Humza Yousaf has asked for the closure of a vital women's service in Glasgow to be probed after claims his government was "washing their hands of the tragic outcome".

We previously reported that the Turning Point 218 service will close in February due to critical cuts by Glasgow City Council who presented the service with an unworkable budget of £650,000 down from £1.5 million.

At First Minister's Questions on Thursday, Labour MSP Pauline McNeill quizzed Yousaf over the looming closure.

She said: "The funding was previously ring fenced by the Scottish Government, which signed off a reduction in that funding in a letter on May 31 last year.

"That decision has, in effect, resulted in the closure of the service.

"Is the First Minister content that there is now no bed facility for women offenders with drug use as their main problem - a facility that has kept hundreds of women out of jail?"

She added: "The Lilias centre in Maryhill, which is brilliant, was cited by the cabinet secretary in her response to the news, but it is not an alternative to custody disposal.

"Ministers surely cannot wash their hands of this tragic outcome."

In response, the First Minister said the work of 218 was doing "excellent" work but that the decision was made by the council "in relation to the services that it is able to fund."

He added: "I am more than happy to ask the justice secretary to engage with Glasgow City Council on that issue.

"I know the excellent work that Turning Point’s 218 service has done over the years.

"By giving that intensive support to female offenders, we can stop the cycle of reoffending, and I value the project very highly.

"Of course, we have maintained our budget in relation to the national mission dealing with drugs deaths in particular, but nobody should be in any doubt that this Government believes in community justice disposals.

"That is why I will ask the appropriate cabinet secretary to pick up the issue with Glasgow City Council."