Andrew Learmonth

Big credit to @andrewlearmonth.bsky.social and the @heraldscotland.bsky.social for choosing to do their own version of this thread (this time regarding the Autumn Budget Revision) as the splash in today’s paper. Imagine a world where budget papers made it clear how taxpayers’ money is being spent.

Basically, the direct mental health budget line has halved mid-year. Ministers say it’s just accounting shifts, but won’t publish the details. When I went to them for clarity they answered questions I didn't ask.

Now, Scotland’s Mental Health Partnership has written to Tom Arthur MSP demanding clarity.

They want to know if this is a real-terms cut, and where the money has gone.

Officials are also comparing the new figures to the 2024/25 ABR, not to the original 2025/26 Budget — the figure Parliament approved.

That’s the proper benchmark for seeing whether spending has gone up, down or been moved since the Budget was set.

They also said 2025/26 “Level 4” figures show a £3.2m increase compared to last year.

But ABR documents only go down to Level 3. Level 4 is a more detailed breakdown that isn’t published as part of this revision.

But the £127.7m wasn’t part of this budget revision — it was a previous baseline transfer.

Asked again to explain the drop from £270.5m to £134m, officials cited “presentational adjustments” and pointed back to NHS budgets.

When asked, the government said the £120m wasn’t taken from the Mental Health Services line.

They also pointed to £127.7m already transferred to NHS Boards earlier in the year and claimed total mental health spending will hit £1.5bn.

£120m of that was internally transferred to local government for the Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan.

But that still leaves a £16.5m gap, roughly 6% of direct mental health spending, which ministers haven’t explained.

The Scottish Budget published in Dec 2024 allocated £270.5m to the Mental Health Services line for 2025/26.

But the Autumn Budget Revision (ABR) — which lets ministers shift money mid-year — revised this down to £133.9m, a £136.5m reduction.

Charities demand answers from Scottish Government over secret £16m mental health cut Groups including SAMH and the RCGPs say ministers need to explain a gap in mental health funding exposed by the Autumn Budget Revision.

Scotland’s leading mental health organisations are demanding answers over what appears to be a multi-million-pound cut to direct mental health spending, quietly buried in the Scottish Government’s Autumn Budget Revision. @heraldscotland.bsky.social www.heraldscotland.com/news/2551697...

Pro-Palestinian activists took over Edinburgh Waverley on Thursday night to protest Israel’s interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla. Passengers had to be escorted onto their platforms by British Transport Police.

Full story in today's @heraldscotland.bsky.social

Additional reporting by @emily-moore1.bsky.social

That email, signed by 210 people from a local community council, targeted 12 councillors who backed the Flamingo Land development.

Because of how the system records cases, it counted as 210 complaints against each councillor.

The key reason for the spike? West Dunbartonshire Council.

Of the 2,714 complaints, 2,520 were about councillors there — all submitted in a single email.

The spike has raised fears the complaints process is being “weaponised” against councillors, with vexatious or ineligible submissions clogging the system and slowing down scrutiny of genuine cases.

Fears process being weaponised as record 2,700 complaints lodged against councillors Scotland’s standards watchdog saw a record 2,714 complaints in 2024/25, but just 128 were investigated, sparking concern over misuse of the system.

Scotland’s standards watchdog received a record 2,714 complaints about councillors last year — nearly nine times more than the year before. But just 128 cases were actually investigated. www.heraldscotland.com/news/2546280...

Far-right leader charged with indecent online communications The arrest came after officers were called to a confrontation in Castlemilk, where a man — who believed he was meeting a 13-year-old girl — was…

www.heraldscotland.com/news/2544675...

Police Scotland buried a damning internal report that warned of pervasive misogyny, predatory senior officers, and a “toxic boys’ club” culture in which women in the force were bullied into silence and branded “troublemakers” for reporting abuse 👇

I'd totally forgotten it! What a belter.

Kate Forbes confirms she will not seek re-election at Holyrood in 2026

The Deputy First Minister will not stand at next year's Holyrood election

@andrewlearmonth.bsky.social

THE WEEK IN SCOTTISH FOOTBALL PATTER 2025/26: Vol. 1

It estimates your age but doesn't tell you what age it's estimated, which feels a little cruel.

An SNP spokesperson said the party remained united under John Swinney.

“There are better organisations I could be giving a membership to than this one that I don’t feel has been making the right decisions for quite some time.”

Speaking exclusively to The Herald's
@teddyjamieson.bsky.social ahead of her Edinburgh Fringe show, Black said she’d ended her membership in recent weeks.

“For a long time I’ve not agreed with quite a few decisions,” she said.

The former MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South says the party is no longer making the right decisions and has “capitulated” on LGBT rights.

Former SNP MP Mhairi Black has left the party Speaking to The Herald ahead of her upcoming show at the Edinburgh Fringe, Black admitted that she had ended her membership of the SNP in recent…

EXC: Mhairi Black quits the SNP www.heraldscotland.com/news/2533985...

"There’s still a part of you that can’t help feeling like a failure.” Former SNP MP @hannahbardell.bsky.social talks to @heraldscotland.bsky.social's Unspun Live about losing her seat at last year's election and what happened next. Full episode on Spotify open.spotify.com/episode/7vbm...

The tumultuous history of Oasis and their inextricable link with Scotland Oasis play the first show of their long-awaited reunion in Cardiff on Friday night but the band are forever tied to Scotland

www.heraldscotland.com/news/2454220...