter or dog poo here https://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/reportit