The state of ADHD & autism care in Scotland

The Programme for Government 2026–2031 commits to “Adopt the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ 4-tiered national pathway for neurodevelopmental conditions for adults and continue to implement the Children & Young People’s National Neurodevelopmental Specification, to ensure anyone with or without a formal neurodevelopmental diagnosis can access the support they need when and where they need it.” The Programme for Government attached no timeline, funding allocation or implementation detail to the adult commitment. The Mental Health and Wellbeing Delivery Plan (29 September 2026) restated the adoption and, for the first time, attached a timeline: the Government will “set out a timeline and route-map for adoption and integration of the 4-level approach” by the end of 2026. No funding for the adult pathway is stated.

Reference: Programme for Government 2026–2031, “Delivering a stronger NHS and Public Services” · 1 September 2026

The Scottish Government committed to bring stakeholders together to agree a route map for implementing a new neurodevelopmental pathway model for adults, within the first 100 days of the parliamentary session. On day ~100, the Programme for Government (1 September 2026) adopted the RCPsych model — a direction of travel — but a route map itself (the stakeholder-agreed implementation plan) has not been published. The Mental Health and Wellbeing Delivery Plan (29 September 2026) gave it a first deadline: the timeline and route-map are now due “by the end of 2026”.

Reference: Scottish Parliament, Official Report, Minister for Mental Wellbeing · 17 June 2026

The Mental Health and Wellbeing Delivery Plan committed that the Scottish Government “will work with partners to address issues where NHS services do not recognise a diagnosis of autism or ADHD from private providers … (by summer 2027)”. No mechanism, standard, or definition of what “recognise” requires is yet published. The plan names the NHS, private diagnostic providers and the Scottish Government as delivery partners.

Reference: Mental Health and Wellbeing Delivery Plan (§6.5, Private providers) · 29 September 2026

The 2026–27 Scottish Budget provides “over £7.5 million” of new funding to improve neurodevelopmental assessment and care for children and young people. On 9 September 2026 the Government announced £7.6 million to strengthen and expand local neurodevelopmental support for children, young people and their families, to be distributed to local councils and shaped by local circumstances. No council-level breakdown, conditions or waiting-time targets are published, and no equivalent adult funding is stated. The Mental Health and Wellbeing Delivery Plan (29 September 2026, §6.3) restated this £7.6 million as 2026-27 funding for local authorities to develop neuro-affirming support for children and young people.

Reference: Scottish Government news release, “Boosting neurodevelopmental support for children” · 9 September 2026

The Scottish Government and COSLA committed to revise the children and young people’s Specification, following the 2025 implementation review, as a medium-term action for beyond early 2026.

Reference: National Neurodevelopmental Specification, Implementation Review · 26 June 2025

The Health, Social Care and Sport Committee called for a national plan for consistent pathways across all boards, a national assessment standard, mandatory referrer training, and routine quarterly reporting of referral and waiting-times data.

Reference: HSCS Committee, “ADHD and autism pathways and support” · 30 January 2026

The Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee’s “Neurodivergence in Scotland” inquiry recommended national diagnostic standards, holistic assessment, shared-care arrangements and mandatory training.

Reference: EHRCJ Committee, “Neurodivergence in Scotland” · 20 March 2026

A neurodevelopmental task force was established (£500,000) to share good practice, improve data availability and support implementation of the children’s Specification. Its published remit covers children and young people, not adults. The Mental Health and Wellbeing Delivery Plan (29 September 2026, §6.2) confirms the taskforce is supporting delivery of the children and young people’s Specification.

Reference: Scottish Government ministerial statement · 26 June 2025

Children and young people have a National Neurodevelopmental Specification (2021). For adults, the only national document is the NAIT “Adult Neurodevelopmental Pathways” report, classified as research and analysis, not a standard. It states there is “no national system for collecting this information”.

Reference: NAIT, Adult Neurodevelopmental Pathways report · 31 March 2023

Public Health Scotland is commissioned to collect CAMHS data “excluding ND pathway activity”, so neurodevelopmental assessment waits are not counted in the national CAMHS statistics. There is no adult equivalent. No routine national figure for ND assessment waits is published. The Programme for Government (1 September 2026) reports the CAMHS 18-week standard met for the first time — a real achievement that, by design of the statistics, does not include children waiting for neurodevelopmental assessment. The Mental Health and Wellbeing Delivery Plan (29 September 2026, §6.4) commits, for children and young people, to “consideration of data availability and collection” between 2026 and 2028, while adding this should happen “without increasing unnecessary reporting burden or reporting of metrics that do not drive improvement and access to timely support”. It sets no routine national waiting-times dataset for neurodevelopmental assessment, for children or adults.

Reference: Public Health Scotland, CAMHS waiting times · release of 3 March 2026

Consulted on in 2023–24, the LDAN Bill would have created statutory duties around support for people with learning disabilities and neurodivergent people. In September 2026 the Minister for Mental Wellbeing told the LDAN Bill Committee the Government will not take the Bill forward — a Bill would take several years to pass and implement — and that it will pursue policy reform, service improvement and targeted investment instead. On 14 September, organisations including National Autistic Society Scotland, Scottish Autism and Down’s Syndrome Scotland wrote to the Parliament expressing concern at the decision.

Reference: Letter from the Minister for Mental Wellbeing to the LDAN Committee, as reported by Learning Disability Today · September 2026