§ Dr. Evan HarrisTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what information is collected on the(a) number and (b) proportion of homeless people committing suicide who are (a) rough sleepers and (b) living in temporary accommodation; and if he will make a statement. [56157]
§ Jacqui SmithThis information is not routinely collected. However, the Department funds the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People 303W with Mental Illness. In March 2001, the National Confidential Inquiry team published its five-year report, "Safety First", building on the earlier report "Safer Services". It was based on a detailed study of 5,582 suicides and 186 homicides by psychiatric patients in the United Kingdom between 1996 and 2000. It found that there were 131 suicides among homeless people, 3 per cent. of the inquiry sample.
The Department is in the process of developing, under the direction of the National Director for Mental Health, Professor Louis Appleby, a coherent national suicide prevention strategy to ensure that we are doing all we can to prevent suicides. This strategy was launched for public consultation on 26 April 2002. Copies of the strategy are available in the Library.