Scottish Parliament Elections 2021 Mental Health Prevention in The
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Scottish Parliament 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 Scottish Government 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. * Scottish Labour 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 Green Party 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 Scottish National Party 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 (Scotland) 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 national collective 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 trade union 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