Additional investment for neuro-developmental support

Children and young people across Scotland will benefit from £3.4m of additional investment to improve access to neuro-developmental support.

This brings investment in neuro-developmental supports and services this year to more than £5m, providing earlier help for families and ensuring people can access support that meets their needs.

More than £1m is intended to directly support families, including providing access to digital support on neuro-developmental conditions including autism and ADHD.

A successful hub model developed in Edinburgh will also be expanded to Tayside, bringing together health, education, and third sector support for families under one roof.

And the investment will help improve services, including testing new approaches to neuro-developmental assessment and ADHD support for young adults.

Minister for Social Care and Mental Wellbeing, Tom Arthur, said: “I am determined to drive real, meaningful improvements and deliver the best-possible outcomes for neuro-divergent people.

“Demand for neuro-developmental support and diagnosis has increased significantly in recent years, both in Scotland and globally and this additional £3.4m will improve the help available to families – providing better information,practical support, and access to services in their communities.

“This funding will create the groundwork for additional investment in the future – as proposed in our Budget for next year.

“We want to ensure that children, young people, and their families can access the support they need, regardless of where they are on their neuro-developmental journey.

“A diagnosis is just one part of someone’s experience. What matters most is that people get the right support at the right time, and this funding will help make that happen.”

The investment builds on the additional £500,000 funding announced in June 2025,bringing the total additional investment to £3.9m in 2025-26.

Funding is being made available for a range of projects, including:

• Supplementing health board assessment capacity, particularly for young people approaching transition to adult services
• Providing digital support to 1,000 families through the EPIC Think Learn platform
• Extending the Yard’s Edinburgh Disability and Neurodevelopment Hub model to Tayside, bringing together support from health, education and third sector services
• Testing holistic approaches to assessment and support with a new neuro-developmental research clinic with the University of Glasgow
• Work to develop and test digital support tools for ADHD for young adults
• Continuing the Fife children and young people’s neuro-developmental test of change
• Work to better understand support needs of children and young people on health board waiting lists and assist connection of families with local support