Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had recent discussion with the Samaritans on the potential merits of introducing new legislation aimed at tackling suicide and self harm.

The Department has discussed a range of issues relating to suicide and self-harm with Samaritans, including through the National Suicide Prevention Strategy Advisory Group. These discussions have related to the Government’s Online Safety Bill to address harmful suicide and self-harm content online and the proposed introduction of a new offence relating to the encouragement or assistance of serious self-harm, as recommended by the Law Commission in its report on modernising communications offences, published in July 2021.