Investment in addressing the deep-rooted causes of poverty would be greatly increased if the Scottish Government wasn’t being continually forced to spend money on tackling the negative impact of UK Government welfare cuts. That was the message from new Social Security Minister Jeane Freeman ahead of her first keynote address to the Child Poverty Action Group’s annual conference. Continue reading Poverty misery: blame Westminster!
Funding will enable communities to buy out buildings and land
Communities across Scotland will now receive support to become land or buildings owners thanks to a £350,000 fund. Continue reading £350,000 to support community ownership
Improving Scotland’s health and social care will remain a top Government priority, Health Secretary Shona Robison will tell Holyrood today. Continue reading Improving health ‘a top priority’ for Scottish Government
Pick up the recycling habit this September
Cabinet Secretary for Environment Roseanna Cunningham has announced a week long effort to get Scotland recycling – and community groups are being encouraged to get involved.
Recycle Week will run from 12 to 18 September, co-ordinated by Zero Waste Scotland, it will aim to get everyone recycling more by raising awareness of the benefits and promoting easy ways to do more.
In the run up to the week local authorities, businesses, community groups, schools and colleges are being encouraged to get involved and take action to help boost recycling.
Launching the week this morning on World Environment Day (5 June), Ms Cunningham said: “We are lucky to be blessed with a stunning environment that is one of our most precious assets. It is crucial that we protect our resources and that’s key to our ambitions for a more circular economy in Scotland, where we keep products and materials in valuable use for longer.
“We’ve made great progress increasing recycling in recent years. For example in 2010 only 12% of households had food waste collections, while new figures show that has increased to 75%. It has never been easier to recycle your waste, but we still have further to go.
“People and communities the length and breadth of Scotland have a role to play and this September we’ll be encouraging more folk to pick up the recycling habit and do their bit for our environment.”
Iain Gulland, Chief Executive, Zero Waste Scotland, said: “Recycle Week is all about getting as many people in Scotland as possible aware of the need to recycle more and to recycle better.
“More people than ever are recycling, especially in relation to food waste, which has a huge environmental impact. But we can all be better at it, and during Recycle Week we’ll be highlighting the importance of doing our bit – providing advice on what and how to recycle best, exploding some of the myths in the process, with a series of high profile events and activities. I hope as many people as possible will get involved.”
For businesses, local authorities or community groups who want to get involved or host an event, information and support materials are available at http://www.recycleforscotland.com/recycle-week-2016
Tomorrow is D-Day for cervical screening changes
Chief Medical Officer Catherine Calderwood has urged women to take up their invitation for cervical screening as changes to the programme come into force. From tomorrow, the age range for routine cervical screening will be changing to offer women aged 25 to 64 screening every three or five years. Continue reading Women urged to take up smear test invitations
Catherine Dyer to chair independent child protection review
Deputy First Minister John Swinney announced an independent chair to review Child Protection in Scotland as he addressed more than 100 senior leaders from across Scotland who met for a summit in Perth as part of the Child Protection Improvement Programme yesterday. Continue reading Protecting Scotland’s most vulnerable
People from disadvantaged backgrounds will receive training and help to become volunteers, Communities Secretary Angela Constance has revealed at the start of Volunteers’ Week. Continue reading Government commits £1.1m to recruit volunteers
Holyrood has new powers from today
New powers for the Scottish Parliament will be used to create a fairer country, Constitution Secretary Derek Mackay has pledged. From today, the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government receive new powers through the Scotland Act 2016. Continue reading Scotland has the power …
Minister speaks about the importance of new role
Commenting on her new role as Mental Health Minister at the end of Mental Health Awareness Week, Maureen Watt said:
“I am extremely proud to be appointed as Scotland’s first dedicated Mental Health Minister, and the first in the UK. Starting my new position during Mental Health Awareness Week makes it particularly special for me – a reminder of what an important role it is.
“Mental Health is an absolute priority of this government, demonstrated by the fact that we have committed an additional £150 million to improve mental health services. Some of that has already been invested in innovation; improving access to child and adolescent mental health services and psychological therapies; and primary care. I look forward to announcing more details of how the remainder will be spent in the coming weeks and months. Later this year we will be publishing a ten year strategy to improve mental health and services – I see this as the centrepiece of this Government’s focus on improving Mental Health.
“We are currently working on the development of the next Strategy, and over the last few months we have engaged with a wide range of stakeholders including people who use services, service providers and professional bodies. The Scottish Association for Mental Health and Voices of Experience also hosted engagement events and the Strategy will be informed by all of the comments and input that we have received.
“I want us to focus more on prevention and early intervention. By addressing mental health problems as early as possible, we can prevent people from becoming more distressed, and improve access to services when needed by reducing pressure on the NHS.
“We need to think about new and innovative ways to improve mental health. That means looking for approaches that go beyond traditional health settings. It will also mean taking advantage of the well-known links between physical health and mental wellbeing. If we can get people more active, the benefits are enormous. We want to tackle the 15-20 year difference in life expectancy for people living with serious mental illness.
“Around 90 per cent of mental health problems are dealt with in primary care settings, so this will be a priority area for us. Part of the £150 million will be used to fund new ways of responding to these issues in and around GP surgeries.
“In recent years we’ve seen a significant increase in the number of people accessing mental health services. If that means more people are prepared to ask for help rather than suffer in silence, that should be welcomed. NHS boards are seeing more people than ever before, but I’m clear that more work needs to be done to meet the waiting time standards we have set.
“Finally I want to say something about the stigma which still exists around mental health. It is completely wrong that people with mental health issues suffer discrimination and stigma. Sadly too many still do.
“The Scottish Government, in collaboration with Comic Relief, funds the See Me initiative to help address this, and they do valuable work. But the truth is that each and every one of us has it within our power to do our bit to end this stigma, and to be more understanding of people who have mental health problems.”
MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS WEEK STATEMENT
This Mental Health Awareness Week See Me we are calling on everyone to start talking more about mental health and to be there for each other.
Mental health is part of everyone’s day to day life, it affects all of us, but there is still a stigma around it.
To tackle this properly people need to understand that it is okay not to be okay, however it is not okay for anyone to suffer alone in silence.
You don’t have to be an expert to speak about mental health, just asking someone if they are okay can be a powerful thing.
We need to change the culture around mental health so people with mental health problems to feel confident enough to talk, without the fear that they will be stigmatised and discriminated against.
No one should ever be made to feel ashamed or embarrassed to tell anyone that they experience mental health problems.
For move information visit
https://www.seemescotland.org/
Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs, has announced the companies and artists selected for the 8th year of Made in Scotland – a curated showcase of music, theatre and dance performed during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world’s biggest arts festival. Continue reading Made in Scotland arts showcase unveiled
