Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, according to data supplied to the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health, how many patients in recent (<12 months) contact with mental health services were convicted of a homicide offence in 2023 and 2024.

The National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health is not able to provide separate figures for 2024.

In England, Wales, and Scotland, the estimated number of people who were convicted of a homicide offence and who had been in contact with mental health services in the previous 12 months was 54 in 2021, 56 in 2022, and 58 in 2023.

Figures for more recent years are subject to greater uncertainty, as delays to court proceedings during and after the COVID-19 pandemic mean that some convictions are likely to be recorded later.