Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to tackle differences in the quality and outcomes of different local authority suicide prevention plans.

The Department has worked in partnership with the local government sector to develop an approach to ensure the effectiveness of local suicide prevention plans.

In October 2018, local authorities were invited to complete a self-assessment of their local plans. The self-assessment responses and the local plans are being analysed by an independent researcher and the results will be considered by an expert panel. This process will help to identify areas for improvement for local plans and areas of best practice which can be shared across the local government sector. We will publish a report in the spring with findings and themes, including areas for improvement and learning.

The results will also be used to inform a programme of mutual support over the next two to three years to enable local areas to learn from each other and to further develop their plans.