Serious questions have been raised about the funding and governance of Northern Ireland’s suicide prevention strategy after officials failed to confirm how much money has been budgeted and spent on delivering it.

Activists from New Script for Mental Health say neither the Department of Health nor the Public Health Agency has been able to provide basic information about the budget or spending for the Protect Life 2 Strategy.

In response to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests sent by New Script, both deflected responsibility and claimed the other held the relevant information requested.

The situation represents yet another serious failure in accountability and transparency.

These responses come on the heels of the Health Minister Mike Nesbitt's recent launch of the Being Open Framework, described by the Minister as a commitment to “embedding openness, transparency and accountability” across the health system.

New Script’s experience trying to obtain basic information about the suicide prevention strategy tells a very different story.

Departments “passing the buck”

When New Script asked for details on annual budget allocations and spending on PL2 through FOI request, the Department told the campaign that they did not hold this information, shifting responsibility to the Public Health Agency (PHA).

In their written correspondence, the DoH stated that “while [the Department] have some involvement with the Protect Life 2 Strategy”, the PHA is “responsible for implementing the strategy and holds the relevant financial and budgetary information”.

Responding to the same FOI, the PHA suggested it would be better directed to the Department of Health, claiming the Department would be able to provide information “regarding the totality of the budget and spending” associated with Protect Life 2.

New Script challenged this contradiction with the Department of Health.

The Department’s reasoning was that there is no central budget for the Protect Life 2 Strategy and that no single organisation holds all the information requested.

It was stated that the PHA could provide the information for all actions that fall under ‘Health’, but neither the DoH nor PHA hold records of financial commitments made by other Departments.

These responses raise serious questions around accountability, not only for tracking spending on suicide prevention but in the delivery of the strategy more widely.

That the Department of Health claims only “some involvement” with Protect Life 2 is also a shocking contradiction of its lead role and responsibility to provide strategic oversight and support, as set out in strategy’s governance arrangements.

New Script activist Caroline Boyle said that “the lack of accountability and level of carelessness is shocking and quite frankly dangerous”.

“They should know who is responsible and they can’t even answer basic questions on budgets and spending. It is the audacity that they don’t even try”.

Activist and bereaved mother Kirsty Scott had been involved in the development and launch of Protect Life 2. On the lack of accountability and care from the DoH and PHA, she said, “it is disgraceful to anyone who has lost a loved one through suicide.”

“290 people died by suicide in 2024, a significant increase from the previous year. Yet our government cannot even tell us how much is being spent on suicide prevention”.

Oversight group failing in their duties

Concerns have also been raised about the governance structures meant to oversee the strategy.

It was recently revealed that the Executive’s cross-departmental Ministerial Working Group on Mental Wellbeing, Resilience and Suicide Prevention – scheduled to meet four times a year – have only met once in the past two years.

The group needs to urgently investigate this matter to provide information and clarity to the public. The issue of accountability should be the first item on its agenda.

Call for transparency

The campaign says the public has a right to know how suicide prevention policies are being funded and implemented. Public policy and spending on something as critical as suicide prevention must be transparent and open to scrutiny. The Department of Health, the Public Health Agency, and the Executive Working Group must all be held to account.

“The system is failing us”, Caroline Boyle said, “but we’re not giving up, we are not going to let them get away with it’.

New Script stand in solidarity with every person who has lost a loved one to suicide. New Script continues to advocate for a suicide prevention strategy and mental health policy that is grounded in human rights - first and foremost, the right to life.

For more information please contact Sara Boyce, Organiser, New Script for Mental Health. sara@pprproject.org or 07864074235

Notes:

A copy of the full FOI request and written correspondence from the Department of Health and Public Health Agency are available on request from the Participation and Practice of Rights (PPR).

New Script is currently awaiting the PHA’s response to a follow-up request for budget allocations and spending on PHA commissioned services for Protect Life 2.