AS Tele readers will be aware, last Monday I organised and hosted a public information event with the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (SLCC) in relation to the collapse of McClure's.

It was sold out with 150 people in attendance and the feedback I have received is positive. It was an open forum and the questions posed by those in attendance were helpful, as were the replies from Neil Stevenson, the chief executive of the SLCC.

I want to thank everyone who attended but especially Neil, who provided a great deal of clarity about what assistance the SLCC can provide – including outlining their complaints procedure. Due to the demand to attend, I will be organising a second public information event with first preference going to those who couldn’t attend on Monday.

Given the significance of this issue locally, I raised the McClure’s situation at First Minister’s Questions on Thursday, asking about any additional assistance for the SLCC to manage the volume of complaints that will be incoming.

In addition to this event, the previous week, I organised my first cost of living surgery this year in Port Glasgow. It was once again a busy event and there will be more in the months ahead.

Last Tuesday, I spoke in the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill debate highlighting concerns raised by the boating sector at marinas and moorings being included in the Bill.

I also, as did a couple of other MSPs, highlighted the need for a Cruise Ship Levy – as this would be of more assistance to Inverclyde than the Visitor Levy as proposed. A Cruise Ship Levy seems to have some cross-party support across the chamber but whether the current Bill is the correct legislation for it remains to be seen.