3. To ask the First Minister what issues will be discussed at the next meeting of the Cabinet. (S5F-00681)

Matters of importance to the people of Scotland.

Apex Scotland has 30 years’ experience of working in prisons. Its chief executive says that a Majority of young offenders have a mental health condition, yet he also says that access to mental health services is “poor or non-existent.”

The latest figures show that there was a sixfold increase in the number of attempted suicides at Polmont young offenders institution in just one year. Apex Scotland says that mental health services for young offenders are being left far behind, just like those in the rest of the country. Will the First Minister give me a guarantee that mental health services for young offenders will change?

The First Minister:

That is certainly the Scottish Government’s intention. I agree with Willie Rennie. This is not a new thing; it is a generations-old issue. If mental health services generally have tended to be the Cinderella service, that is particularly true when we talk about dealing with young offenders in our prisons.

It is absolutely the case that many people—particularly young people—who find themselves in prison suffer from mental health issues. It is therefore incumbent on all of us to make sure that they have access to good-quality mental health services to deal with what are often the underlying causes of their offending.

I have said many times in the chamber and I say again that we are seeing a substantial increase in demand for mental health services. We should recognise that as a positive, as it points to a reduction in the stigma that is associated with mental health issues, but we have an absolute obligation to make sure that we can meet that rising demand. That is why our mental health strategy is so important and why we are taking so much time and care to make sure that we get it right. It is also why the additional investment that we have planned in mental health services is important.

The problem for the First Minister is that the mental health strategy does not even mention mental health services for young offenders—there is not one mention of that. I have told her before that many organisations think that the strategy is just not good enough.

Marie Curie says that there is nothing for the terminally ill, and the strategy has been criticised by the Royal College of Nursing Scotland, the psychiatrists and a whole lot of charities.

The £10 million that was announced at the weekend is a drop in the ocean. All the while, people are struggling. Hundreds of teenagers are still waiting for more than a year to get the help that they need, 11 out of 14 health boards cannot even meet the basic target and Police Scotland has lost 200,000 working days as a result of mental ill health.

Does the First Minister accept that the draft mental health strategy, which is already a year late, needs a major rewrite?

The First Minister:

The problem for Willie Rennie is that he alleges that the mental health strategy does not cover the issue, but the strategy has not been published yet and will not be published until the new year. We are taking time and care to make sure that the consultation responses, some of which he cited, are properly taken into account. The Health and Sport Committee asked us not to publish the strategy until it had had the opportunity to feed into the process properly.

Publishing a draft document for consultation is a normal part of the process of developing such strategies. What we hear and the input that we get from organisations such as those that Willie Rennie spoke about are a crucial part of making sure that, when we publish the final strategy, it takes account of those important points. I encourage Willie Rennie and any other member to continue to play a constructive role in helping us to ensure that on this very important issue we get it right in all the different aspects.

On the general point about child and adolescent mental health services, I have recognised before and continue to recognise the big challenge that confronts us because of rising demand. We have a lot of work still to do, but we are seeing rising numbers of workers in the area and we are starting to see waiting times improve, although they have an awful long way to go.

We have a lot to do, but we are heading in the right direction and our mental health strategy will help us to accelerate the pace of that. When it is published in the new year, I hope that all members will get behind it. As I have said, this is one of the most important issues to get to grips with in the years to come, not just for the Government but for all our partners working in the area.

The Presiding Officer:

We will have some supplementaries.

What will the focus of the Government’s new international development strategy be?

The First Minister:

Our new international development strategy was published yesterday. It has at its core the aim of tackling global poverty, injustice and inequality and working in partnership with others to achieve the United Nations global goals. Since 2005, we have supported hundreds of projects to deliver healthcare, to give children access to education, to give families access to energy and to support people to gain employment to lift themselves out of poverty. The strategy will build on that work and will focus on four partner countries—Malawi, Zambia, Rwanda and Pakistan—to allow our funding to have a bigger impact on the lives of the people whom we work with.

Last Thursday—[

Interruption.

] Thank you very much. Last Thursday, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice provided me with a written answer about Scottish Police Authority committee meetings being held behind closed doors, which he said was a matter for the SPA. Later that day, a member of the SPA raised concerns about openness and transparency. The report from Her Majesty’s inspectorate of constabulary in Scotland was published about 90 minutes ago, and it has 17 pages. If the First Minister has got to page 5, she will have read that it questions the decision to hold committee meetings in private. What will the First Minister do to ensure that the SPA carries out its functions in ways that are proportionate, accountable and transparent, as required by the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012, which her Government passed?

The First Minister:

I expect the SPA to take account of, and make sure that it implements, the views and recommendations of both the Auditor General and

Her Majesty’s inspectorate of constabulary. That includes the views that have been expressed in the report this morning about openness and transparency.

Given the unacceptable decision by Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS Board to close the in-patient facility at the centre for integrative care and given that, under the original agreement, that decision can be taken only by the Secretary of State for Scotland—it is now devolved to the Scottish Government—will the First Minister respect the decision of this Parliament in a vote and instruct the health secretary to stop hiding behind the board and call in the decision?

The First Minister:

As the member is aware, we take all such decisions seriously. We ask the Scottish health council to inform decisions about which proposed service changes are to be treated as major service changes and which do not require that. We will continue to follow that advice and we will continue to make sure that we support local services and the reforms that are required in our health service to make sure that patients across the country get the services that they are entitled to expect.