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There are no waiting times targets for crisis interventions because all mental health emergencies should be dealt with immediately.

Health Boards will have different methods of responding to crisis situations through a number of different channels such as Mental Health Assessment Centres, Emergency Departments, NHS24 and GP out of hours. Crisis support can also be delivered by third sector organisations. Every clinical response will involve a form of triage which will determine the intervention based on the degree of urgency.

Mental health support is available 24/7 and all Health Boards have crisis provision.

The Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020 provides further protection to people living in the rented sector, during the pandemic, by extending the notice to leave periods that a landlord must provide, for up to six months. You will be aware that this protection was recently extended until 31 March 2021.

We have always made clear that it is essential that the emergency legislation be supported by safeguards including regular reporting and review, and these were built into the first and second Scottish Acts. Section 15 of the first Scottish Act, and section 12 of the second Scottish Act require Scottish Ministers to review the operation of the provisions of Part 1 of those Acts in each reporting period, and every two months, report on the status of the provisions – including the provisions relating to eviction from rented accommodation - and make a statement that they are satisfied that the status of those provisions is appropriate.

Our first two-monthly report on the Coronavirus Acts was published on 9 June, the second report to the Scottish Parliament was published on 11 August and the third report covering the period from 1 August to 30 September, was published on 6 October

These reports include an assessment of the impact of, and continued need for, these important provisions.

https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-acts-two-monthly-report-scottish-parliament/pages/0/

https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-acts-second-report-scottish-parliament/

https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-acts-third-report-scottish-parliament/

COVID-19 remains a huge challenge to Scotland’s economy and labour market. The latest Scottish Government State of the Economy report for September 2020 published by the Chief Economist estimates that unemployment in Scotland could peak at around 8.2% towards the end of 2020, with prospects for recovery remaining uncertain.

In response to this challenge, the Scottish Government announced in the Programme for Government 2020-21 that it is setting aside an initial £25 million to support up to 10,000 people aged 25 or over who have lost their jobs or are at risk of doing so to retrain under the National Training and Transition Fund.

We have relaunched Individual Training Accounts (ITA) to provide unemployed people, those not in education and those in low-paid work the opportunity to access a £200 grant towards training, this will help people build skills needed for a job or career progression.

The Scottish Government has also continued to invest in our employability services, including more than £20 million this financial year (2020-21) in Fair Start Scotland, ensuring it is appropriately funded to deliver for those who need support taking account of COVID-19 impacts.

We carefully considered the risks and benefits associated with the start of the new academic year. Our sectoral guidance for colleges, universities and student accommodation providers is clear that institutions and providers should use risk and equality assessments to ensure that staff and students return to campus safely. The Scottish Government continues to consider a range of evidence on the progress of the pandemic in Scotland to judge whether, when and where any modifications are necessary.

We are providing significant levels of financial support for young people and adults throughout this unprecedented time. We have provided £5 million across FE and HE student support and early access to £11.4 million of HE Discretionary Funds. The Scottish Funding Council has also distributed £5 million of additional funding to help support learners facing digital hardship.

We worked closely with colleges, universities and trade unions on our sectoral guidance , which emphasises that colleges and universities should use risk and equality assessments to decide what a blended learning model looks like in their own individual circumstances.

The Scottish Government has carried out no formal assessment of the potential impact of Covid-19 on the demand for social housing. The Social Housing Resilience Group a broad membership group, including Scottish Government, has been set up to respond to the Covid-19 challenges facing the social housing sector.

Local authorities as the statutory housing authority are responsible for assessing housing need in their area. All local authorities are expected to prepare updated Strategic Housing Investment Plans reflecting the impact that Covid-19 may have had on investment plans locally and to set out what contingency plans that they have put in place in response. Local authorities will also reflect the impact that Covid-19 has on the delivery of housing and housing related services in their annual review of their Local Housing Strategies.

It is essential that every part of Scotland’s employment, education and skills system supports our economic recovery and Scotland’s colleges have a critical role in this.

Of the £100 million funding announced to support employment and skills development, £10 million will go directly to colleges for shorter, more industry focused opportunities. Proposals to maximise the impact of this investment are being finalised with the Scottish Funding Council and Colleges Scotland.

In addition to this, colleges will support the delivery of the £25m National Transition Training Fund, which will enable people aged 25 and over who have been made redundant or whose jobs are at risk as a result of the pandemic to access retraining to help them re-enter the workforce. Further and higher education led projects will form one strand of the National Transition Training Fund and more information about this will become available soon.

Looking at the full range of college delivery, Ministers have commissioned the Scottish Funding Council to carry out a review of coherent provision and sustainability across Further and Higher Education. The review, expected to publish soon, will cover provision, delivery, outcomes, targets and funding, including support for research activity, across the college and university sector.

In advance of this, the SFC responded to the recommendations of the Advisory Group on Economic Recovery (AGER) and the Enterprise & Skills Strategic Board sub-group (ESSB) by issuing new guidance to colleges, identifying around £20m of FE teaching budget in support of economic recovery activity.

Working with businesses to help them adapt to enable them to retain staff is a critical element of our Economic Recovery Implementation Plan. Colleges continue to deliver the Flexible Workforce Development Fund across Scotland, with £13 million of the £20 million already announced for delivery in this academic year. In the coming weeks, we will announce how the remaining £7 million will be allocated to support more employers to sustain and retain staff as we move towards economic recovery.

The Scottish Government regularly publishes information on house prices, housing market activity, cost and availability of finance and repossessions.

The most recent Scottish Housing Market Review, published on 30 September 2020, includes information about the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the housing market and can be found here https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-housing-market-review-2020/

The Scottish Government recognises the additional pressure that the pandemic and restrictions place upon individuals and families and is committed to providing clear, comprehensive and accessible support for mental health.

As part of this commitment we have been working closely with all health boards to maintain the integrity and quality of mental health services across Scotland throughout the pandemic, ensuring that emergency and urgent cases have been prioritised. Services are now working hard to return to previous activity levels and to deal with any backlogs that have developed. We are monitoring this through NHS Boards’ remobilisation plans, and our own transition and recovery plan for mental health can be found at www.gov.scot/publications/mental-health-scotlands-transition-recovery/

In April 2020 we launched the Clear Your Head campaign, to help the population look after their own mental health and wellbeing. The campaign highlights the practical things people can do to help them feel better and cope with the restrictions during the coronavirus outbreak, acknowledging these are worrying and uncertain times for many. The website is updated regularly in light of developments associated with the pandemic.

We have provided funding to expand the NHS24 Mental Health Hub so that it is now available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to increase the capacity of the Breathing Space telephone helpline and web support service ; and to increase capacity for Computerised Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.

We have also expanded the Distress Brief Intervention (DBI) programme into a nationwide response for people in distress. Now, anyone who phones the NHS24 Mental Health Hub in emotional distress from anywhere in Scotland and who does not need emergency clinical intervention and is assessed as appropriate can be referred to the DBI Programme for further support.

Further advice and support for mental health is available through the NHS Inform website .

The Scottish COVID-19 (SCOVID) Mental Health Tracker Study will provide insight into the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions on the mental health of the Scottish population. This is a longitudinal study running from May 2020 to May 2021, with 5 waves. A report on the Wave 1 findings will be published this month.

The Mental Health Research Advisory Group was established in April 2020 to follow research developments to understand the medium and long term impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on mental health. The group, chaired by Professor Andrew Gumley, Director of the Scottish Mental Health Research Network, includes academics and public health experts from across Scotland. The Group will support the development of our evidence-led mental health policy response to the pandemic. The MHRAG have produced an evidence summary briefings provided with the minutes in April 2020 and June 2020 .