Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 17 February 2021
This is a critically important topic that unites all members. The mental health impacts of the pandemic have brought new and significant challenges across Scotland. We have been through several stages of lockdown, restrictions and recovery. Each of those phases has had a widespread impact on the mental health and wellbeing of people across the country. The experience has been psychologically draining for many of us, and the importance of mental wellbeing has been all too clear.
We know that the mental health impacts will continue to be wide ranging. This is an on-going struggle, and we should remember that it is a time of national trauma. Some impacts will be long term, and others will be exacerbated by underlying inequalities in society and, especially, by pre-existing mental health conditions.
Yes—this is a time of collective trauma. That is, sadly, inevitable during a global pandemic. How we respond is crucial, so I have lodged an amendment that focuses on a proactive and comprehensive response, rather than simply describing the issues.
Mental health is, and will continue to be, an absolute priority for the Government. Ahead of the debate, I reviewed the motion on mental health, as amended, to which the Parliament agreed in 2019. It referred to “parity of esteem”, the ability of services to respond to increased demand, the creation of new supports and the dedication of staff who work tirelessly every day to help those in need. All those things remain paramount in our Covid response.
Yesterday’s budget announcements by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance should—I hope that they will—leave nobody in any doubt about the priority that we attach to mental health, or about our commitment to providing the right help in the right place at the right time. The £120 million that we announced for our mental health recovery and renewal fund is the single largest investment in mental health in the history of devolution. That is in addition to the £142.1 million that we had already allocated to mental health in the 2021-22 budget. That total of £262.1 million for mental health in the coming financial year means that we have more than doubled the mental health budget for 2021-22 from that in 2020.