Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Research briefing by the House of Commons Library, Suicide statistics, published on 2 December 2022, whether his Department has made a comparative assessment of the reasons for the trends in level of suicide rates (a) decreasing between 1982 to 2007 and (b) increasing since 2007.

The Department has made no such formal assessment. The factors that lead a person to take their own life are very often complex and we continue to work with our National Suicide Prevention Strategy Advisory Group, including academics, to identify and share information and learning about existing and emerging suicide risk factors.