Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether suicide prevention funding for local authorities will be extended beyond April 2024.

The Suicide Prevention Strategy for England is supported by a wide range of Government funded activity, that will support people’s mental health. This includes an increase in mental health spending of £4.6 billion between 2018/19 and 2023/24, compared to the original £3.4 billion set out at the time of the NHS Long Term Plan’s publishing. Of this, £57 million has been specifically for suicide prevention and suicide bereavement services in all areas of the country. Future funding beyond the Long Term Plan is yet to be determined. From 2021 to 2025 we will have made over £15 million available to support suicide prevention in voluntary, community, and social enterprise organisations through our suicide prevention grant funds.