Universities told to step up to prevent suicides

English universities should commit to prioritising mental health by September 2024, the higher education minister has said.

If they do not, Robert Halfon said regulators would consider making such a commitment necessary for university status.

MPs were debating a petition which says universities and colleges should have a legal duty of care towards students.

It was started by families whose children killed themselves as students.

More than 100,000 people signed the petition, calling for the existing duty of care for staff to also cover adult students.

But both the government and the higher education sector say further legislation would be disproportionate.

During the debate, MPs cited instances of students being told to leave universities via email, and of parents not being informed about mental health concerns. One MP said students faced a "lottery" when it came to quality of mental health provision across the sector.

Mr Halfon said a statutory duty of care "may not be the most effective intervention" but that he was "not closing the door on future legislation".

He said he had written to universities asking them to sign up to the University Mental Health Charter - a set of principles developed by the charity Student Minds to help institutions prioritise mental health.

Mr Halfon said 61 universities had already signed up, but Universities UK (UUK) has 140 members and "it's time the rest got on board".

He added: "I'm confident that higher education can meet this challenge, but I have made absolutely clear that if this response is not satisfactory I will go further and ask the Office for Students to look at the merits of a new registration condition on mental health."

Institutions in England need to register with the OfS in order to call themselves "universities", award their own degrees, access different types of funding, and recruit international students.

Mr Halfon also said a new taskforce would propose targets for universities and a plan to help them better identify students at risk by the end of this year, with a final report due by May 2024.

And he said there would be a national review of university student deaths.

Among those who travelled to London for the debate were Bob and Maggie Abrahart, whose daughter Natasha took her own life at the University of Bristol, in 2018, on the day she was due to give a presentation in a large lecture theatre.

Natasha had a social anxiety-disorder that made public speaking hard - and after her death, her parents sued the university over its failure to make adjustments.

They partly won their case, under the Equality Act, but the judge was not satisfied the university had owed Natasha a duty of care, saying there was "no statute or precedent which establishes the existence of such a duty of care owed by a university to a student".

The couple, from Nottinghamshire, said Natasha had been a "very sweet caring person" who really wanted to study physics at university. And they were pleased the issue, all about "providing education safely", was "finally on the agenda".

The petition calls for the extension to all students of the existing duty of care to protect those under the age of 18, and staff, from "reasonably foreseeable harm" caused by direct injury or a failure to act.

But UUK says this would not be practical, proportionate or the best way to support students.

Some providers may have 50,000 registered students, with most living outside the university, it said.

UUK president and University of the West of England vice-chancellor Prof Steve West said he welcomed the measures set out, and that higher education providers should continue to demonstrate progress on student mental health and suicide prevention.

"University leaders recognise the profound impact that suicide has upon families, and the university community, as well as the petitioners' personal experience of loss," he said.

Before the debate, the Department for Education said higher education providers had a general duty of care "to deliver educational and pastoral services" and further legislation "would be a disproportionate response".

Universities are now advised to contact key family members or friends if they have serious concerns about a student's mental health - even without their permission.

Official estimates suggest 64 students killed themselves in England and Wales in the 2019-20 academic year, a significantly lower proportion than among the general population of similar ages.

But the families say universities do not report the annual number of student suicides - and the number is higher.

If you have been affected by any of these issues, you can visit the BBC's Action Line or contact the Samaritans.