Hansard

I am delighted to open this debate on social isolation and loneliness. I do not want to pre-empt anyone’s contribution, but it is safe to say that there is quite a lot of agreement across the chamber on the importance of tackling social isolation and loneliness.

It can be hard to admit to being lonely. Humans are generally social creatures, and it can feel like some kind of failure for someone to admit that they do not have the connections that they would like to have or that they think that others have. It is important to recognise that there is often a difference between what we think others have and what their real experience is. That is particularly the case with the growth of social media and people’s ability effectively to present their lives in a way that is very different from reality—showing only the smiles with friends, and not the time that they spend lonely, scrolling, and looking at other people’s smiles with friends.

It is so important that we tackle the stigma around social isolation and loneliness, so I welcome this debate.

I want to take a little time to remind members of the context in which our work on social isolation and loneliness has developed. I will then outline what the Scottish Government is doing to tackle this important issue.

In 2018, we were proud to be one of the first countries to introduce a strategy for tackling social isolation and loneliness and for bringing stronger social connections. As part of the strategy, we set up an advisory group of expert and trusted stakeholder organisations working daily with people who live with the experiences of social isolation and loneliness. The group’s remit was to build a cross-sectoral approach, develop a plan to implement the strategy, advise the Scottish Government and share good practice.

The group helped us define what we mean by social isolation. For the purpose of the debate, that definition is worth repeating here today:

“Social isolation refers to when an individual has an objective lack of social relationships (in terms of quality and/or quantity) at individual group, community and societal levels.”

As for our definition of loneliness, that is

“a subjective feeling experienced when there is a difference between the social relationships we would like to have and those we have.”

The strategy also sets out a clear vision for the kind of Scotland that we want to see, where community connections are increased and no one is excluded from participating in society for any reason. Our vision states:

“We want a Scotland where individuals and communities are more connected”

and where everyone can

“develop meaningful relationships regardless of age, status, circumstances or identity.”

I will shortly outline how we are implementing that vision, and I look forward to hearing from all parties about work that they are aware of that tackles social isolation and, of course, to listening to how we build on our collective efforts that we have delivered so far.

Before I do that, it is important to recognise the significant impact of the Covid pandemic on social isolation and loneliness. Throughout the pandemic, when Governments round the world imposed physical distancing to save lives, social isolation and loneliness rocketed. People lost casual connections, close support and even loved ones to the virus.

At the height of the pandemic, around half the population reported feeling lonely at some point in the previous week. Loneliness is not just an inconvenience, as research has shown that chronic loneliness—that is, feeling lonely most or all the time—is bad for our mental health and bad for our physical health.

Loneliness and social isolation have been linked to increased risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, dementia, anxiety, depression and thoughts of suicide. Loneliness is a public health issue.

More than that, loneliness is also an issue of inequality. We know that loneliness does not affect everyone equally across Scotland. Data that the Scottish Government and others gathered during the pandemic remind us that some people are more at risk from the damaging effects of loneliness than others. Often, those are the people most at risk of experiencing other disadvantage.

Although loneliness is a significant problem for older people, young people experience high rates of loneliness, despite being almost constantly connected to the world through social media. Disabled people experienced the highest rates of loneliness during the restrictions brought about by the Covid pandemic, and we have heard from them that the feeling of being disconnected from family and friends has persisted well beyond lockdown.

Research from Carers UK suggests that as many as eight out of 10 carers have felt lonely or isolated as a result of looking after a loved one. People who have low incomes have also reported more persistent loneliness. It is not difficult to understand why, and it is not difficult to imagine the impact that the cost crisis is now having.

Research by the British Red Cross last December showed that 81 per cent of Scottish people agreed that the increased cost of living will make people lonelier. Just last week, Carnegie UK published a report “The long shadow of the cost of living emergency”, with the key message that that emergency is hurting our ability to do the things that are important to us, such as visiting friends or family, which is resulting in increased loneliness and social isolation.

As Minister for Equalities, Migration and Refugees with portfolio responsibility for tackling inequalities and advancing human rights and connected communities, I recognise the challenge that the unwanted experience of loneliness and social isolation presents us with. I mentioned earlier that it is a public health issue. Left unaddressed, it means poorer quality lives for the people affected and greater demand on our health and social care resources. When we think about a preventative approach to public health, it seems to me that tackling social isolation and loneliness is a key part of that jigsaw.

In our 2021 manifesto and our subsequent programme for government, we made a commitment to further develop our work to tackle social isolation and loneliness by setting up a loneliness fund and developing a new delivery plan for our strategy. While that work was under way, we provided £1 million in emergency short-term funding in August 2021 and a further £1 million in January 2023. The short-term funding boosted the work of organisations working to tackle social isolation and loneliness, whose services were facing unprecedented demand, first, because of the Covid pandemic and, latterly, because of the cost crisis over the winter months.

I will give a flavour of what the most recent winter funding package has enabled to happen. The winter funding has helped Age Scotland to support community groups to keep their doors open for older people, it has helped Home-Start Scotland to provide family group activities to help young isolated families, and it has helped faith organisations to provide warm spaces and warm meals over the festive period. All those activities have not only contributed to mitigating the impact of the cost of living crisis but helped people to come together and interact and to make and maintain the vital social connections that we all need.