PLANS to cut funding for mental-health projects in Scotland by more than 8 per cent in the next three years were last night condemned by campaigners.
The Liberal Democrats accused the SNP government of a U-turn on mental health when there was growing evidence that levels of illness were rising.
The Scottish Government's spending review revealed that funding for "mental-health legislation and s
ervices", covering initiatives such as the Mental Welfare Commission, would remain at £21.1 million a year, up to 2010-11. At the same time, the budget for mental wellbeing remains static at £6.3 million.
The Lib Dems said that, in real terms, this meant an 8.1 per cent drop in funding. But the Scottish Government said other parts of the health budget, which also cover mental-health services, were growing.
Ross Finnie, the Lib Dem health spokesman, and campaigners also condemned the removal of ring-fencing from local-authority funding for mental health. It means councils can use the £14 million previously given to them annually to tackle mental health for anything they want.
The concerns were raised against a backdrop of growing fears about the state of mental health in Scotland.
Earlier this month, The Scotsman revealed that the number of child- psychiatry beds had plummeted by 70 per cent, forcing youngsters into adult wards.
A report revealed prescriptions for antidepressants had increased more than fourfold in less than 15 years. Services for those with eating disorders, such as anorexia, and patients self-harming have also come in for criticism over the past year.
Mr Finnie said that when in opposition, the SNP had conceded that mental health was a "Cinderella service". "Now they're in government, mental health has been relegated even further to the role of the orphan child," he said.
"Mental health is supposed to be a national priority. One in four of us will experience a mental-health problem at some point."
Shona Neil, the chief executive of the Scottish Association for Mental Health, also criticised the cuts in funding. "We know that people with serious mental-health problems die ten years earlier than their more mentally healthy counterparts," she said.
"It is ironic, knowing what we know, that we are not directing more resources at the problem."
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "We are engaged in a major improvement programme for mental health, a priority which is now receiving more attention than ever."
FEARS FOR WOMEN'S REFUGES
SUPPORT services for abused women and children are under threat because of the new budget, campaign groups said yesterday.
Under the deal with local authorities last week, "ring fencing" has been removed for housing support services for vulnerable people. Scottish Women's Aid is concerned this means councils will transfer money to more popular services, and the group is calling on MSPs to put pressure on local authorities to ensure women's support services get enough money.
The full article contains 494 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
