Found: I was the first Minister to speak on veterans’ suicide and give a statement to the House of Commons

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the new ONS method for recording and reporting veteran suicide, whether he plans to regularly publish this data.

Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)

The Office for National Statistics will trial a new method of of recording veteran suicide from early 2023 by working closely with the Office for Veterans’ Affairs and the Ministry of Defence. As part of a 10-year retrospective study, analysis of veteran suicide data is expected to be completed by the ONS in 2023. Details on how and when this data might be published will be finalised following agreement between the MOD, ONS and OVA.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the Government’s plans to tackle suicide among veterans.

Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)

The Government is clear that any suicide is a tragedy and is fully committed to tackling suicide among veterans. In September 2021, we announced a new method for recording veteran suicide. We expect the first reports from this data to be available in 2023.

Concurrent to that work, the MOD, ONS and OVA are working collaboratively to publish a 10-year lookback on veteran deaths through suicide, alcohol misuse and drug abuse. Having a better understanding of the number of veterans taking their own lives will help inform future policy and interventions in support of veterans.

Our ambition is to ensure that no veteran’s request for help goes unanswered. The veterans' mental health and wellbeing service, Op COURAGE, was allocated £17.8million funding last year and an extra £2.7million over the next three years. Further, we are supporting veteran-friendly accreditation for GPs and veteran-aware training for social work teams.

Additional funding has been awarded to service charities involved in supporting the mental health of veterans, such as through the £5million Afghanistan Veterans Fund, as well as an additional £10 million to the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the written ministerial statement, entitled, Recording and Reporting Suicides, HCWS299, 22 September 2021, whether his Department will take evidence from the Scottish Government in the process of developing a new method of reporting and recording veterans' suicides.

Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)

The Office for Veterans’ Affairs is working with the Office for National Statistics to develop plans for the new method of reporting and recording veteran suicides. The OVA engages regularly with the Scottish Government on our data and research programme, including on the development of this new methodology. The Scottish Government are members of the OVA and MoD led Veterans and Covenant Data Working Group, which brings together analysts from across government to collaborate and share best practice.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many veterans have committed suicide while waiting on a final decision from a War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Tribunal.

Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)

The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent progress his Department has made on developing new ways to measure loss of veteran lives through suicide.

Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)

The Office for Veterans’ Affairs has been working with the Office for National Statistics to further develop plans for a ten year retrospective study looking at suicides within the veteran community. We are working with the MoD to access the data required for this study, and this analysis will look at issues including the frequency of suicide within the veteran community since 2011 and how this rate has changed. This study is expected to be conducted with results published next year.

The Office for Veterans’ Affairs also continues to engage with the Office for National Statistics as analysis plans are put in place for the veterans data collected in the 2021 England and Wales census, which will be used to produce a measure of the number of veterans who take their own lives each year. It is expected that the first annual statistic on this will be published in 2023.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent progress his Department has made on its review of veteran deaths through suicide in the last ten years.

Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)

The Office for Veterans’ Affairs has been working with the Office for National Statistics to further develop plans for a ten year retrospective study looking at suicides within the veteran community. We are working with the MoD to access the data required for this study, and this analysis will look at issues including the frequency of suicide within the veteran community since 2011 and how this rate has changed. This study is expected to be conducted with results published next year.

The Office for Veterans’ Affairs also continues to engage with the Office for National Statistics as analysis plans are put in place for the veterans data collected in the 2021 England and Wales census, which will be used to produce a measure of the number of veterans who take their own lives each year. It is expected that the first annual statistic on this will be published in 2023.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's plans to collect new forms of data on veteran suicide, how coroners will be able to access information to confirm that the suicide victim was a former member of the UK's armed forces.

Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)

The OVA has looked at how the frequency of suicide within the veteran community can best be measured and has identifed a robust methodology which does not require the placing of new duties on coroners. The new approach utilises data collected through the 2021 England and Wales census to compare the health of the veteran population with the health of the general population, including looking at suicide related deaths of veterans.

This new approach does not prevent coroners from seeking information about veteran status where it is felt that this is relevant to the suicide being investigated and the coroner has previously been informed by family members that the person was a veteran. There is a single point of contact at the MOD for coroners to obtain information on whether the suicide victim was a former member of the UK’s armed forces.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to provide (a) new codes of practice and (b) training to coroners for coroners to be able to discern whether the suicide of a veteran is attributable to their service.

Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)

The OVA has looked at how the frequency of suicide within the veteran community can best be measured and has identifed a robust methodology which does not require the placing of new duties on coroners. The new approach utilises data collected through the 2021 England and Wales census to compare the health of the veteran population with the health of the general population, including looking at suicide related deaths of veterans.

This new approach does not prevent coroners from seeking information about veteran status where it is felt that this is relevant to the suicide being investigated and the coroner has previously been informed by family members that the person was a veteran. There is a single point of contact at the MOD for coroners to obtain information on whether the suicide victim was a former member of the UK’s armed forces.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to place new duties on coroners to ensure that they accurately report on veteran suicide.

Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)

The OVA has looked at how the frequency of suicide within the veteran community can best be measured and has identifed a robust methodology which does not require the placing of new duties on coroners. The new approach utilises data collected through the 2021 England and Wales census to compare the health of the veteran population with the health of the general population, including looking at suicide related deaths of veterans.

This new approach does not prevent coroners from seeking information about veteran status where it is felt that this is relevant to the suicide being investigated and the coroner has previously been informed by family members that the person was a veteran. There is a single point of contact at the MOD for coroners to obtain information on whether the suicide victim was a former member of the UK’s armed forces.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's plans to collect new forms of data on veteran suicide, what methodology the Government plans to use to collate those figures; and whether that will include a breakdown by service.

Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)

The new methodology to measure the frequency of suicide within the veteran community will utilise data gathered through the 2021 England and Wales census to compare the health of the veteran population with the health of the general population. This will include suicide related deaths of veterans and we intend to include a breakdown by service as part of this analysis. This analysis will be undertaken in 2023, and in the interim the OVA will be working with ONS and the MOD to conduct a 10 year look back at veteran deaths by suicide. This work will inform us how many veterans have died through suicide and other causes including drug and alcohol misuse from 2011-2021, and to estimate the number that died homeless. Through the new methodology and our broader research programme we will explore data linking opportunities to understand veterans’ wider experiences, support needs and interaction with public services.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's plans to collect new forms of data on veteran suicide, whether that data will include information on what engagement veterans had with mental health services prior to their suicide.

Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)

The new methodology to measure the frequency of suicide within the veteran community will utilise data gathered through the 2021 England and Wales census to compare the health of the veteran population with the health of the general population. This will include suicide related deaths of veterans and we intend to include a breakdown by service as part of this analysis. This analysis will be undertaken in 2023, and in the interim the OVA will be working with ONS and the MOD to conduct a 10 year look back at veteran deaths by suicide. This work will inform us how many veterans have died through suicide and other causes including drug and alcohol misuse from 2011-2021, and to estimate the number that died homeless. Through the new methodology and our broader research programme we will explore data linking opportunities to understand veterans’ wider experiences, support needs and interaction with public services.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's plans to collect new forms of data on veteran suicide, whether retrospective studies will be undertaken by the Office for National Statistics to assess whether veteran suicides are attributable to their service.

Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)

The new methodology to measure the frequency of suicide within the veteran community will utilise data gathered through the 2021 England and Wales census to compare the health of the veteran population with the health of the general population. This will include suicide related deaths of veterans and we intend to include a breakdown by service as part of this analysis. This analysis will be undertaken in 2023, and in the interim the OVA will be working with ONS and the MOD to conduct a 10 year look back at veteran deaths by suicide. This work will inform us how many veterans have died through suicide and other causes including drug and alcohol misuse from 2011-2021, and to estimate the number that died homeless. Through the new methodology and our broader research programme we will explore data linking opportunities to understand veterans’ wider experiences, support needs and interaction with public services.

Lots of different views on veterans suicide in the U.K. Each one is a tragedy for the individual, their family, and also the Nation. So it’s good to have for the first time, genuinely reliable - peer reviewed data after @VeteransGovUK commissioned a study back in 2019 👇 https://t.co/MyfagoYXi3

The Australians have launched a Royal Commission into Defence and Veterans suicide. The team and I are with them all day sharing best practice and looking for better outcomes - one suicide after service is one too many. Op Courage lauded internationally, but more to do. https://t.co/9YxmVGl6my

Found: New figures provide latest data on veterans suicide

Found: New figures provide latest data on veterans suicide

Found: Suicide Prevention Leadership Group (NSPLG) undertook an academic review of existing literature on veterans