1. To ask the Scottish Government what work it is undertaking to reduce the rates of male suicide in Scotland, in light of the issues raised in the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s “Equality and Human Rights Monitor” report for 2023. (S6O-02950)

The Scottish Government and Convention of Scottish Local Authorities suicide prevention strategy, “Creating Hope Together: Scotland’s Suicide Prevention Action Plan 2022-2025”, takes a targeted approach to reaching and supporting people who are at higher risk of suicide, including men. Through the likes of targeted work with partners in the west Highlands and Skye and the “Changing room—extra time” programme, we are continuing to understand more about what helps men to reach out for support and what type of support works best. Another key part of our strategy is the building of peer support groups right across Scotland as a way to prevent suicide, which we know works well for many men.

Finally, our gender-balanced suicide prevention lived-experience panel allows us to continue to benefit from the insights of men affected by suicide. That is invaluable in helping us to prevent male suicide.

I welcome the minister’s answer, because the suicide rate for boys and young men aged five to 24 is two times higher than that for girls and young women in the same age group. One of the recommendations in the report is that the Scottish Government sets a national equality outcome to reduce the suicide rate among five to 24-year-olds, particularly in males. Will the minister commit to implementing that?

What other recommendations from the report could be implemented to provide support to boys and young men and prevent more lives from being lost to suicide?

I agree with Ms Gallagher that we need to very carefully target our support for teenage boys and young men. However, when we look at suicide as a whole, the curve is U-shaped and the highest rate is in middle age, so we cannot take our eyes off any age group. We need to ensure that we have strategies that meet the needs of every age group, and we are doing that very carefully, working with partners. The programme in Skye and the west Highlands, which I mentioned, looks particularly at rural communities, where we know there is a particularly high rate and people are susceptible. We also have work going on in LGBT communities.

I am confident that we are doing the right things. We need to do more. Every suicide is preventable and every suicide has absolutely tragic consequences, so we will absolutely remain focused on tackling the issue.

Can the minister provide an update regarding work that is under way to raise awareness about suicide and to improve understanding, particularly in sectors that support groups with higher rates of suicide, which include, as we have heard, men and boys?

In implementing our “Creating Hope Together” policy, we are working with partners that represent high-risk groups, such as the LGBT community and other known marginalised groups, to develop tailored approaches to suicide prevention, awareness raising and support. We have taken a targeted approach to learning so that people in the workforce who are most likely to be supporting people who feel suicidal are supported. That includes people in health and social care, education, the emergency services and third sector organisations that work in local communities. We are going to extend that approach further into other key services, including homelessness support services.

The community-based supports that we fund for children and young people and adults also have a focus on distress prevention and support. Through our “Time, space, compassion” approach, we have worked hard to identify and connect services and communities that are already doing important work to support communities that are at higher risk of suicide.