Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of recording veteran suicide on the ability to track the wellbeing of troops who have served in specific theatres.

The Government takes the welfare of Service personnel and veterans very seriously. Whilst we recognise that suicide affects wider society, not just the Armed Forces, any such death is one too many and a tragedy for all concerned.

Suicide data for veterans of the UK Armed Forces is not currently captured by the Government. However, the Ministry of Defence (MOD), alongside the Office for Veterans Affairs within the Cabinet Office, are working to improve data collection of the veteran community, as envisioned by the ‘Strategy for our Veterans’. While suicide remains a rare event in the UK Armed Forces, a better understanding of suicide in the veteran community has the potential to provide insights into the wellbeing of serving personnel who served in specific theatres.

The MOD has commissioned a new study to investigate causes of death, including suicide, amongst all those who served in the UK Armed Forces between 2001 and 2014, covering combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, encompassing veterans and those still serving:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-study-into-iraq-and-afghanistan-veterans-launched. MOD officials are continuing to work with colleagues in NHS Digital, the Health Research Authority and National Records Scotland and are hopeful that the initial report will be published later this year. In 2019 the then Secretary of State for Defence directed that this study be extended to include all veterans who served after 2014, now and into the future. The MOD will, therefore, be able to track the impact of future deployments on the health of Service personnel both whilst serving and as veterans:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/defence-secretary-calls-for-veteran-led-support-to-be-at-the-heart-of-mental-health-services

The MOD also publishes studies on the causes of death, including suicide, of veterans from the 1982 Falklands war: (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/causes-of-deaths-among-the-uk-armed-forces-veterans-of-the-1982-falklands-campaign) and from the 1990/91 Gulf war: (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/causes-of-deaths-that-occurred-among-the-uk-veterans-of-the-199091-gulf-conflict). Both studies show that the suicide rates amongst veterans were lower than comparative rates in the civilian population.

Annual statistics on suicides among the UK Regular Armed Forces are published at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-armed-forces-suicide-and-open-verdict-deaths-index