Chamber and committees

Each year since 2010-11, and as demonstrated through the Budget publications, the Scottish Government has delivered its commitment to pass on frontline health consequentials to the Health Portfolio. This refers to resource consequentials arising from increases in funding allocated by HM Treasury to the Department of Health and Social Care.

As the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy has made clear in Parliament, there are some areas of required spend where Covid consequentials have fallen short of expectation. In addition, there are some timing differences between spend in England and equivalent spend in Scotland .

In this context, the Scottish Government has taken steps to align funding from the UK Government with actual spending profiles in Scotland. The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy highlighted in her letter to the convenor of the Finance and Public Administration Committee, Covid 19 Financial support Scottish Government update | Scottish Parliament Website , that the Scottish Government has required to repurpose some health consequentials to specifically support wider public health measures. Further detail will be provided in the Spring Budget Revision.

There are very strong links between education and health on the matter of mental health and wellbeing in schools.

Formally, the Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Joint Delivery Board, established in 2021, oversee reform across relevant areas of education, health, community and children’s services and wider areas that impact on the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people. Membership on the delivery board includes a wide range of stakeholders from health and education.

The Mental Health in Schools Working Group was established in 2019 to support the Scottish Government’s ongoing commitment to supporting positive mental health in children and young people in school. The Group has a large membership including national organisations who work to support children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing and representatives from the education and health sector.

The Working Group has sought to establish a comprehensive approach to supporting children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing in schools through a Whole School Approach Framework, published in August 2021. The framework is clear on the importance of a holistic approach to mental health and wellbeing and encourages partnership working with community and health partners.

Our commitment to invest in school counselling services across secondary schools in Scotland, announced in our 2018-19 Programme for Government, is now delivered across all local authorities. The first reporting exercise for the commitment highlighted the various referrals made by schools to health services, including GPs, school nurses and other health professionals. The approach to counselling in schools has been developed and implemented by education officials using resources provided by the health department and progress has been jointly reported to Ministers with portfolio responsibility for both health and education.

Health and Wellbeing is one of the eight curricular areas in Curriculum for Excellence. Its substantial importance is reflected in its position at the centre of the curriculum and at the heart of children’s learning. Mental health and wellbeing has specific experiences and outcomes, within this framework.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all children and young people are able to access the right support for their mental health as early as possible, without stigma. We encourage children and young people to speak to their GP or school/college/university in the first instance to discuss any concerns about their mental health and wellbeing and enable their referral to any additional services or support required.

We are committed to improving access to community mental health and wellbeing support, and to an approach based on prevention and early intervention. This year, we have provided local authorities with an additional £15 million to fund over 230 new and enhanced supports and services for children and young people. These include digital and text services, play and art-based therapies, single points of access, family support and counselling services for those experiencing emotional distress. Establishing these services is a significant step forward in supporting the mental health of our children and young people, making sure they receive the help they need, when they need it.

In 2022-23, we will issue a further £15 million to local authorities to fund the continuation of these services. In addition, the Scottish Government and Scottish Green Party shared policy programme commits to doubling the budget for community-based mental wellbeing services for children and young people to £30 million per annum by the end of this parliament.

We continue to invest in a range of pre-emptive measures to support children and young people in looking after their own mental health and wellbeing. This includes providing enhanced digital resources on mental health and wellbeing available via the ‘Aye Feel’ website and social marketing campaigns, managed by Young Scot and support for parents via the Parent Club website.

Furthermore, we have delivered on our commitment for all secondary schools in Scotland to have access to a mental health counsellor, investing £16 million per annum to ensure children and young people have the support they need at the earliest possible stage.

The mental health and wellbeing of children and young people is an absolute priority for the Scottish Government.

Education authorities and schools have a wide range of approaches in place to support pupils’ mental health and wellbeing.

Our refreshed Scottish Attainment Challenge, backed by record investment of £1bn in this Parliament, empowers schools and local authorities to drive education recovery and accelerate progress in tackling the poverty-related attainment gap.

We continue to support our local authority partners with £16 million in funding to ensure that every secondary school has access to counselling services.

The Mental Health in Schools Working Group, established in 2019, has overseen the development of a professional learning resource for school staff, published in June, and guidance to support whole school approaches to mental health, published in August. These resources help school staff respond to the range of mental health and wellbeing concerns that young people may experience.

The Scottish Government also published the Mind yer time and Aye Feel resources which provide sources of support and information for children and young people.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05400 on 24 January 2022. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

The Scottish Government’s actions saved both the Dalzell steelworks and the jobs of those that work there, protecting an important component of the Scottish economy.

Since Ministers were informed of the potential presence of State Aid with respect to its 2016 contract with Tata Steel UK Scottish Government officials have engaged with (a) Tata Steel UK on the following occasions, 9-12-21; 10-12-21; 13-12-21; 14-12-21; 15-12-21; 24-12-21 and 12-1-22 and (b) Liberty Steel-GFG Alliance on the following occasions 9-9-21; 8-11-21; 15-12-21; and 24-1-22.

Channels of communication between the Scottish Government and relevant businesses remain open but it would not be appropriate to publish the detailed content of these commercially sensitive exchanges.

As stated in the responses to the Freedom of information requests the information is in the Business contracts and is commercially sensitive.

Scottish Government officials contacted TATA Steel UK on 9 December 2021 to inform the company of its findings concerning the potential presence of State Aid with respect to 2016 transaction. Channels of communication between the Scottish Government and Tata Steel UK to facilitate dialogue remain open but it would not be appropriate to publish the detailed content of these commercially sensitive exchanges.

Less than two percent of agricultural holdings in Scotland, covering 52 per cent of agricultural land, are estimated to be above a threshold of 2,500 acres. Less than one percent of owned or tenanted holdings with crofts are above 2,500 acres in size. Five per cent of tenanted holdings without crofts and two per cent of owner occupied holdings without crofts are above 2,500 acres in size.

The data presented in the paragraph above refers to data collected as part of the June Agricultural Census 2021. The data included contains holdings with a registered croft, not all crofts have registered holdings and are therefore excluded from this analysis. A small number of large holdings include a registered croft on the holding. As these figures relate to the land area of the holding and not the croft these areas will have a large impact on reported area of crofts. A single holding may comprise both rented and owned land, these categories are based on majority area for the holding.