Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Public Health Scotland CAMHS waiting times statistics capture children and young people who meet the CAMHS criteria. We continue to see a significant and sustained improvement in CAMHS waiting times, despite continuing high demand from children and young people who need mental health support.

The CAMHS waiting time statistics do not include children seeking a neurodevelopmental assessment unless they have a comorbid mental health condition because they do not meet the CAMHS criteria. This is stated in the publication of CAMHS statistics.

CAMHS is a specialist mental health service and is simply not the appropriate service for children and young people seeking diagnosis of a neurodevelopmental condition, unless they are seeking support for a co-existing mental health condition. For many young people, support through a neurodevelopmental pathway will be more appropriate.

We expect NHS Boards to follow the National Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) specification, which includes a clear expectation that children and young people whose referral is not accepted for CAMHS are sensitively and appropriately signposted to a more suitable service.

Some of these services are likely to be community based and we continue to invest £15 million per annum in funding to these supports, which will continue through the local government finance settlement from 2025-26. Local authorities report that nearly 83,000 children, young people and their family members accessed community-based mental health support between July 2023 and March 2024. Alongside this, we are ensuring access to counselling services in all secondary schools, and continue to support local authorities with £16million a year.

Appropriate redirection and alternative support will vary across NHS Boards depending on the services available locally, and the needs of the child or young person involved. While we have made significant progress in improving mental health and wellbeing services for children and young people since 2018, we continue to work closely with Boards to understand the reasons for non-accepted referrals and to ensure that the criteria in the CAMHS specification are being met.

Additionally, Public Health Scotland has started publishing data from the CAMHS and Psychological Therapies National Dataset (CAPTND), including referrals to CAMHS by sex, age and SIMD as well as reasons for referral not being accepted. Health Boards are also working with PHS and Directors of eHealth to enable the collection and publication of additional information this year.

CAPTND is still under development, and any inferences or conclusions drawn from this data should be treated with caution. Work is ongoing between NHS Boards, Public Health Scotland, and the Scottish Government to improve the consistency and completeness of the information.

The Public Health Scotland CAMHS statistics capture children and young people who meet the CAMHS criteria. Children and Young People and their families who have requested support for their neurodevelopmental needs but do not meet the CAMHS criteria are not reported in these statistics.

However, the statistics do capture those children and young people who are on the waiting list and have mental health concerns comorbid with neurodevelopmental issues.

Data relating to the number of children waiting for a neurodevelopmental diagnosis is not currently nationally reported or published. However Health Boards should hold their own data on who is waiting for a neurodevelopmental diagnosis.

It is also important to recognise that not all children seeking a diagnosis will meet diagnostic criteria but may still have support needs. That is why our National Neurodevelopmental Specification makes clear that support should be put in place to meet the child or young person’s requirements when they need it and should not be dependent on a formal diagnosis.

We acknowledge that work is needed to improve the quality of data that we have on neurodevelopmental support and services, including a better understanding of current levels of need and the level of support children and young people currently receive.

We are working with Health Boards and local authorities to improve our understanding of what data is available, and how this could be used to support improvements for children and families.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally as this is the responsibility of NHS Boards. However, the Scottish Governments expects NHS Boards to follow the National Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) specification, which includes a clear expectation that children and young people whose referral is not accepted for CAMHS are sensitively and appropriately signposted to a more suitable service, such as our community-based supports.

We have provided local authorities with over £65 million since 2020 to fund community-based mental health and wellbeing supports and services for children, young people and their families. This £15 million per year funding will continue through the local government finance settlement from 2025-26. Examples include mentoring services, art-based therapies, digital services, whole-family supports, counselling services and supports involving sport or physical activity.

Individual local authorities decide which supports and services to put in place in their area based on the needs of their communities.

Standard 1.2 of the National Neurodevelopmental Specification relates to the offer of a first appointment. As set out in the Specification, Neurodevelopmental Services that are delivered locally are the responsibility of Children Services providers. A first appointment could be provided by a number of professionals within a range of agencies, including education, health and voluntary organisations.

The Scottish Government does not collect data on length of waits for neurodevelopmental services centrally. Our focus is on improving support. Our Neurodevelopmental Specification places an expectation on NHS and Children's Services to work together to implement standards, in line with GIRFEC. Crucially, local authorities have a statutory duty to identify and provide support for pupils with additional support needs, regardless of diagnosis.

There will always be referrals to CAMHS that are not accepted as CAMHS only provide the right support for a small proportion of children and young people. Children who require neurodevelopmental support are not reported in these statistics unless they have co-morbid mental health issues, but may be included within total referral figures, leading to lower accepted referral rates in some Boards.

The National CAMHS specification includes a clear expectation that children and young people whose referral is not accepted for CAMHS are sensitively and appropriately signposted to a more suitable service, such as our community-based supports.

We have provided local authorities with over £65 million since 2020 to fund community-based mental health and wellbeing supports and services for children, young people and their families. This £15 million per annum funding will continue through the local government finance settlement from 2025-26.

We will continue to work with NHS Boards and partners to monitor the National Specification’s implementation, to improve services and support for children and young people and their families.

I appreciate that the proposed closure of the main building at SRUC’s Elmwood campus will be deeply concerning for affected staff and students.

Although SRUC is an autonomous institution with responsibility for its own strategic and operational decision, I would expect them to ensure that they engage meaningfully with staff affected by these proposals, in line with our Fair Work principles and in doing so explore any alternative options which might see delivery of these courses remain in the locality.

I would also expect any affected students to be appropriately supported by SRUC throughout this period, and to receive timely information about the impact of any disruption on their studies and the options available to them.

Although there is a clear legal framework within which allocation policies must operate, local authorities have considerable discretion within these constraints to develop their allocation policy and practice to meet the needs of the communities in which they operate.

The code of guidance on homelessness aims to guide local authorities in their duties to assist people who are threatened with or who are experiencing homelessness. It sets out that local authority staff should ensure that accommodation and services are offered on the basis of a thorough assessment of the applicant's support or health needs and that these needs are addressed in a holistic fashion. We remain committed to a fuller review of the code of guidance on homelessness, in consultation with stakeholders – including those who represent the interests of children – once the new homelessness prevention measures have been introduced.

The Scottish Social Housing Charter sets out the outcomes and standards that all social landlords should be delivering for their tenants and other customers. This includes an outcome (outcome 12) that describes what councils should achieve by meeting their statutory duties to people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Scottish Ministers will review the current charter in 2026-27 in consultation with stakeholders and this will provide an opportunity to ensure the charter continues to focus on matters that are important to tenants and others that use social landlord services.