Mr Bayo Alaba

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Wishart. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Blaydon and Consett (Liz Twist) for securing this sad but very necessary debate. In the UK, we are fortunate to have a number of charities that are dedicated to the prevention of suicide among our young people, and I am deeply proud of this Government’s work to tackle the issue head-on. But regardless of that work, the unacceptable reality is that suicide remains the leading cause of death among the under-35s. Last month’s announcement that the Papyrus Prevention of Young Suicide charity will cease operations was devastating. I was motivated to speak in this debate not only by the recent closure of Papyrus but by the story of Lesley Harris, a constituent who lost her 13-year-old granddaughter Ella to suicide in 2023. Despite presenting at A&E with suicidal thoughts, Ella was ultimately discharged after speaking to healthcare professionals. She did not receive a full suicide risk assessment and subsequently took her own life. Since their devastating loss, Ella’s friends and family have launched a petition calling for suicide risk assessments to be legally mandatory whenever a young person in hospital expresses an intention to harm themselves. I am pleased to say that, thanks to their hard work, the petition has now achieved 20,000 signatures and will receive a Government response. I fundamentally support their efforts and have written to both the Prime Minister and the Department of Health and Social Care to that effect. I look forward to receiving their responses.