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 improve mental health support and reduce levels of suicide in (a) South West London and (b) England.

In March, we published ‘Preventing suicide in England: fifth progress report of the cross-government outcomes strategy to save lives’ and an update to the 2019 Cross-Government Suicide Prevention Workplan. We also published the Mental Health and Wellbeing Recovery Plan, setting out our response to the mental health impacts of the pandemic. Many of the actions in the Plan will support people at risk of self-harm or suicide. The Plan is backed by an additional £500 million, with £5 million to support suicide prevention organisations in 2021/22.

This funding is in addition to the £57 million we are investing in suicide prevention and suicide bereavement support through the NHS Long Term Plan, which will see investment in all areas of the country, including South West London, by 2023/24.