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The Scottish Government is investing £250 million in the National Drugs Mission over the life of the Parliament to save and improve lives of people who use drugs, including veterans. For the first time this year we will have data on the number of veterans accessing drug and alcohol treatment services, using the new Drug and Alcohol Information System (DAISy). We will use this data to inform our work to better meet the needs of veterans who use drugs to support them to achieve their recovery goals.

Patient referrals and self-referrals to cCBT services from 2017 to 2022, by Board.

To develop the Scottish Veterans Treatment Pathway, we are working with a range of partners, including the Scottish Trauma Network to understand what is required to most effectively treat and meet the needs of veterans and their families who have endured injury while in service.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-13888 on‎ 27 January 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-13853 on 26 January 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Since its inception in 2014, the annual budget for the Commissioner’s office has been £250,000. This is funded by the Scottish Government and covers the Commissioner’s remuneration, support staff, office and IT requirements and general running costs. The draft budget published on 15 December proposed increasing this to £280,000 in Financial Year 2023-24.

The UK Government has since funded the appointments of the UK Independent Veterans Advisor and the Wales and Northern Ireland Veterans Commissioners for which the Scottish Government do not receive any Barnett Consequentials.

In the first year of the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for adults in 2021-22, the Scottish Government provided funding to the 32 Third Sector Interface (TSIs) who were responsible for distributing the funding to local grassroots community organisations. Local application processes are underway for Year 2, with information on the organisations receiving funding to be published in June 2023.

Further information about the funded projects can be found in the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund: Year 1 - Monitoring and Reporting Summary, which was published in June 2022.

A table providing details of the awards made to grassroots community projects by area, purpose and value of each award has been placed in SPICe bib number 63970.

This information was provided by Third Sector Interface organisations in April 2022 based on awards made.

We continue to support Housing Options Scotland to provide its Military Matters project. This service focuses on housing issues affecting people serving in the Armed Forces in Scotland; all UK Service personnel transitioning into civilian life in Scotland, and veterans – helping them to find the right home in the right place.

We have also published a housing guide which provides information about housing in Scotland and contacts of organisations who may be able to help Armed Forces and ex-service personnel obtain housing suitable for their needs. The guide also directs veterans to the Veterans Gateway which provides information and support to veterans and their families.

The Scottish Government provided £3,000 in 2020-21 to Legion Scotland to deliver Befriending and Mental Health First Aid training to individuals from the veterans community, including breakfast club volunteers. These sessions were initially delayed due to the pandemic. However, Legion Scotland successfully delivered the Mental Health First Aid training in March 2022. The planned Befriending courses were cancelled due to lockdown and the funding initially allocated was refunded to Legion Scotland and re-purposed to support the delivery of the MHFA training. In total, 28 people attended the courses including several admin staff from multiple breakfast clubs.

To complement the local support available for the mental health and wellbeing of the health and social care workforce, the Scottish Government are continuing to provide a range of resources including the National Wellbeing Hub, a 24/7 National Wellbeing Helpline, confidential mental health treatment through the Workforce Specialist Service, Coaching for Wellbeing and funding for additional local psychological support. We are also working closely with NHS Boards to support a range of local initiatives designed to meet the basic and practical needs of Doctors in Training, and their teams. This includes access to quiet spaces to support health and wellbeing, and the installation of lockers.

Our ongoing response will be informed by the Improving Wellbeing and Workforce Cultures Strategy which will be launched in 2023. The strategy is a commitment from the Scottish Government to drive a supportive and enabling culture for people working in health, social care and social work across wellbeing, leadership and equalities.