Tom Arthur
Scottish National Party · Scotland
“I am advised that Transport Scotland officials responded to the South West of Scotland Transport Partnership in June 2023 to confirm that the outcome of its review of SWestrans’s Beattock and Moffat transport appraisal report was that a robust business case had not been made for a Beattock station to be progressed further in the developme…”
“David Kirkwood: Given the 2028 opening of the River Tweed trail—the long-distance path that will start in Moffat, the jewel of the south, and run 113 miles to Berwick-upon-Tweed—and the probable extension of the Clydesdale way into Moffat a few years later, it is likely that more than 300,000 additional cyclists and walkers will visit the…”
“As the First Minister set out, the Scottish Government will invest in essential infrastructure across Scotland, including new train stations and ongoing electrification of our rail network.”
“First, I welcome colleagues across the chamber who join me in condemning the violence, xenophobia and racism that were experienced right here in the streets of our capital on Friday last week. There is no place for violence in the streets, homes, or communities of Scotland—whether it be race based, faith based or otherwise.”
“Scotland is a place that values hope, tolerance and solidarity—values that are shared both by people who were born here and by those who have privileged us by choosing to make Scotland their home. I hope that those values are shared by those who are fortunate enough to be in the chamber.”
“The Scottish Government had initially, on 15 June, lodged a legislative consent memorandum with the Parliament stating that we would not consent to the bill, due to the UK Government having not agreed to our proposals that it have appropriate regard to devolution.”
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“I thank members from across the chamber for what has been a thoughtful and constructive set of contributions. The strength of feeling that we have heard on behalf of autistic people, people with ADHD and those with other neurodevelopmental conditions, as well as their families and those who support them, underlines both the scale of the challenge and, I think, our collective determination to deliver meaningful change. I thank Daniel Johnson directly for securing the debate and for acknowledging the important work of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland in producing its recent report. The college has made a valuable and timely contribution. The Scottish Government welcomes its focus on multisystem reform, early intervention and support based on need, not simply on diagnosis.”
“Parliament has also been engaged, with the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee undertaking an inquiry, and I look forward to reading the report that it will produce. Invitations to a cross-party summit have also been sent out to respective party spokespersons, and I look forward to that summit taking place. The issue is complex and challenging. It has been characterised as a wicked problem, and we will have to work constructively to identify long- term solutions, but it has to be based on need. I must stress how important it is that a diagnosis should not be required to access support, and I am committed to working constructively with our partners to make sure that that is a reality. Again, if Pauline McNeill writes to me with the details of the specific case, I will be happy to get back to her. Metro Mayor (Greater Glasgow Region) 3.”
“Is the minister concerned that my constituent is not getting a straight answer and can he assure me that there will at least be transparency so that NHS patients can understand when they will be seen? Tom Arthur: Long waits are not acceptable, and if Pauline McNeill wants to write to me with the details of her constituent, I will be more than happy to look into the matter, come back to her in writing and follow up with a meeting, if that would be useful. More generally, we are seeing significant demand for neurodevelopmental assessment support. The issue is, of course, not unique to Scotland. Members might be aware of the announcements that have been made south of the border that reflect the significant pressures being experienced in England, and the picture is similar in Wales. The Government is doing a lot of work at the moment.”
“For example, we fund the national autism implementation team to support health boards and HSCPs to redesign neurodevelopmental services and develop stepped-care pathways for ADHD and autism. Pauline McNeill: A 23-year-old constituent of mine was on the ADHD waiting list in January 2023, and was told that she would have a wait of around 18 months. Since then, there has not been much contact with her. Last week, she called to find out when she would be seen, and she was told that she would certainly not be seen before 2027. We are talking about a period of at least three years of her life. Will the minister help me understand why the waiting time has expanded so much? He can correct me on this, but I think that patients are taken in order—no priority is given and there is no triaging—so I am wondering why it has expanded so much.”
“The Scottish Government recognises that demand for ADHD assessment and support has increased significantly in recent years. We also understand that a diagnosis can be helpful for people who are seeking support with ADHD. However, that should not be a substitute for providing support to people based on their specific needs. We are working closely with national health service health boards and local authorities to improve services and support for neurodivergent people. Although the responsibility for ensuring that funding is used to provide the highest quality of care and support sits with NHS boards and health and social care partnerships, the Government is playing an active role in supporting that work nationally.”
“Published in Edinburgh by the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, the Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh, EH99 1SP All documents are available on the Scottish Parliament website at: www.parliament.scot Information on non-endorsed print suppliers is available here: www.parliament.scot/documents For information on the Scottish Parliament contact Public Information on: Telephone: 0131 348 5000 Textphone: 0800 092 7100 Email: sp.info@parliament.scot”
“As we have heard today, bereavement can have a wide-ranging set of impacts on an individual and across society. The Scottish Government remains committed to working with partners to enable a joined-up approach in which people are signposted to advice and support that meets their needs. Again, I thank members for their speeches and Elena Whitham for securing this important debate. The Deputy Presiding Officer: That concludes the debate. Meeting closed at 17:53. This is the final edition of the Official Report for this meeting. It is part of the Scottish Parliament Official Report archive and has been sent for legal deposit.”
“The motion rightly points out the impact that bereavement has on the wider economy. We know that workplaces that support and promote good mental health benefit individuals and employers. That includes supporting people who are affected by bereavement. That is why we have worked in partnership with Public Health Scotland to develop a platform for employers that signposts them to a range of mental health and wellbeing resources, including support for employees who are affected by bereavement. The “Bereavement Charter for Scotland” was launched in 2020 by the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care. Charter mark status is given to employers who demonstrate that they are working to make their community a place where people who are bereaved feel supported by their employer and people around them.”
“We greatly value not just the pilot projects that we have supported in NHS Ayrshire and Arran and NHS Highland but the great work that is being done elsewhere by health and social care partnerships. Support with prolonged or complicated grief and bereavement is also integral to our new palliative care strategy, which highlights the importance of support and training for staff. Although the effects of bereavement are most notably felt on a personal level, it is important to acknowledge its wider impacts. In addition to the impact on a person’s wellbeing, bereavement can place a financial burden on them. Our funeral support payment is helping to alleviate the burden of debt that many people face when paying for a funeral and is likely to contribute towards reducing funeral poverty.”
“Our funding for Cruse Scotland and Child Bereavement UK facilitates a range of support, care and advice to families who have been bereaved, including those who have lost a child. The Scottish Government also funds the baby loss charity Sands, which was referenced earlier, to support NHS boards to implement the national bereavement care pathway for pregnancy and baby loss in Scotland. I am pleased that all 14 NHS boards have signed up to the pathway. The grief that is experienced by those who lose a loved one to suicide can also be particularly profound. Bereavement support is therefore an important strand of “Creating Hope Together”, which is the joint Scottish Government and Convention of Scottish Local Authorities suicide prevention strategy.”
“Christine Grahame: I agree with what the minister has said about the loss of a baby or a child, and I am pleased to say that we now recognise that there is a lot of grief attached to miscarriages, which used to be talked about as something natural—of course they are not—and that we support people through miscarriages and their grief for their loss. Tom Arthur: Christine Grahame makes an important point, which is fully recognised and considered as part of the Government’s policies. For most parents who have suffered a pregnancy loss, bereavement and grief support will be provided by their health board or by third sector organisations and they will not require specialist services.”
“We have provided £16 million a year to deliver our commitment that all children aged 10 and above have access to a school counsellor. More than 2,000 children and young people benefited from the support of a school counsellor to deal with bereavement between April 2024 and March 2025. Outside of school, since 2016, the Scottish Government has funded Child Bereavement UK to provide support for children and young people who are experiencing bereavement, as well as their families. The loss of a baby or a child can have a profound impact on parents. I offer my deepest sympathy to anyone who has experienced that.”
“The third sector is a key partner in the delivery of support, so I am pleased that Cruse Scotland is one of the beneficiaries of the Scottish Government’s fairer funding initiative, which provides multiyear investment in key front-line support. Although we will all experience bereavement, it is important to recognise that some instances can be particularly traumatic. As the motion highlights, it is especially important that we support children and young people who experience bereavement. Schools play a key role in supporting children’s mental health and wellbeing, and Education Scotland provides a range of materials and resources that are specifically focused on bereavement to aid teachers in delivering sensitive and effective learning on the topic.”
“That is why coping with bereavement and grief is an important theme in our mind to mind online portal, with advice and videos from a range of individuals describing their experiences. I thank those who contributed. Such resources demonstrate what an intensely personal experience it can be, affecting us all differently, but that range of support and coping strategies can help. Bereavement support is also an area of focus in our communities mental health and wellbeing fund for adults, in which we have invested £81 million since 2021, with a further £15 million committed next year. The fund supports several grass-roots community projects with a sole focus on supporting those who are experiencing bereavement. Peer support can be invaluable.”
“Given the wide-ranging impacts that bereavement can have, it is important that the public sector works across boundaries and with third sector partners to ensure that the right support is available. The Scottish Government welcomed the UK Commission on Bereavement’s report in 2022 and the focus that it brought to improving the experience of people who are affected by grief. The report covered a range of issues, which reflects the range of impacts that bereavement can have on different aspects of our wellbeing, and it highlighted instances in which people might particularly benefit from support following a bereavement. One thing that everyone might benefit from is basic access to advice.”
“I thank Elena Whitham for securing this debate on the important issue of bereavement, which will affect everyone at some point in their lives and commands our collective compassion. I also thank colleagues for their speeches, which included profound, deep and meaningful personal reflections. People can feel particularly vulnerable during bereavement and grief. Grief can affect our physical and mental health, and it is often accompanied by feelings of loneliness, anger, anxiety and sadness. It is important that people know that they are not alone, that it is perfectly normal to have such feelings and that sources of advice and support are available to them. We want people to feel that they can openly discuss bereavement and its impacts, to remove any stigma surrounding the issue and encourage people to access support if they need it.”
“That is why the Scottish Government is taking action, and it is why I am delighted to confirm that the Scottish Government’s £500,000 fund to help to remove employment barriers is now open. Eligible employers can apply from today for targeted support with the cost of hiring international social care workers impacted by UK Government changes to immigration policy. The Deputy Presiding Officer: You must conclude. Tom Arthur: Much more could be said on the subject, but it is incumbent on all of us in the Parliament to work constructively with partners in the sector. If there is an ask for new resource— The Deputy Presiding Officer: Thank you, minister. I call Paul Sweeney to conclude the debate. You have up to six minutes, Mr Sweeney. 15:53”
“One party has consistently voted against every Scottish budget and the other party either votes against the budget or does not bother engaging in the first place. The second important issue at the heart of the Government’s debate is that, despite all the systemic challenges that we face with the public finances, we have seen actions from the UK Government that have exacerbated and compounded them. It is pandering to the worst instincts of the populist and reactionary right and pursuing a reform-light agenda—which is becoming a full-fat-reform agenda—on immigration. It is a disgraceful approach, and the sector has rightfully highlighted the devastating impact that it has had.”
“If members wish to ask for additional resource on top of the £15 billion that has been given to local government this year, the £21.7 billion that has gone into health and social care overall, the £2.2 billion that has gone into social care and the £125 million uplift to enable payment of at least the real living wage, it is incumbent on them to engage and not simply to abstain and sit on their hands. Jackie Baillie: Will the minister take an intervention? Tom Arthur: I am afraid that I have only a minute remaining. Otherwise, it is just rhetoric. This does a disservice to those working in the social care sector and to unpaid carers. Jackie Baillie: It does. Tom Arthur: Come the budget, we will see what happens. [Interruption.] I am hearing members on both sides chuntering from a sedentary position.”
“That has placed significant pressures on the public finances. It is important to recognise that, during the 26 years of this Parliament, there have been only five years in which one party has commanded an outright majority. On every other occasion, it has been necessary for at least one other party to engage in relation to each piece of legislation and each budget vote. When we consider questions of resource, it is therefore incumbent on Parliament to work towards and build consensus and not simply to make proposals. Parliament also has to have the honesty and integrity to state how those proposals would be paid for. Jackie Baillie: Will the minister take an intervention? Tom Arthur: I need to make some progress. I have limited time and I have barely made any progress. I listened patiently to everyone else.”
“We have been through a profoundly challenging economic period in the past decade and a half, with a global financial crash, austerity, Brexit, a pandemic and a war on the European continent that precipitated an energy and cost of living crisis. That has placed strains on the public finances that none of us could have contemplated. Alex Cole-Hamilton: Will the minister take an intervention? Tom Arthur: I need to make some progress. If I have time, I will give way to Mr Cole-Hamilton later. Prior to the election, inflation was running at around 0.4 per cent and the Bank of England’s interest rate was 0.1 per cent. Within 18 months, inflation was in double digits and interest rates were at 3 per cent. Brian Whittle: Will the member take an intervention? Tom Arthur: I need to make some progress to articulate my point.”
“In addition, there are specific issues to do with workforce and the recruitment and retention of social care workers from overseas. In this afternoon’s debate, the questions of resourcing and of our hugely valued social care workers from overseas both featured strongly. I will touch on funding first. It is profoundly important, and it would be remiss of me not to recognise the significant pressure that exists across the system and the decisions that are being taken locally by integration joint boards. If we are to engage with the matter seriously, it is incumbent on us all to understand the nature of the financial challenge that we face.”
“I thank members for their speeches in the debate. I put on the record my profound appreciation and gratitude to all those who work in the social care sector across Scotland, and particularly our 700,000 to 800,000 unpaid carers, without whom we could quite simply not function as a society. They are unsung heroes who deserve our everlasting praise and gratitude—and not just our words, but our actions. I am about six months into my ministerial post, and I listened carefully to the speeches of members across the chamber, which has built on my many engagements since my appointment. It has struck me that discussions about social care tend to fall into one of two broad areas: the question of funding or resourcing and the question of structures.”
“It is not acceptable that international care workers, for example, now face 15 years of high immigration fees and no recourse to public funds before they are deemed to have earned settlement. That is despite the significant contribution that they make to our communities in providing care for some of our most vulnerable citizens. Indeed, Scottish Care has said: “These changes will have a profoundly negative impact on the sustainability and quality of care and support services across Scotland.” That should concern us all across the chamber. Teachers’ Working Week (Educational Institute of Scotland) 3.”
“Clare Haughey: The minister will be aware that Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, called the callous proposals, which include plans to make people wait up to 20 years to apply for settlement, “very brave” in an interview that he gave on Sunday. Does the minister agree that the language and rhetoric surrounding immigration policies and proposals are dehumanising? Will he join me in calling on Labour to consider the damaging impact that those reforms will have on our health and social care sector? Tom Arthur: Clare Haughey has made some very important and powerful points. The reforms seem to be entirely focused on what migrants living in the UK earn, not what they contribute.”
“Tom Arthur: As I stated, the Scottish Government is deeply concerned about many of the planned reforms of the route to settlement that the UK Government has announced. The Scottish Government is taking action to mitigate the devastating impacts of the changes that are being introduced by the UK Government. We have announced a £500,000 package that will provide targeted support to displaced social care workers; enable such workers to come or continue to work in Scotland; and provide information, advice and support to employers, investors and individual migrants through Scotland’s migration service.”
“Donald Macaskill, the chief executive of Scottish Care, has said this week that, at best, the Labour Government’s policies “will have a profoundly negative impact” and “will deter much-needed talent from staying in Scotland.” Clare Haughey: I am reassured that the minister shares my frustration and disappointment with the proposals, particularly following research that was published last week that showed that up to 50,000 migrant nursing staff could leave the UK if ministers press ahead with plans to extend the qualifying period for applying for indefinite leave to remain. What steps is the Scottish Government taking to support and encourage our international social care staff, who make such a valued contribution to the sector, to make Scotland their home amid these difficult times?”
“I am deeply worried about the new changes, which fail to reflect Scotland’s distinct demographic needs and pose a significant risk to our economy, communities and public services. Workforce shortages across the care sector are already exacerbated by a significant decline in the number of health and care visas being granted by the United Kingdom Home Office. There was a 77 per cent drop in the number of health and care visas issued in the year ending in June 2025. The UK Government has now gone a step further and closed the social care worker visa route. Those are uncomfortable truths for the Labour Party.”
“This is the final edition of the Official Report for this meeting. It is part of the Scottish Parliament Official Report archive and has been sent for legal deposit. Published in Edinburgh by the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, the Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh, EH99 1SP All documents are available on the Scottish Parliament website at: www.parliament.scot Information on non-endorsed print suppliers is available here: www.parliament.scot/documents For information on the Scottish Parliament contact Public Information on: Telephone: 0131 348 5000 Textphone: 0800 092 7100 Email: sp.info@parliament.scot”
“Our five-year palliative care strategy includes measures to better integrate specialist palliative care into hospital and community services and improve public information about living with life- shortening conditions. The strategy will help to ensure that people of all ages with life-shortening conditions, their families and carers should receive the right care and support in the right place at the right time and from the right people. Those are only some of the steps that the Scottish Government is undertaking to prevent people from dying in end-of-life poverty. Again, I thank Paul Sweeney for bringing the debate to Parliament and all members for their contributions. I also thank Marie Curie for its report and for the brilliant and invaluable work that it undertakes day in, day out. Meeting closed at 17:45.”
“On 17 June, with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, we published “Scotland’s Population Health Framework 2025-2035”, which is our refreshed 10- year cross-Government and cross-sector approach to population health. The framework, which is focused on prevention, sets a clear evidence-based aim to galvanise the whole system to action to improve Scottish life expectancy while reducing the life expectancy gap between the most deprived 20 per cent of local areas and the national average by 2035. We want everyone in Scotland, regardless of age, race, diagnosis or location, to have access to timely, high-quality and person-centred palliative care.”
“Those inequalities have unfortunately widened in recent years due to the impacts of austerity, the economic consequences of Brexit and Covid, and the subsequent cost of living crisis. In his September 2024 anti-racism statement, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care identified racism as a key driver of those health inequalities and a “significant public health challenge”. The statement sets the expectation that anti-racism will be embedded across the health and care system. In order to tackle the socioeconomic inequalities that are the root of health inequalities, we are complementing our health efforts with wide- ranging cross-Government action.”
“We called on the previous UK Government to introduce such a tariff, which was, in part, to ensure that people with terminal illnesses, whose bills can be thousands of pounds higher than that of the average household, would not have to make the horrendous choice between powering vital medical equipment, heating their homes and buying food. We are also taking meaningful steps to address racial inequality, which members touched on with reference to the report, as it remains an unwelcome reality that communities across Scotland experience health, quality of life and even life expectancy differently depending on their circumstances. We are committed to addressing the significant and persistent health inequalities that are experienced by minority ethnic communities in Scotland.”
“Those benefits provide guaranteed support to people who have an identified need for additional heat over the winter months, including low-income households, pensioners and families with disabled children and young people. The Scottish Government whole-heartedly agrees with the report’s recommendation that the UK Government should introduce a social tariff. Mr Doris touched on that in his remarks. In the Scottish Government’s view, a social tariff mechanism is clearly the best way to ensure that energy consumers are protected against higher bills.”
“Importantly, there are no time limits included in the definition of terminal illness, and the decision is rightly made by clinicians. The person-centred definition of terminal illness applies to all of our disability assistances—child disability payment, adult disability payment and pension- age disability payment. Within the constraints of the powers and budgets, the Scottish Government is also committed to mitigating winter heating costs and supporting people to access all support that is available to them. In the coming winter—winter 2025-26—we will provide an estimated £28.3 million for winter heating payment, £11.4 million for child winter heating payment and £157 million for pension-age winter heating payment.”
“However, I reassure Mr Sweeney and the wider Parliament that we will consider the matter as part of the Scottish Government’s wider work on looking at council tax reform, because it is a very important point. I turn to the Government’s broader work. We continue to take important steps to address the challenges that are highlighted in the report, and we do so in the context of the powers that we have under the devolution settlement and the constraints of the budgets under which we operate. The social security system in Scotland quite rightly takes a different approach, fast tracking disability assistance applications from terminally ill people to ensure that they automatically receive the highest rates of disability assistance that they are entitled to.”
“While we consider what further specific interventions we can make and what further support we can provide, it is important that we do not lose sight of that more profound question, which is becoming more and more pertinent and inescapable. I want to respond to the point that Mr Sweeney and Mr Stewart raised about what is happening in Manchester. The advice that I have received is that that is being undertaken under the provisions of section 13A of the Local Government Finance Act 1992. My understanding is that the territorial application of those provisions extends to England only and, as such, we do not have discretion under the act to do the same thing in Scotland.”
“I thank members from across the chamber— Bob Doris, Elena Whitham, Carol Mochan, Alexander Stewart, Paul Sweeney, Richard Leonard and Jeremy Balfour—for their contributions. I noted a link between the contributions from Mr Balfour and Mr Leonard. Mr Balfour spoke about the inherent dignity and value of life and the true measure of a successful society, an idea that I felt was very much at the heart of Mr Leonard’s contribution. He spoke powerfully, as did Carol Mochan, about the structural inequalities and wider economic determinants that still too often characterise people’s experience not only of their life and their economic and social circumstances but of the end of life.”
“I thank Paul Sweeney for bringing this important debate to Parliament and join others in placing on record my appreciation and gratitude to Marie Curie for its incredible work day in, day out to support people who are terminally ill, as well as their families and loved ones. As has been noted, the report highlights, unfortunately not for the first time, some of the real financial challenges people face at the end of life. It cannot be right that, at that most difficult of times, families must also face that additional pressure. I also acknowledge the work of Barnardo’s, Age Scotland and the Poverty and Inequality Commission, which also provided helpful information and insight on the issue.”
“I therefore undertake to explore the matter in more detail. I would be happy to engage with the member directly if she would find that useful. I will direct my officials to provide me with further briefing on the matter, and I will be happy to write to the member as a means of following up. NHS Grampian (Financial Scrutiny) 4.”
“Will it commit to recognising such exploitation as gender-based violence that impacts those women and girls deeply, and to ensuring that they get the support and sustained interventions that they need? Tom Arthur: I thank Ash Regan for raising those matters in her substantive and supplementary questions. As she will be aware, there has been significant investment in our mental health services and, through our national trauma transformation programme, there has been significant and sustained investment with partners across the public sector to support a trauma- informed approach. Nonetheless, the matters that Ms Regan raises are extremely serious. I want to assure myself that, collectively—both in the Government and with our partners in local government—we are doing everything that we possibly can to provide support.”
“Ash Regan: Evidence shows that women who are exploited through prostitution experience extraordinarily high rates of complex PTSD, and the trauma experienced is comparable to that suffered by state torture survivors and combat veterans. Symptoms include emotional dysregulation, identity disruption and lasting relational difficulties. Although services such as the Anchor service in Glasgow and the Rivers centre in Edinburgh provide excellent care, specialist complex PTSD assessment and recovery support services remain quite scarce across Scotland. Will the Scottish Government commit to investing in long-term, trauma-informed recovery programmes, specialist complex PTSD diagnosis and practitioner training?”
“The Scottish Government recognises the challenges that vulnerable women and girls face with complex PTSD and trauma-related conditions, including those that are a result of commercial sexual exploitation. We have funded CSE Aware to provide training and awareness sessions to the wider public and the third sector, including across health services, to ensure that professionals across all settings have the skills and confidence to enable them to respond in the best way. We are committed to ensuring timely access to high- quality mental health services and are working closely with national health service boards and local authorities to expand trauma-informed psychological support for women and girls who are affected by trauma and exploitation.”
“I assure Alex Rowley that the Government absolutely recognises the importance of timely assessment and delivery of social care packages, including how that relates to the wider pressures that we face across health and social care. A significant amount of work has been undertaken collaboratively, which has been led by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, and we continue to engage closely. I will follow up on the engagement with Fife health and social care partnership, and I am more than happy to keep Alex Rowley informed of any developments. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde 5.”
“The number of people who have been assessed and need a care package has increased over the past year by 127 per cent. We talk about percentages, but those numbers relate to real people. Does the minister accept that, unless we tackle that issue, we will not tackle the massive problems in acute care in our hospitals? Will he agree to look specifically at the issue in Fife, given that those sustained increases are causing major problems for the elderly and vulnerable across the area? Tom Arthur: I thank Alex Rowley for the typically constructive spirit in which he raises the issue. I met senior leadership at Fife health and social care partnership yesterday, and I will follow that up. I recognise the excellent and innovative work that is taking place in Fife.”
“The Scottish Government acknowledges that there is a reported rise in waiting times for social care assessments. It has protected and prioritised additional investment in social care, despite an extremely challenging budget settlement. That includes almost £2.2 billion for social care and integration, which exceeds by almost £350 million our commitment to increase funding. Under the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968, local authorities and health and social care partnerships have a duty to assess the social care support needs of people and give due consideration to those assessments in order to arrange suitable and timely services when required. Alex Rowley: In Fife, over the past year, there has been a steady increase of 60 per cent in the number of people waiting for assessments.”
“The Deputy Presiding Officer: The minister will take questions on the issues raised in his statement. I intend to allow around 20 minutes for questions, after which we will need move to the next item of business. I encourage members who wish to ask a question to press their request-to- speak buttons.”
“That will inform improvements to ensure that health boards and local authorities are delivering the specification in full. We have also established a new cross-sector neurodevelopmental task force, which met for the first time on 2 October. It will be key to taking forward the actions that are identified in the review. I end by reminding colleagues that tomorrow is world mental health day, which makes this an ideal time to reflect on the progress that we have made and the work that we still have to do. I again give my thanks to the youth commission members and to SAMH and Young Scot. The lasting legacy that they have created continues to drive our approach to children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing. I look forward to members’ questions.”
“I very much look forward to visiting the nook hub and learning from the innovative approach that SAMH is taking. Finally, I will touch briefly on neurodevelopmental support, following on from my statement to Parliament in June. Although I recognise that neurodivergence is not a mental health condition, I want to reaffirm that we are continuing to take action to support people with neurodevelopmental needs. Improving support for children and young people is a long-term commitment. Although we are still at the early stages of that work, we are providing funding of £500,000 this year to improve ND assessment and support for children and young people. In conjunction with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, we have undertaken a review of the implementation of a national neurodevelopmental specification.”
“The next delivery plan is scheduled for 2026 and will contain a focused selection of strategic actions that will enable us to make significant progress towards our overall vision for health and social care reform. I want the delivery plan to show a clear and tangible contribution not only to the mental health and wellbeing strategy, but to the service renewal framework, the population health framework and the NHS Scotland operational improvement plan. I also recognise the importance of ensuring that the Government learns from our incredibly valuable partners who are working on the ground and in communities. For example, I know that SAMH is shortly to open its nook network hub in Glasgow, which will be an integrated, community- based site that brings together stakeholders from across the city and will be open to people aged 10 and up.”