Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking work with Cabinet colleagues to deliver a joined-up approach to suicide prevention.

The Suicide Prevention Strategy for England, published on 11 September 2023, is a multi-sector and cross-Government strategy, with actions from a wide range of organisations that will be delivered over the next five years. Suicide prevention is everybody’s business, and a joined-up approach is essential to achieving this. The strategy is a call for action for national and local government, the health service, the voluntary, community & social enterprise sector, employers and individuals to tackle suicide.

We have worked across Government departments to develop this strategy and will continue to do so in order to deliver the actions within it. As part of this, the Government will take a leading role in tackling methods of suicide, collaborating with partners across the world in policy, law enforcement and society more broadly to limit access, reduce awareness, and share research, evidence and lessons learned. We are also working with NHS England and professional bodies to improve suicide prevention signposting and support to people in contact with primary care services.

We are working with the Department for Work and Pensions in seeking opportunities to improve the Government’s role in supporting employers to improve the support they provide for the mental wellbeing of themselves and their employees.

In November 2023 we launched a new nationwide near real-time suspected suicide surveillance system that will improve the early detection of and timely action to address changes in suicide rates or trends.

We are also working together with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and local authorities to explore opportunities for improving data collection and data sharing in all areas.

More generally, we work closely with local government via the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ regional leads network, and we have set out our intention in the strategy to write guidance for local areas to support them to align their own strategies with the national strategy.