Former FM leads expert calls for urgent support for young Scots
Nicola Sturgeon’s successor has been urged to prioritise young Scots’ recovery from the enduring impact of lockdown.
Former first minister Jack McConnell believes a well-resourced and planned support strategy for children and teenagers must be the first task for whoever wins the SNP leadership contest.
Writing in The Sunday Post today, he says: “It needs all parties to come together and set out a strategy for educational catch up and the social and emotional support that helps these youngsters become the best adults they can possibly be.”
If he was taking charge today, he adds: “I would invite all the party leaders to join me in meeting with education and youth leaders, and agree this strategy by the summer.”
His calls have been echoed by Scotland’s children’s champion, leading paediatricians, psychiatrists, and education experts, warning young people have been disproportionately affected by the cost of living crisis after their lives were “turned upside down” by the pandemic.
Figures published last week revealed a third of youngsters with mental health problems are not being seen within the Scottish Government’s 18-week waiting time target, with more than 7,500 currently on waiting lists.
We told in January how 89% of nursery nurses have seen a rise in the number of young children struggling to talk or understand basic language since the pandemic began.
And research published in October suggested the pandemic has worsened existing socio-economic inequalities.
Dr Mairi Stark, Scotland officer for the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said: “Paediatrics was not very well supported through the pandemic and mental health issues got worse and worse.
“We can’t address issues early because the waiting times have gone up. We’re seeing more children with issues like anorexia and pressures on the wards and clinics have increased.
“There’s a lot of investment in waiting times for hips and knees, but not so much for the general paediatric clinics and things that aren’t as noticeable and aren’t recorded as much by government.”
Stark also called for the next first minister to increase the Scottish Child Payment, a £25 per week payout to the country’s poorest families with children under 16, in line with inflation.
She said: “Many families are just scraping by, and can’t afford to take their children for swimming lessons or buy football boots for their children to play football.”
Dr Helen Smith, chair of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (Camhs) Faculty at Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland, said more youngsters than ever need help with their mental health. She called on the SNP leadership to give firm assurances about how Camhs targets will be met.
Latest figures showed that in the final three months of last year only 70% of children and young people were seen by Camhs within 18 weeks of being referred.
She said: “The new first minister must make sure they give children and young people’s mental health the priority it deserves. As psychiatrists we’ve seen firsthand how demand continues to increase but capacity remains the same. It is a situation that cannot be sustained.
“We need more workforce to keep up with demand and we need it now. This is because it takes several years to train those staff.
“While the pandemic did create more issues for children and young people, we are now living in a cost of living crisis where the most vulnerable households are becoming less well off.”
The main challenge in education for the next first minister is to close the attainment gap in schools, according to education expert Lindsay Paterson.
Nicola Sturgeon described it as the “defining challenge” of her government, but figures show there remains a gulf between rich and poor pupils.
Paterson, professor of education at Edinburgh University, said: “The main immediate impact of Covid on children’s education were the lost opportunities to learn. Despite the best efforts of teachers, learning remotely at home was never as effective as the classroom.
“But the lasting legacy of that impact has been to widen inequalities relating to poverty and wealth. The impact of trying to study at home was always worse for poor families than for wealthy ones, because effective study requires good-quality laptops and internet access.
“After Covid, the opportunity to catch up with what was lost has also been better for children who have good educational equipment at home. So inequality has continued to widen.”
Children’s Commissioner Bruce Adamson said children’s rights need to be at the heart of government decision-making and urged Nicola Sturgeon’s successor to incorporate a United Nations treaty on children’s rights into Scottish law.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill was passed by Holyrood two years ago but the UK Government stepped in and referred the legislation to the UK Supreme Court, which ruled it affected powers reserved to Westminster.
Scottish ministers have said they will bring it back to Holyrood and have been drafting amendments but Adamson said: “This prevarication and delay is unacceptable. On day one in office, the new first minister must bring the Children’s Rights Bill back to parliament and commit to immediate commencement when passed.”
All three SNP leadership candidates told The Sunday Post they were committed to taking the bill forward.
Health secretary and Glasgow Pollok MSP Humza Yousaf said: “This must be part of our framework for Scotland as an international leader in human rights. If first minister, I would move this legislation forward making necessary changes, to bring it into the competence of the Scottish parliament.
“I am committed to social justice and that must include our children. I am also committed to a wellbeing Scotland – as in our 2021 manifesto – where our society values children and helps them thrive. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (Scotland) Bill is part of that commitment.”
Finance secretary Kate Forbes said she would also uphold the Scottish Government’s commitment of a 25% increase in investment in mental health by the end of this parliament
The Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch MSP said: “There is no doubt that mental health is one of the most important public health issues facing young people in Scotland today.
“In tandem with increased funding, we need to examine how recruitment and retention in our mental health and education services can be improved.
“If I am elected first minister, I would like to have significant discussions with medical schools and their universities regarding the number of places for Scottish students and the speed at which things can be scaled up.”
Former community safety minister Ash Regan said she would appoint a youth mental health ambassador and promote mental health education in schools.
The MSP for Edinburgh Eastern said: “Ensuring the wellbeing and development of children and young people in Scotland is of utmost importance.
“We cannot risk losing a generation due to the adverse effects of that on their education and both mental and physical health. Therefore, the Scottish Government must take significant and innovative measures to address this and provide the necessary support to children and young people.”
Homeschooling during the pandemic led many more parents to suspect their children were neurodiverse, experts have said.
Dr Dinah Aitken, head of outreach at the Salvesen Mindroom Centre, a charity supporting children and young people with learning difficulties, said inquiries postpandemic climbed by 26% between 2021 and 2022.
“During the school lockdowns, many parents who were homeschooling their children were much more closely observing their child’s learning style and traits, which led to them considering neurodivergence and seeking a diagnosis,” Aitken said.
“In many families, too, when parents see their child undergoing a neurodevelopmental assessment, they recognise the traits in themselves and that can lead to them seeking a diagnosis too.”
Aitken says there is definitely a growing awareness of neurodiversity, often related to autistic spectrum disorders, but there are “certain fairly well-entrenched problems” for children who need support in education.
“For example, schools are often unsure or unwilling to put in support until the child has a diagnosis,” she said.
“This is contrary to the legislation on additional support for learning in Scotland, which says that if a child needs additional support, for whatever reason, this should be provided.
“Waiting times for assessment or diagnosis of neurodevelopmental conditions are lengthy and so neurodivergent children can be left in limbo without the support that would help them for long periods.”
Aitken says it’s hard to tell whether waiting times have been affected by Covid, but they remain long.
“We are aware of many neurodivergent children who wait for years to access Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service to receive a diagnosis or assessment.
“We have found that many families are turning to private diagnosis as a result. However, they can then often find that the local authority will not take a private diagnosis on board, so the money is wasted, and they are no further forward.
“The term treatment doesn’t always fit with neurodivergence, as the neurodevelopmental conditions are lifelong and there often is no treatment as such. But for something like ADHD, medication may be an option – however, you need the assessment first.”
When it comes to education, it’s still very much a postcode lottery of support.
“While some schools and local authorities are good, others don’t have sufficiently well-trained staff to provide the kind of support that neurodivergent children need,” Aitken said. “There is much more training and awareness needed.
“There are not enough staff in our schools, be that teachers or pupil support staff, who have sufficient knowledge and understanding of neurodiversity.
“All councils are feeling the squeeze on budgets, and resources are always an issue, especially in relation to additional support needs, but the Scottish Government has said that teacher numbers should not be depleted.
“The numbers of pupils recorded as having additional support needs grows every year and they now represent over a third of all pupils, which is a substantial demand on resources.”
She added: “Covid impacted on neurodivergent children in different ways. For those who found school a trial, the switch to home-schooling was a relief and returning to school was much more difficult. For others, who thrive on routine and certainty, the school closures were a disaster and getting back into their previous routines was a challenge.”