Scottish Government announces new plan for mental health and wellbeing

This week, the Scottish Government and COSLA published a new Mental Health and Wellbeing Delivery Plan, setting out actions to improve mental health support and services across Scotland over the next three years.

At the Mental Health Foundation, we welcome the publication of the plan and its focus on a smaller number of priorities than previous strategies. Concentrating efforts on key areas has the potential to strengthen delivery and build on important work that is already underway across Scotland.>

There is much to commend in the plan's commitment to renewing Scotland's mental health system and its proposal to develop a new mental health and wellbeing blueprint for Scotland. At a time of significant public sector reform, it will be crucial that this blueprint helps create a system that improves and protects people's mental health wherever they live.

A stronger focus on prevention

At the Mental Health Foundation we believe that preventing mental health problems before they start must be at the heart of policymaking. Mental health is shaped by many factors beyond health services alone, including our income, housing, education, work, relationships and communities. 

That is why we are particularly encouraged to see references in the plan to preventative budgeting, support for young people moving into employment, and plans to strengthen the evidence base around the factors that influence children's and young people's mental health. 

These commitments reflect the growing recognition that improving the nation's mental health requires action across government and society, not just within mental health services. 

We are also pleased to see an ongoing commitment to ensuring diverse lived experience helps shape implementation of the plan through the Diverse Experience Advisory Panel. 

Concerns about pace and detail 

While we welcome the overall direction of travel, we remain concerned about the pace at which change will be delivered. 

Scotland continues to face significant mental health challenges. Demand for support remains high, and there is an urgent need for action that makes a meaningful difference to people's lives. 

Some important questions remain unanswered within the Delivery Plan. For example, there is currently limited detail on how preventative budgeting will be developed beyond the 2027-28 Scottish Budget, or how far the Scottish Government is prepared to go in embedding prevention across different areas of public spending. 

Similarly, while support for young people transitioning into employment is welcome, more information will be needed about what this support will look like in practice and how its impact will be measured. 

Turning ambition into action 

As the Plan develops, it will be important to establish clear outcomes, indicators and timescales so that progress can be assessed transparently. 

Scotland has no shortage of good policy ambitions on mental health. The challenge is ensuring those ambitions are translated into action that improves people's lives. 

The Mental Health Foundation will continue to engage with the Scottish Government and partners as the Plan is implemented. We will support measures that strengthen prevention, reduce inequalities and improve mental health across Scotland, while continuing to press for the urgency and accountability needed to meet the scale of the challenge. 

The stakes are too high for anything less.