The Scottish Children’s Services Coalition (SCSC), an alliance of leading providers of specialist care and education to vulnerable children and young people, is calling for parity of action and parity of spend as new figures highlight that nearly 100 children and young people have been waiting more than a year for mental health treatment in Scotland.
These figures were highlighted in the latest waiting time statistics from Public Health Scotland published today (Tuesday 3rd March 2026), indicating that 97 children and young people had been waiting over a year for treatment from Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in the quarter ending December 2025.
Additionally, 200 individuals have been waiting between nine months and a year for treatment.
The figures come against the background of a mental health emergency, with an increasing demand on services, exacerbated by the long shadow of the Covid lockdown and cost-of-living crisis.
The Scottish Government's target, dating back to December 2014, is for 90 per cent of children and young people to start treatment within 18 weeks of referral to CAMHS.
Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, cases of poor mental health in children and young people were at unprecedented levels, with overstretched and under-resourced services struggling to keep pace with dramatically escalating demand.
A spokesperson for the SCSC said:
“The latest figures highlighting that nearly 100 children and young people have been waiting over a year for mental health treatment are extremely alarming.
“While the fact that the Scottish Government is meeting its waiting time target is to be welcomed, many children and young people are still waiting years for help, which worsens their mental health and is a sure-fire way to add to their pain.
“What we need is not just parity of esteem between mental health and physical health, it’s parity of action and parity of spend.
“We are facing a mental health emergency, and many of our children and young people are at breaking point, with stress and anxiety reaching alarming levels as they battle with the long shadow of lockdown and the rising cost of living. This is also negatively impacting classroom behaviour, affecting the young people concerned, their fellow pupils, and staff.
“Each one of these statistics is an individual, and we would urge the Scottish Government to ensure the adequate resourcing of mental health services for our children and young people so that they can get the care and support they need, without lengthy waits.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
About the Scottish Children’s Services Coalition
The Scottish Children’s Services Coalition (SCSC) is an alliance of leading providers of specialist care and education to vulnerable children and young people, as well as support to their families or carers.
It seeks to improve the lives of these children and young people, and its vision is to make Scotland the best place in the world for them to grow up in.
The SCSC aims to achieve this through campaigning to improve support for these vulnerable individuals. This seeks to ensure that a wide range of high-quality, well-resourced and easily accessible services is provided. Tailored to individual needs, this will help them to achieve their full potential.
Members of the SCSC are:
Further information about the SCSC can be found at www.thescsc.org.uk.
