Elected members at the meeting of the full Council were presented with a report on how the council responded to the challenges brought by Covid-19 and how the work continues as plans are formed and enacted to re-introduce a full range of services.

And praise and gratitude were expressed across the board for the ongoing efforts.

Councillor John Ross, Leader of South Lanarkshire Council, said: “I would like to congratulate all of our Resource Directors and their teams for this very illuminating report.

“It’s only when you actually see on paper the amount of work carried out over the last 18 months that you start to appreciate the task faced by all our employees both at South Lanarkshire Council and at South Lanarkshire Leisure & Culture. I hope I speak for all in the council in expressing publicly our deep-felt gratitude to every one of you for the incredible response shown during this Covid-19 pandemic.

“The obstacles that have had to be navigated in the period from March 2020 have been many and, without your personal commitment, South Lanarkshire Council would not have been able to offer such support to our communities.

“Our thanks and appreciation can’t be over-stated – it’s so well deserved.

Chief Executive Cleland Sneddon was also grateful for the part played by the councillors, stressing the importance of their role in the situation.

He said: “I have to thank the elected members for their support. In Lanarkshire, we are recording our highest-ever number of infections, and while thankfully this is not reflected in as high levels of hospitalisation as we have seen in the past, it does place huge demand on our services, especially in the case of social care, where demand is the highest it has ever been.

“As restrictions have been relaxed, there has been a perception held by a large proportion of the general public that society and the general economy have now returned to normal, but that is certainly not the case where the challenges facing our people delivering council services are concerned.

“We are therefore grateful for the invaluable communication that elected members have with their constituents and the vital role they play in getting the right messages out there, and we are appreciative that their efforts to do so will continue.”