Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of black and minority ethnic lesbian and bisexual women who have contemplated suicide.

The Department has made no such estimate. However, our suicide prevention strategy, Preventing suicide in England: A cross-government outcomes strategy to save lives published in 2012, recognises that tailored approaches to mental health are necessary in specific groups.

The strategy recognises that a tailored approach should be taken to the mental health of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and black, Asian and minority ethnic groups if their suicide risk is to be reduced.

The strategy is also backed by £1.5 million funding for suicide prevention research, investing over three years into six projects. One of these projects intends to understand lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual adolescents’ suicide, self-harm and help-seeking behaviour.