Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help reduce (a) suicide and (b) deaths amongst young asylum seekers.

The Government is determined to address the unacceptably high number of early deaths among care experienced young people, including unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and care leavers, who can be among the most vulnerable in society due to their experiences. Last month, a review into care leaver deaths was launched, and deaths of young people who were unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are being considered as part of this work. Findings from the review will be shared later this year and will inform improvements to the support provided to care experienced young people across all aspects of their lives.

The Government continues to work across health, safeguarding, and asylum systems to ensure access to appropriate mental health and wellbeing support.

More broadly, the Government is committed to reducing the number of lives lost to suicide. The Suicide Prevention Strategy for England 2023 to 2028 sets out a cross-Government approach to suicide prevention and identifies children and young people as a priority group for tailored and targeted action at a national level.

The strategy includes a commitment to improve understanding of suicide risk and trends among particular groups, including refugees, asylum seekers, and ethnic minority groups.