How is the SNP improving mental health services?

The 2025‑26 Scottish Budget will support improvements across a range of mental health services and treatments.

The 2025‑26 Scottish Budget is supporting spending of £1.3 billion for mental health services, more than doubling direct investment since 2020‑21 – enabling record numbers of staff to providing more varied support.

The SNP has a track record of investment in mental health services in the face of the most difficult set of financial circumstances and constrictions that we have had in the history of devolution.

The SNP Scottish Government has sought to protect mental health funding as best it can and to sustain the significant increase in investment that we have made already.

The Scottish Government is improving mental health and wellbeing support in a wide range of settings.

The SNP Scottish Government has exceeded its commitment to fund over 800 additional mental health workers in A&E departments, GP practices, police custody suites, and prisons.

The Scottish Government has announced funding for a fourth year of its Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for Adults, meaning it has made available £66m for grassroots projects through the Fund since 2021 – the fund supported an estimated 300,000 people across Scotland in its first year alone.

This will bring Scottish Government investment in community‑based supports – for children, young people and adults – to over £130m since 2020.

Over 62,000 people have now been referred to the world‑leading Distress Brief Intervention (DBI) programme, which offers timely, compassionate support to people in distress who come into contact with frontline services.

Since NHS24’s Mental Health Hub started providing 24/7 support in 2020, they have responded to over 300,000 calls.

Alongside COSLA, SG is delivering an ambitious 10‑year Suicide Prevention Strategy, which tackles the causes of suicide. It is backed by record investment of £2.5m in 2023‑24.

Scottish Government and COSLA have published the world’s first dedicated Self‑Harm Strategy and Action Plan, backed by £1.5m investment.