Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of (a) online and (b) offline bullying on the incidence of suicide among children and young people.

The Department does not hold information on the number of suicides by people aged 10-19 years of age as a result of online bullying.

However, the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness, which is commissioned by NHS England and supported by the Department, published a thematic review in 2016, Suicide by Children and Young People in England. A copy of the report is available at the following link:

http://www.hqip.org.uk/resources/report-suicide-by-children-and-young-people-in-england/

The report identified ten common themes relating to suicides by people under 20 years of age between 2014 and 2015, including bullying (online and face-to-face) and suicide-related internet use.