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The Scottish Government is clear that corridor care should not be normalised. Any care out with standard care areas should be avoided where possible and if required, all actions to mitigate the risks of this should be undertaken, and the length of time in which patients are in these areas should be a short as possible.

Deployment of resources is a matter for the Chief Constable based on operational priorities. This is very clearly set out in the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 which received cross party support in this chamber.

Police Scotland already work very closely with local communities, including local authority representatives and the Act requires Police Scotland to involve individual local authorities in setting of priorities and objectives for the policing of its area.

Furthermore, a local policing plan which sets out the main priorities and objectives for their area must be approved by local authorities.

The importance of community policing is recognised in the Scottish Government’s Strategic Police Priorities which were revised in 2023.

Police Scotland’s three year business plan also includes a number of measures aimed at enhancing local policing to help keep our communities safe.

As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water I have asked them to respond. Their reply is as follows:

Scottish Water currently has around 1,400 overflow monitors in place (covering over one third of all intermittent discharges). Scottish Water has plans to increase monitor coverage to around 2,000 locations in total (nearly 50% of intermittent discharges) and will look to determine an approach to establish how many more monitors should be installed in 2026 and beyond.

A significant number of overflow locations are predicted never to spill and monitoring these locations would generate limited value beyond proving that overflow events do not occur. Monitors are relatively expensive to install and deploying these without generating any environmental benefit is unlikely to represent good value for customers.

The Scottish Government is working with Scottish Enterprise at pace to identify a route forward that will support a sustainable future at Mossmorran. They will update the Scottish Government in due course on the most viable proposals and ways in which they could be deployed to support an industrial transition for impacted workers and the wider community.

The Scottish Government has also commissioned an independent assessment of the potential economic impact of ExxonMobil’s planned closure of the Mossmorran Fife Ethylene Plant.

The Community Needs Assessment (CNA) methodology recognises how crewing levels, working hours and crew location influence service design. For each assessment, the relevant operator will be asked to check that crewing information used to inform an understanding of current service delivery on each route is accurate. Equally, for the generation and appraisal of options to address identified transport connectivity needs, the methodology recognises the importance of ensuring that these are deliverable, including the impact on personnel of options that would mean a change in the route service level. At appropriate stages in the assessment, further input and validation from the operator, including from crew, port staff and their representatives, will be needed to ensure that the outputs from the assessments are based on a full understanding of how the services are delivered and the operational impact of any changes.

For example, for the Cowal Community Needs Assessment published in September 2024, crew and trade unions were briefed on the future options for Gourock-Dunoon ferry services and fed back on the report before decisions were made on implementation. Crew were then instrumental in supporting the development of new draft timetables to meet the requirements of the CNA prior to consultation on those with the community.

We are committed to enabling regional co-operation, which is why last month the First Minister announced a plan to bring forward legislation in the next parliament to allow Regional Partnerships to become legal bodies. As is normal practice, we will provide details of the timetable for the next legislative programme in the next Parliament.

This year we have increased the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) budget to £1.64 billion, an increase of £90 million compared to the published 2024-25 budget, to support police capacity and capability. It is for the Chief Constable, under the scrutiny of the SPA, to allocate resources to meet her priorities, as outlined in the Police Scotland three year plan.

The Scottish Government is working closely with the SPA and Police Scotland to understand their 2026-27 budget requirements. The 2026-27 Scottish Budget will be published on 13 January 2026.

Economic growth is a priority for this Government. We will continue supporting businesses through transformative national initiatives like the Scottish National Investment Bank and Techscaler.

We are committed to helping Inverclyde’s economy to thrive. Through the Glasgow City Region Deal, we have committed over £18m to projects in Inverclyde, including Inchgreen Marine Park, which aims to host new business and employment opportunities in the area.

Inverclyde has also benefited from significant investment over and above the City Deal, notably through Regeneration projects – the Place Based Investment Programme, the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund, the Vacant and Derelict Land Investment Programme, the Investing in Communities Fund and the Town Centre Fund.

Scottish Enterprise maintains close relationships with major employers already in Inverclyde through their account management service. This helps retain and grow jobs locally and offers spillover benefits to the regional and national economy through increased supply chain engagement.

Decisions on the deployment of police officers are a matter for the Chief Constable. As of 30 September 2025, K Division, which covers Renfrewshire and Inverclyde had 618 officers. This is 18 more than the previous quarter, and 17 more than the same point last year. A summary of the relevant statistics is shown in the following table.

This year NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is being supported with an initial resource budget of £3,123.5 million, along with capital allocations of £41.26 million for maintaining the NHS estate and replacing and upgrading equipment.

Boards are expected to make the best use of these resources, to ensure that patients continue to receive a high standard of care.

In addition, we are supportive of NHS GG&C developing a design for the façade of Inverclyde Royal Hospital and Scottish Government will make a decision on funding when a design is complete and full costs are known.

We are currently working with all NHS Health Boards to develop a whole system NHS infrastructure plan to inform long-term investment priorities across Scotland – this includes NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.