Mental Health (Scotland) Bill call for evidence: submissions published

Date: 5th September 2014
Category: Mental health

Submissions received as part of the Health and Sport Committee's call for written evidence on the Mental Health (Scotland) Bill have been published online.

On 27th June 2014 the Health and Sport Committee launched a call for written evidence in order to inform its consideration of the Mental Health (Scotland) Bill. The Bill was introduced in the Scottish Parliament on 19th June 2014.

Together responded to the call for evidence, urging the Health and Sport Committee to ensure the Bill fulfils its potential by taking the following steps:

1. A Child Rights Impact Assessment should be carried out on the draft Mental Health (Scotland) Bill, to systematically and fully consider its impact on children and young people.
2. The Bill should take account of the rights of all children, including those with mental health needs as well as those affected by the mental health needs of their parents, carers or siblings.
3. The Bill should include preventative measures to avoid children from developing more serious mental health problems later in life. It should be used as an opportunity to address the difficulties many children and young people face in accessing Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).

Download the list of published submissions here.

Download Together's written evidence here.

Barnardo's Scotland and NSPCC Scotland submitted a joint response, which also highlighted that the currently Bill does little to specifically address the biggest issues currently affecting children and young people in Scotland who are in need of the support provided by mental health services. Alongside Together, their submission also underlined the difficulties children and young people face in accessing CAMHS and that waiting times vary widely across Scotland.

The Scottish Children's Services Coalition (SCSC) has recently renewed its call to the Scottish Government for urgent action to ensure that NHS Health Boards achieve waiting time targets for children and adolescent services.

• Find out more here.

Together also responded to the initial consultation on a Mental Health (Scotland) Bill.

• Find out more about the initial consultation and download Together's response here.