People in Clydebank are being urged to say how they think the country should respond to the pandemic.

The request has come from Ross Greer, Green MSP for the West of Scotland, who is to be part of a nine-person parliamentary committee covering the response to the coronavirus.

The cross-party committee will be responsible for scrutinising the Scottish and UK governments and other bodies’ response to the crisis and will question government ministers and experts.

The committee will consider further emergency legislation brought forward by both governments and will have the power to investigate and make recommendations on areas of their choosing.

Mr Greer, who is understood to be the only MSP from the West of Scotland on the committee, said: “The essential work of Parliament is still going on, to the greatest extent possible. Every day, MSPs are helping thousands of constituents, both with issues caused by the virus and with the many other challenges people face which have not been put on pause by this pandemic.

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“This committee will provide focused scrutiny of the Scottish Government’s response to the crisis in particular but we’ll also be carefully examining the actions of the UK Government and local councils on behalf of our constituents and taking ample evidence from independent experts to guide our work.”

Mr Greer said while the committee’s work will focus on the Scottish Government’s strategy for exiting the lockdown and managing the next phase of the response, other parliamentary committees already had work under way on issues such as this year’s alternative solution to cancelled school exams and economic support for businesses who are struggling.

Anyone in Clydebank who has a concern about how the country responds to the crisis to get in touch by emailing ross.greer.msp@parliament.scot.