The police quarterly report that was presented to East Renfrewshire Council confirmed that there continued to be an overall increase in non-sexual crimes of violence in East Renfrewshire, with the figure up to 68 from the 55 offences that were recorded for the same period in the previous year. I think that the cabinet secretary and I entered Parliament at the same time, in 2007. She will remember that the proudest boast of her Government by the end of that session of Parliament was that it had increased police numbers by 1,000 officers. Obviously, therefore, I am dismayed to find that we now have the lowest level of police numbers since 2008.

To tackle violent crimes in East Renfrewshire and across Scotland, does the cabinet secretary not agree that increasing the number of police officers should once again be a priority for the Scottish Government to help to keep our local communities safe?