Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of commissioning research to improve understanding of how to support people who self-harm without intending to take their own lives.

In 2017, we expanded the scope of the national suicide prevention strategy to include addressing self-harm as an issue in its own right, and we have funded the Multicentre Study of Self-harm – the most in-depth analysis and monitoring of self-harming trends in England.

The aim of the Multicentre Study’s work is to conduct a series of related studies on the epidemiology, causes, clinical management, outcome and prevention of self-harm.

The cross-Government Suicide Prevention Workplan includes a commitment to establish a wider mental health research programme to inform our thinking in many of the areas that may impact suicide and self-harm prevention. We continue to provide funding for research projects through the National Institute for Health Research including for suicide and self-harm prevention.