New Suicide Prevention Action Plan for 2026-29
The Scottish Government and COSLA have published a new suicide prevention action plan; Creating Hope Together: Suicide Prevention Action Plan 2026–2029.
It builds on the first three years of Scotland’s suicide prevention strategy, and is based around four key strategic outcomes:
- Creating a safer environment to prevent suicide
- Understanding suicide and tackling stigma
- Ensuring people affected by suicide can access support
- Collaboration in a way that draws on evidence and lived experience
Suicide Prevention Scotland have brought together a guide intended to provide an overview of the key outcomes, priorities and focused areas of work. They have also produced an animation which summaries the action plan, which can be viewed below.
Specific actions on student mental health
The new action plan commits to working collaboratively with partners and communities to deliver on this work, across several existing strategies including the Student Mental Health Action Plan.
Key actions include:
- Collaborating with colleges, universities and training providers including the Suicide Prevention Network for Colleges and Universities in Scotland, to strengthen integration of suicide prevention in undergraduate and other courses.
- Strengthen suicide prevention and support for children and young people, including those who may be at higher risk of suicide. This includes neurodivergent and care-experienced students. Targeted work will be focussed in areas and settings to achieve the greatest impact, such as within colleges and universities.
- A Framework for Supporting Children and Young People in Crisis is being developed and will support the above action.
- Work will also include embedding current resources and co-development and dissemination of new age-appropriate information and resources.
The full action plan can be downloaded below.
