You asked
Please can you disclose the number of recorded suicides in 2020 to date. Please do so in as much detail as possible & also make sure to include or record separate any death that has multiple causes & include suicide.
I would also like, if possible, the number of times 999 has been called for an attempted suicide in 2020 although I understand if you have to direct that question towards the NHS.
We said
Thank you for your request.
The majority of suicides require an inquest, where a coroner investigates the death. The amount of time it takes to hold an inquest causes a lag between the date of death and the date of death registration, referred to as a registration delay. Registration delays for deaths caused by suicide tend to be 5 to 6 months on average.
Therefore, our most up-to-date available analysis for suicide data are our quarterly provisional figures, accessible via the following link: Quarterly suicide death registrations in England: 2001 to 2019 registrations and Quarter 1 to Quarter 3 2020 (provisional). This provides suicides that have been registered from January to September 2020. Please note, due to the aforementioned registration delay, most of these deaths would have occurred in 2019.
Finalised annual suicides data for 2020 is scheduled to be published in September 2020. This will include a breakdown of leading suicide methods.
As such, the information you have requested is considered exempt under Section 22(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, whereby information is exempt from release if there is a view to publish the information in the future. Furthermore, as a central government department and producer of official statistics, we need to have the freedom to be able to determine our own publication timetables. This is to allow us to deal with the necessary preparation, administration and context of publications. It would be unreasonable to consider disclosure when to do so would undermine our functions.
This exemption is subject to a public interest test. We recognise the desirability of information being freely available and this is considered by ONS when publication schedules are set in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics. The need for timely data must be balanced against the practicalities of applying statistical skill and judgement to produce the high quality, assured data needed to inform decision-making. If this balance is incorrectly applied, then we run the risk of decisions being based on inaccurate data which is arguably not in the public interest. This will have an impact on public trust in official statistics in a time when accuracy of official statistics is more important to the public than ever before.
You may also be interested in the following link to Suicides in England and Wales with finalised data available up to 2019. Suicide by method and sex can be found in table 14.
Attempted suicides
Unfortunately, we do not collect data on attempted suicides. Our suicide data is derived from death registration data following coroner's inquests. We would only be notified of a death. NHS Digital may be able to provide you with this information. They can be contacted via email at enquiries@nhsdigital.nhs.uk.
If you would like to discuss your request further, please contact Health.Data@ons.gov.uk.