Hard to determine whether mental health spending is effective, say MSPs

A lack of transparency is blocking attempts to determine whether the Scottish Government’s spending on mental health is effective, a Holyrood committee has warned.

The Health, Social Care and Sport Committee said it was disappointed by the lack of transparency around data gathering and analysis into the Government’s mental health budget.

Spending on mental health in Scotland has risen in recent years and now stands at around £1.5bn a year.

As part of its pre-budget scrutiny, the committee said there was general support for the priorities set out in the Government’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy and accompanying delivery plan.

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But MSPs expressed regret that it still remains “very difficult to identify links between those priorities and how mental health budgets are spen