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We recognise that loneliness can affect anyone, with negative impacts on health and wellbeing. It can be particularly difficult at this time of year. Our social isolation and loneliness strategy and delivery plan are supported by a dedicated three-year fund that provides £3.8 million to 53 community projects across Scotland. That is complemented by our investment of £81 million since 2021 in the communities mental health and wellbeing fund for adults, which includes awards for more than 4,500 projects that focus on reducing isolation and loneliness. Our mind to mind website and campaign also encourage people to talk to others about how they are feeling.

I thank Humza Yousaf for raising that important issue. I join him in recognising how vital community projects are in helping to reduce isolation and loneliness for people across Scotland. On Tuesday, I saw the good work of the Willowacre Trust, in Cowlairs, in Glasgow, which helps people of all ages to connect. That is just one of thousands of projects that are being supported through our communities mental health and wellbeing fund.

With regard to looking towards the budget, in recognising the pressures that are facing the third sector, we are seeking to extend multiyear funding arrangements. I am delighted that, as part of the fairer funding pilot, we have already committed a further £15 million to our communities fund for next year.

I thank Keith Brown for raising those important issues. I assure him that the Scottish Government views emerging technologies as key to a digital first approach. As is outlined in the service renewal framework, telecare, remote monitoring and digital prescribing will improve access, efficiency and integration, which will support the provision of care closer to home for an ageing population. Those innovations will require a workforce with the necessary training and digital tools, and we will work with academia and industry to ensure that our workforce is appropriately resourced with the necessary skills as new technologies and innovations emerge.

At Scotland’s first summit on neurodevelopmental support—held, as I said, on 15 December—the focus was on improving our shared understanding of the complexity of neurodevelopmental needs and the actions that are required to improve access to timely, consistent and neuro-affirming support. I was pleased that there was political consensus on a number of issues, and I am considering how we take that forward. Lived experience was shared generously by neurodivergent attendees, and I will ensure that neurodivergent people, their families and front-line staff continue to inform and shape our policy approach.

I thank Dr Gulhane for his question and for raising those important matters. We actively engage with SAMH. I had the privilege of visiting the nook in Glasgow a few weeks ago and I was hugely impressed. We want to see more interventions of that type in Scotland, as they play a vital role. I commend SAMH and the many other organisations that provide vital support, not just at this time of year but all year round.

Through our service renewal framework and population health framework, we have set out a long-term approach for the reform and renewal of health and social care in Scotland. Those frameworks prioritise prevention and early intervention to reduce future demand. We will guide national planning to meet changing demographic needs while tackling health inequalities so that services remain sustainable and responsive for the whole population. Implementing those changes will deliver significant improvements in how people of all ages access and experience care and support across Scotland.

That is a really important point. Of course, we are concerned not just with life expectancy, but with healthy life expectancy, and that is a key component of our population health framework. I assure Carol Mochan and the whole Parliament that that is a priority for the Government.

The Scottish Government welcomes the report by the Royal College of Psychiatrists on future provision for neurodevelopmental support in Scotland. I agree that demand for neurodevelopmental assessment and support now far exceeds what Scotland’s mental health infrastructure can deliver and that a different response is needed.

The Scottish Government is committed to driving forward improvements to address that complex issue. To support us in that work, the royal college is a member of our children and young people’s neurodevelopmental task force, and it participated in the cross-party summit on neurodevelopmental support that I hosted on 15 December.

The member raises important points about security of funding and its importance in enabling organisations to plan strategically. That is exactly why we have the fairer funding pilot and the communities fund, which I referred to in my earlier answers, and why we have committed that funding for next year. I undertake to convey in my routine engagements with health and social care partnerships the good points that the member makes, because they are well made.

I assure Mr Rennie that I treat the matter with the utmost urgency. I was grateful to his colleague Alex Cole-Hamilton for participating in the summit on Monday, and I recognise that the summit arose from a commitment from the Government that was made during a debate that the Liberal Democrats secured.

It is an area in which I really want to build political consensus. That was evident at the summit on Monday. I would be more than happy to engage directly with Mr Rennie on the national or local picture, and I want to leave him in no doubt of the priority that I attach to the matter.