To ask the Scottish Government, further to the letter of 3 September 2024 from the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government to the Finance and Public Administration Committee, what student mental health measures will not proceed in 2024-25.
Since 2019/20, the Scottish Government has invested, in the pursuance of its Programme for Government commitments, over £19 million across five years to support student mental health and wellbeing in colleges and universities and to help institutions to transition to a more sustainable means of providing mental health support for students. The cessation of this funding – referred to in the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government’s letter – was extensively discussed with the sector, including when transition funding was put in place for Academic Year 2023-24.
Our new Student Mental Health Action Plan, published on 13 September, seeks to move to a mainstreamed approach to student mental health which will help students better access services. The Government will work with NHS Boards, CoSLA, Public Health Scotland and community based providers to join up support that is already available, embedding students’ mental health needs into the wider communities in which they live and study.
The Action Plan recognises the importance of each college and university having a Student Mental Health Agreement in place. To enable this we continue to support NUS Think Positive with £130,000 in 2024-25.