Source · Select Committees · Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Recommendation 7
7
Accepted
Paragraph: 81
Create clear objectives and actions for agricultural and veterinary workers in national suicide prevention strategy
Recommendation
We are very concerned by the evidence indicating that agricultural and veterinary workers have a higher-than-average suicide rate compared to the rest of the population. Although more accurate information is needed, a clear enough picture Rural Mental Health 77 was already established for the Government’s national suicide prevention strategy (published over ten years ago) to identify both as high-risk occupational groups and take clear steps to improve the situation. Given this, we were dismayed by the lack of focus on them evident in recent strategy progress reports and the cross-government suicide prevention workplan. Compared to other departments of state and their client groups, whether prisoners, military veterans or those in serious debt, DEFRA appears to have a very limited role in this area. The Government should address this shortcoming by creating clear objectives and actions when revising the national strategy.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government states the new Suicide Prevention Strategy for England 2023-2028 was published on September 11, 2023. This strategy identifies priority groups including agricultural and veterinary workers and sets out steps and actions to tackle known risk factors. The Office for National Statistics is also using Census 2021 data to improve understanding of suicide rates in different occupations to help prioritise actions.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
81
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government · verbatim extract
Accepted
Our Suicide Prevention Strategy for England: 2023 to 2028, was published on 11 September 2023. This strategy sets out our ambitions over the next five years to: reduce suicide rates, improve support for people who have self-harmed, and improve support for people bereaved by suicide, and it identifies actions to tackle known risk factors. The strategy identifies and sets out plans to address several key risk factors for suicide which will be relevant for agricultural and veterinary workers, including financial insecurity and economic adversity, and loneliness and social isolation. In August 2023, the Department for Health, and Social Care (DHSC) launched a £10million Suicide Prevention Grant Fund to support the suicide prevention voluntary, charity and social enterprise sector to deliver activity that helps meet the increased demand for support, and to embed preventative activity that can help to prevent suicides and stem the flow into crisis services. The new Suicide prevention strategy for England: 2023 to 2028 was published on 11 September 2023. This strategy sets out the government’s ambitions over the next 5 years to: reduce suicide rates, improve support for people who have self-harmed, and improve support for people bereaved by suicide. Informed by the Mental Health Call for Evidence launched in 2022, the strategy identifies priority groups, suicide risk factors and the steps we need to take in consultation with individuals, organisations across national and local government, the NHS, the private sector, the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector (VCSE), and academia. This includes steps and actions to tackle known risk factors, many of which the EFRA Committee’s report rightly identifies as affecting those living in rural areas, including agricultural workers and veterinary workers. We are proud to be investing an additional £57 million in suicide prevention by 2023/24 through the NHS Long Term Plan. Through this, all areas of the country are seeing investment to support local suicide prevention plans and the development of suicide bereavement services. Funding beyond 2024/25 is subject to future Spending Reviews, and we will consider further opportunities to build upon this investment for suicide prevention. The government recognises that suicide risk by occupational groups may vary nationally, and even locally, and it is vital that the statutory sector and local agencies are alert to this and adapt their suicide prevention interventions accordingly. We know that there are a range of issues that veterinary sector workers and agricultural workers are faced with that are beyond their control, and which can impact on their mental health. To further improve our understanding of risk, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) is using data from Census 2021 linked with other administrative datasets, including NHS Talking Therapies, Hospital Episode Statistics, and death registration data, which will help to improve understanding of the suicide rates in different occupations, including farmers. The aim is to use this data to identify where actions should be prioritised to support different occupations.
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