National Suicide Prevention Advisory Group: annual report 2024-2025

1. Introduction

The National Suicide Prevention Advisory Group (NSPAG) was established in June 2023 by the Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) following the launch of their joint Suicide Prevention Strategy 2022-2032: Creating Hope Together, which sets out a vision to reduce the number of suicide deaths in Scotland, while tackling the inequalities which contribute to suicide.

After a successful first year of activity for the group, the Chair of NSPAG, Rose Fitzpatrick, stood down from her role. Rose had worked for six years to champion suicide prevention in Scotland through both the NSPAG and prior to that the National Suicide Prevention Leadership Group (NSPLG), a group she also led. So, we went forward this year with a new chair and some new members, some of whom have replaced outgoing members and all of whom have expanded the expertise of the group. While we are a group of experts in our own fields, we are not experts on suicide, and our mission is to bring our own expertise to this area of work and to offer a different perspective on the issue of suicide prevention.

This is our second year of meeting as a group and our second annual report which we hope will be useful in terms of both reflecting progress and suggesting areas of focus for the next three-year action plan which will run from 2026-29. As a group we are very conscious that the current three-year plan is well embedded in terms of progressing actions and so our suggestions do not seek to disrupt the final year of delivery but rather seek to reflect on progress and to offer our collective opinion on priority areas for the future.