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Elections 2021

Mental Health Prevention in the Party Manifestos

The Foundation developed fourteen recommendations for the Scottish Parliament Elections of 2021. This analysis presents the manifesto commitments that relate to our fourteen recommendations. Commitments that directly quote from the Foundation’s recommendations have an asterisk. For more information about the Foundation’s Holyrood 2021 campaign, visit this webpage: Holyrood 2021 | Mental Health Foundation

1. The next should embed Mental Health Education (MHE) within Curriculum for Excellence, giving every child the tools to protect and improve their mental health and tackle stigma.

Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party Scottish Green Guaranteeing Party every pupil a PSE curriculum which covers topics such as mental health. * Include emotional learning into the curriculum. * Party Scottish Liberal Democrats Scottish National Embed mental health & wellbeing into the curriculum. * Party

2. Every child at risk of poverty, exclusion or adversity should benefit from an evidence- based mentoring programme based on the ‘one good adult’ model, helping every child to succeed regardless of their circumstances.

• The Scottish Government recently announced funding of £19.4M over six years to expand mentoring for disadvantaged children. Scottish Set up a £35M national tutoring programme to provide one-to- Conservative & one or small group tuition for children who need the most help to Unionist Party catch up. Scottish Scottish Labour A personal tutoring programme should be provided, accessible Party for all ages and all pupils. Referrals would come from teachers and those working with young people struggling to engage with school. Scottish Liberal Democrats

3. A new Health and Wellbeing Fund should be established to help Head Teachers invest in pupil wellbeing in the aftermath of COVID-19. The fund will aim to reduce prevalence of emotional distress through evidence-based peer-to-peer programmes, youth work and family support initiatives.

• No party made a specific commitment to additional funding for schools for the types of mental health support recommended by the Foundation. However, this section shows any commitments made for additional funding for mental health support in schools for children.

Scottish Over the course of this Parliament, trained mental health leads Conservative & with links to NHS mental health teams should be introduced in Unionist Party every school. Invest £8M in additional mental health training for school staff. Scottish Green Party Ensure counselling is available to all pupils by establishing a right to access school-based counselling provided by qualified practitioners. Scottish Labour Offer a mental health assessment to every school pupil. Party Improve teaching practice on health and wellbeing throughout the education system. Scottish Liberal Support a preventative approach with more counsellors available Democrats for every school. Scottish National Party

4. Investment in providing parents and primary caregivers with the confidence to support their children during key stages of their child’s development should be significantly expanded.

Scottish Pilot the use of Family Hubs to bring health, education and social Conservative & care services together & provide a ‘one stop shop’ of parenting Unionist Party support for vulnerable and disadvantaged children. Scottish Green Party Scottish Labour Launch a ‘Babies Meet Babies’ programme, supported by Party appropriately trained staff and using accessible community-based facilities, to bring parents and carers together. Scottish Liberal Make sure pre-school children from disadvantaged backgrounds Democrats are better supported when they start in education with a Nursery Premium which will have an emphasis on involving parents in their child’s development. Create a government-wide focus on attainment, starting with an extended programme to support parenting of the youngest children through family nurse partnerships We will offer new parents greater access to mental health services.

Scottish National Provide more advice on weaning for families to cook from scratch Party through ParentClub. Explore ways in which the baby box can be used to further promote women’s health & support parental mental health.

5. To meet rising demand and tackle waiting lists the next Scottish Government should deliver transformational investment in community mental health through a rapid expansion of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Social Prescribing, Exercise Referral Schemes and Peer Support.

Scottish Increase mental health funding to 10% of the frontline health Conservative & budget during the next Parliament. Unionist Party Expanding programmes such as cognitive behavioural therapy, social prescribing, exercise referral schemes and peer support. * Scottish Green Party Allocate 10% of frontline health spend to mental health by 2026, providing an additional £235M funding/year. Expand access to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Social Prescribing, Exercise Referral Schemes and Peer Support. * Scottish Labour Party Increase mental health spending so that it reaches 11% of the health budget. Strengthening links with community mental health services.

Scottish Liberal Set a target for 15% of new health spending to be directed to Democrats mental health.

Revamp social prescriptions by getting more buy-in from service providers such as sports facilities.

Creating strong clinical networks to give peer support to professionals working in remote and rural communities.

Work with businesses and organisations towards an ambition of having a mental health first aider in every workplace, capable of providing peer support.

Scottish National Increase Scottish Government direct investment in mental health by Party at least 25%, ensuring that by the end of the parliament, 10% of our frontline NHS budget will be invested in mental health services. Ensure every GP practice has access to a dedicated mental wellbeing worker, creating a network of 1000 additional dedicated staff who can help grow community mental health resilience and help direct social prescribing. *

6. The next Scottish Government should pilot a ‘Mental Health Guarantee’ for people with mild to moderate mental health problems where person-centred support will be offered within six weeks.

Scottish Conservative Community mental health services would be available through & Unionist Party community triage centres to offer people with mild to moderate mental health problems support within 6 weeks. * Scottish Green Party Scottish Labour Party Scottish Liberal Democrats Scottish National Party

7. Within two years the next Scottish Government should publish its first Wellbeing Budget with radical measures to end poverty and prevent a COVID-19 unemployment crisis.

Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party Scottish Green Party Scottish Labour Party Scottish Liberal Democrats Scottish National Deliver a wellbeing budget Party

8. A Wellbeing of Future Generations Bill should be introduced to provide not only the ambition, but a statutory duty on all public bodies to improve social, cultural, environmental and economic wellbeing.

Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party Scottish Green Party Scottish Labour Party Support a Wellbeing and Sustainable Development () Bill during the next Parliament. * Scottish Liberal Democrats Scottish National Bring forward a Wellbeing and Sustainable Development Party (Scotland) Bill. *

9. A Future of Work Commission should be established to help ensure that post-pandemic labour practices support mental wellbeing. The commission should explore the benefits of a four-day working week to wellbeing and introduce measures to reduce job insecurity.

Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party Scottish Green Party Support the transition to a four-day week with no loss of pay.

Use public procurement to require firms to recognise trade unions, ban precarious contracts, and pay at least the real living wage, respecting union negotiated rates for work

Facilitate the creation of bargaining structures in areas linked to the public sector which do not currently have high levels of collective bargaining, such as social care and childcare.

End the use of zero-hours contracts and monitor the implementation of workers’ rights through existing licensing schemes, such as local authority food hygiene inspections.

Scottish Labour Party Promote pilot schemes to reduce the length of the working week.

Support the employer accreditation programme Equally Safe at Work through continued funding.

Work with employers to ensure psychologically health workplaces.

Develop a Good Work Plan requiring compliance which will promote the quality of work and fairness.

Revitalise collective bargaining, including sectoral bargaining, coupled with a more robust social dialogue and the promotion of membership.

Require all businesses that benefit from public procurement to commit to using no zero-hours contracts or similar insecure work practices, paying the Scottish Living Wage.

Scottish Liberal We will prioritise the establishment of national pay bargaining and Democrats commit to funding the outcomes so that care workers get fair pay and better career progression as soon as possible.

We will adopt and extend the current principles of fair work, equal pay for equal work regardless of age, prudent borrowing, competitive tax systems, continual efficiency within government, and we accept the Infrastructure Commission’s recommendations for a greater emphasis on the good maintenance of public assets.

Scottish National Party Establish a £10M fund to allow companies to pilot & explore benefits of a 4-day working week.

Introduce a new, fair National Wage for Care staff and introduce national pay bargaining for the sector for the first time.

Support a specific accreditation programme for Living Hours in the same way as we have supported Living Wage accreditation.

Review our Fair Work First criteria for contracts & government support grants to include specific reference to fire and rehire tactics.

10. Everyone in Scotland should have the right to a safe, warm and affordable home. The Scottish Government should build 50,000 new social homes to address Scotland’s chronic shortage and to reduce homelessness.

Scottish Deliver 60,000 new affordable homes with 40,000 for social rent. Conservative & Eradicate rough sleeping in Scotland by 2026 by accelerating & Unionist Party investing £10.8M in Housing First. Help to Rent scheme for those who are or are at risk of homelessness. *

Scottish Green Party Build 84,000 homes for social rent by 2032. * Scottish Labour Building at least 120,000 social houses over the next decade, with Party the aim of building 200,000 in that time. * Ensure Housing First adequately is funded across all local authorities and supported to continue its excellent work in the long- term. *

Bringing forward legislation early in the next parliament which strengthens the legal framework around homelessness prevention. *

Scottish Liberal Build 60,000 affordable homes to help address homelessness with Democrats 40,000 for social rent in the next 5 years. Seek to end homelessness by taking forward Housing First & Rapid Rehousing Principles. *

Bring forward new legislation to strengthen duties on public bodies to prevent homelessness. *

Scottish National Deliver 100,000 affordable homes by 2032. * Party Invest £50M in a Homelessness Together fund. Invest in a rapid rehousing approach & a national programme to increase housing choices for those facing homelessness. *

Introduce new legislation that strengthens people’s housing rights & ensure public bodies have a duty to prevent homelessness. *

11. In response to a rising suicide rate, the next Scottish Government should double suicide prevention spending and introduce a ten-year driven action plan, backed by £20 million.

Scottish Develop a Self-Harm Strategy and work with stakeholders to update Conservative & the Suicide Action Plan. Unionist Party Scottish Green Party Scottish Labour We need a long-term national strategy that will embed suicide Party prevention within national and local policy and services. Pilot initiatives like the Distress Brief Intervention Programme and Community Triage should be rolled out nationally. Scottish Liberal Start work immediately on a new suicide and self-harm prevention Democrats strategy. Scottish National Double suicide prevention spending. * Party Doubling the number of Applied Suicide Intervention Skills training programme and SafeTalk programme trainers, by the end of the parliament.

12. A national support service for families bereaved by suicide should be rolled out upon completion of existing pilots so that those bereaved receive the timely support they need.

• There was no specific commitment to a family bereavement service for people bereaved by suicide in any party manifesto.

13. The next Scottish Government should introduce a Community Recovery Fund for the next four years, building on the £350 million announced in September 2020, to empower communities to recover from the pandemic, including initiatives that tackle social isolation.

Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party Scottish Green Party Scottish Labour Party Develop a framework of universal basic services – and with our community recovery fund, strengthen the social infrastructure that minimises social isolation and builds stronger communities. * Ensure that as many communities as possible have community-led organisations with a strong core capacity to protect and improve health and wellbeing.

Scottish Liberal Increase investment in activities suitable for older people or Democrats disabled people, such as health walks, new sporting opportunities or riding groups, helping to reduce social isolation and loneliness. Scottish National Develop a new 5-year plan focused on reconnecting people of all Party ages and tackling loneliness – backed by £10M over 5 years with £5M in the first 2 years.

14. A Green Spaces Strategy should be introduced to guarantee safe and accessible green spaces for all to transform Scotland’s relationship with the outdoors and improve health outcomes.

Scottish Conservative & Expand communal green spaces. launch a new public gardens Unionist Party strategy, including significant investment in developing brownfield sites into new green spaces. * Increase fixed penalties & maximum fines for litter and fly-tipping.

Strengthen protections for green belts.

Scottish Green Party Increasing investment in parks and green spaces in both rural and urban locations, to improve access and restore and protect nature so that more people can enjoy nature close to where they live.

Create a Community Greenspace Fund to help communities acquire and manage land to provide quality recreational greenspace, including parks, land managed for nature, and community orchards and growing projects.

Fight to ensure green space is protected from unsuitable development and will use the planning system to ensure that all new development results in a positive benefit for wildlife and the natural environment.

Changes to local taxation will also encourage redevelopment of brownfield land as a priority ahead of greenfield land.

Oppose developments which exploit and degrade our National Parks for profit. As a matter of urgency, we will support a community buyout of the land currently under threat from a renewed Flamingo Land development at Loch .

Scottish Labour Party A National Housing Agency would ensure the development of well-designed communities with green space as a key consideration. Invest in councils to create urban and rural safe active travel routes, green spaces and food growing places.

Scottish Liberal Preserve parks and playing fields as important community green Democrats space. Scottish National Party