By Mark Tami, MP for Alyn and Deeside

After almost a year of living with coronavirus, there is finally some light on the horizon as the Welsh Government announced last week that Wales has become the first of the UK nations to complete the first dose of priority groups 1-4; the first phase of the vaccine roll-out.

Our North Wales NHS is now moving onto first doses for groups 5-9 and second doses for groups 1-4. This is a huge success, and I would like to add my thanks on record to everyone, from the NHS, manufacturing and supply who has worked towards this.

With vaccination rates climbing and case numbers falling, we can slowly begin to look at the future. In May, elections to the Senedd will take place to decide who governs Wales for the next five years.

This will be an election like no other, and if you'd like the certainty of knowing you can cast your vote safely from home, you can apply for a postal vote. You can do this by printing the form on http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/voter/voting-person-post-or-proxy/voting-post or by contacting Flintshire County Council and requesting a form.

The last few weeks have seen a number of meetings taking place to ensure that local communities are not hit again by preventable flooding. I am grateful to my colleague, Jack Sargeant MS, for the plan of action he sent to the Welsh Government and Flintshire Council, aimed at stopping flooding in Sandycroft, Pentre, Mancot and Broughton. I welcome the effort from Flintshire Council, Natural Resources Wales and Welsh Water to make this happen. Jack Sargeant and I are hosting an online public meeting on February 26, at 6pm to discuss the situation in Sandycroft; if you wish to attend then please email me at tamim@parliament.uk or call 01244 836350.

I have long called for public transport for people, not profit and it was good news on that front as Wales' railways became owned and controlled again by the people of Wales. The taking of Transport for Wales into public ownership will allow the Welsh Government to improve services and I look forward to the promised improvements on the Borderlands and North Wales lines in Alyn and Deeside.

Back in Westminster, I tabled a motion pushing for a ban on the use of animal glue traps. These traps are a means of pest control, where a sticky layer is used to catch and trap unwanted rodents. Often the animals that get caught in glue traps are not the intended pests, but hedgehogs, rabbits, birds and even pets. There are other, safer alternative ways of removing unwanted rodents and I look forward to continuing my work with the RSPCA on this.