Additional investment for neurodevelopmental support
2 Feb 2026 11:12 AM
Increased funding to support children and families.
Children, young people and their families will benefit from £3.4 million of additional investment to improve access to neurodevelopmental support.
This brings investment in neurodevelopmental supports and services this year to more than £5 million, providing earlier help for families and ensuring people can access support that meets their needs.
More than £1 million is intended to directly support families, including providing access to digital support on neurodevelopmental 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 in one place.
The investment will also help improve services, including testing new approaches to neurodevelopmental assessment and ADHD support for young adults.
Minister for Social Care and Mental Wellbeing Tom Arthur yesterday said:
"I am determined to drive real, meaningful improvements and deliver the best possible outcomes for neurodivergent people. Demand for neurodevelopmental support and diagnosis has increased significantly in recent years, both in Scotland and globally.
"This additional £3.4 million 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 neurodevelopmental 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."
Background
The investment builds on the additional £500,000 funding announced in June 2025, bringing the total additional investment to £3.9 million 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 neurodevelopmental 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 neurodevelopmental test of change
- and work to better understand support needs of children and young people on health board waiting lists and assist connection of families with local support
Neurodevelopmental conditions include autism and ADHD.
The Scottish Government's National Neurodevelopmental Specification sets out the standards for children’s services to follow when providing neurodevelopmental support.
EPIC Think Learn is a digital support platform that provides resources and guidance to families.
The Edinburgh Disability and Neurodevelopment Hub was developed by The Yard in partnership with statutory services and the third sector.