Yesterday, local MP, Dame Caroline Dinenage, asked the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Education, Will Quince MP, what steps the Government is taking to support children who loses a close relative to suicide.
Will Quince is the Minister responsible for children’s social care, children in need, disadvantaged and vulnerable children, and children and young people’s mental health, and was answering questions during the Department for Education Oral Parliamentary Questions session.
Children who lose their parents, close relative or primary caregiver to suicide remain a largely invisible group. Studies reveal that children who lose a parent to suicide as children or teenagers were three times more likely to die by suicide themselves compared to children and teenagers with living parents.
As a former Early Years Minister, Caroline has been working with local woman Anna Wardley from the Luna Foundation to draw attention to this issue.
The Luna Foundation is dedicated to improving the support for children and young people bereaved by suicide across the UK to break the cycle of poor mental health and suicide risk that they face. The not-for-profit organisation, formed by Anna Wardley to implement the recommendations from her Churchill Fellowship report on parental suicide entitled Time to Count, provides suicide bereavement training for people working with children and young people including teachers, social workers, GPs and foster carers.
Caroline asked the Minister:
“I was really disturbed to learn recently that there is evidence to suggest that children who lose a parent to suicide have a much greater risk of going on to take their own life as they grow older. With that in mind, I really want to put it on to the Minister’s radar and ask whether any particular suicide bereavement training, resources or signposting is provided to the staff who work in education settings to help them to support children effectively after they lose a family member such as a parent or sibling to suicide.”
The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Education, Will Quince, responded saying:
“I thank my hon. Friend for bringing this to my attention. It is indeed a worrying state of affairs. Senior mental health lead training, which is backed by an additional £10 million this year, supports schools to establish a whole-school approach to mental health and mental wellbeing and provide a supportive environment for children experiencing bereavement. This will also include how to identify where staff need further training to understand children’s needs and offer support. I understand that we probably need to go further in this area, and of course I would be happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss it at greater length.”
Anna Wardley, CEO of the Luna Foundation, said:
“We are delighted to be working with Dame Caroline Dinenage MP to draw attention to the needs of children bereaved by suicide, especially those who lose a parent or primary caregiver. At the Luna Foundation we are committed to improving the support for young people left behind after suicide in order to mitigate the risks they face. By raising this subject in Parliament today, Caroline has taken a significant step in getting this important subject on the political agenda and we’re heartened that Department for Education Minister Will Quince has offered to meet to discuss improving the support in schools for children bereaved by suicide.”
