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Transport Scotland keeps forecasting methodology under review to ensure best practice. The Borders Railway business case demand forecasts were based on modelling that was informed by surveys of residents regarding their potential use of the line. This resulted in forecasts that underestimated demand from Borders stations and overestimated demand from Midlothian stations.

Rail demand forecasting has developed considerably since the demand forecasts for the Borders Railway business case were first developed in 2008. A post-opening hindcast from the South East Scotland Transport Partnership (SESTran) Regional model for those Borders stations gave forecasts within 30% of actual demand. Where available, Transport Scotland recommends to promotors the use of Regional models for new station demand forecasts .

We continue to work towards delivery of the commitment that at least 10% of frontline health spending will be dedicated to mental health by the end of this parliamentary session.

The NHS Recovery Plan 2021-2026 Annual Progress Update published in December 2023 confirmed that NHS expenditure on mental health rose from £1.25bn in 2020-21 to £1.3bn in 2021-22, an increase of £51.5m or 4.1% - representing 8.8% of total NHS expenditure.

The Scottish Government are grateful for the efforts made by Health and Social Care Partnerships to develop plans to implement Mental Health and Wellbeing in Primary Care services. This planning activity was supported by £1.5 million of funding in December 2021.

I refer the member to the answer to questions S6W-23303 on 11 December 2023 and S6W-16651 on 21 April 2023 outlining the reasons for the decision to pause the recruitment to Mental Health and Wellbeing in Primary Care services. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

Difficult decisions have had to be made to allow us to balance the Scottish Government budget while still progressing implementation of our mental health and wellbeing and other strategies from a revised direct budget of £260.3 million.

The in-year budget changes impacted on a number of planned new programmes which could not proceed as anticipated. Planned increased funding to existing programmes were also not able to be progressed. This included programmes related to Mental Health and Primary Care; regional CAMHS developments; full implementation of Coming Home; full implementation of the new Mental Welfare Commission Patient Records System; and improving prisoner mental health.

Despite the savings made, we have continued to focus on delivery of our mental health and wellbeing strategy and recently published delivery plan, which includes commitments around mental health services and specific programmes of work around learning disability and autism, and cross-cutting trauma work.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-23811 on‎ 8 January 2024. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

We are approaching the end of the first year of implementing the National Carers Strategy (published in December 2022). The implementation of the strategy is monitored by the Carers Rights and Support Steering Group (CRSSG), made up of representatives from national and local carer organisations, statutory sector representatives and unpaid carers - so that carers are directly involved in measuring and monitoring the impact of the strategy during its lifespan.

The CRSSG agreed 43 actions to be prioritised for Year 1. The actions cover a broad range of topics including COVID-19 and cost of living as well as outlining employment, financial and mental health support. Examples of actions that have been progressed this year include:

• We distributed £560,000 to carer centres in 2022-2023 to improve local capacity for carer support.
• We funded the Carers Parliament and the Young Carers Festival in 2023, with record numbers attending the Young Carers Festival this year. We will continue to fund events which enable carers to engage directly with decisionmakers.
• We have engaged with carers in 2023 to produce the National Dementia Strategy, the Mental Health and Wellbeing Workforce Action Plan, the Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy and we have involved carers in the review of the National Outcomes and the National Care Service co-design. We will continue to engage with carers to ensure their voices are heard and reflected in policy across the Scottish Government.
• We are continuing to fund and promote increased uptake of the Carer Positive employer accreditation scheme, with 264 employers now signed up who are responsible for 493,000 employees (as of November 2023).
• Social Security Scotland successfully launched the initial pilot for Carer Support Payment in November 2023, with the benefit to be available nationally by autumn 2024. The benefit is a key milestone in improving support for unpaid carers and will be available to many carers in full-time education who cannot currently get Carer’s Allowance.
• Through the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund, we invested £15 million in 2022-23 in community-based initiatives to promote good health and wellbeing and tackle the mental health issues for people, including unpaid carers.

The Strategy is kept under review so that we are able to respond to changing circumstances and ensure progress towards meeting the actions contained within it.

Under the Carers (Scotland) Act, all adult and young carers have the right to a personalised plan to identify what is important to them, which may include counselling and emotional support, according to their individual circumstances. Future needs for bereavement support can be considered as part of the process and any eligible needs for support must be met.

Local authorities must also have a carer information and advice service, usually delivered via local carer centres, to help all adult and young carers access support in their area. This must include information and advice on counselling and bereavement support available to carers, not necessarily carer-specific services. In addition to information and advice services, many local carer centres provide their own counselling and support services which can include group/peer support and bereavement support.

The Scottish Government is investing £88.4m per year in local carer support through local authority Carers Act funding.

As part of the process to develop the Scottish Government/COSLA Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy, we undertook a literature review and engaged with stakeholders, people with lived experiences and the Equality and Human Rights Forum to gather evidence and better understand marginalised groups’ experiences of mental health. This included unpaid carers, and professional bodies, third sector and equalities organisations representing their interests.

This evidence has been published in the Scottish Government Mental Health Equality Evidence Report accompanying the Delivery Plan, with a specific section on carers at chapter 12. This evidence was invaluable in undertaking a robust Equality Impact Assessment and shaping the Strategy and subsequent Delivery and Workforce Action Plans.

Statistics published on 5 September 2023 covering quarter ending June 2023 show that NHS Forth Valley, NHS Highland, NHS Lanarkshire and NHS Orkney did not effectively eliminate their long waits (where 4% or fewer of all waits are over one year).

However, statistics published on 5 December 2023 covering quarter ending September 2023 show that NHS Forth Valley, NHS Lanarkshire and NHS Orkney have now effectively eliminated their long waits (where 4% or fewer of all waits are over one year).

We continually monitor CAMHS waiting times performance and backlogs and are directing tailored support to those Boards with the longest waits, including NHS Highland, providing access to professional advice, ensuring they have robust improvement plans in place and monitoring their implementation.

We have commissioned all Boards to submit performance trajectories up to March 2024, including a timeline for clearing long waits. These will be updated annually and used to inform further targeted improvement work to ensure all Boards consistently meet the CAMHS waiting times standard.