Slough Borough Council

Slough is a democratic organisation with 42 councillors representing electors in 14 electoral wards in East Berkshire. Slough is integrated into the heart of the UK transport and communications network. It is located between the M4, M40 and the M25. There is an excellent rail link into the centre of London. Onward links from there go to the rest of the country and the heart of Europe. Located in the South East of England, Slough is close to West London. The town is an important commercial centre servicing the whole of the country and has many international affiliations. Its location and access to fast communication links are a key factor in the town’s commercial success.

Slough is a diverse borough with a population of 145,734, more information relating to the residents and the useful data relating to the town, can be found in the Slough Story.

How does your organisation contribute to preventing suicide and supporting those affected by it?

Slough Public Health is working with key partners across Berkshire to develop a new suicide prevention strategy which will support Slough’s action plan. This is scheduled to be completed early in 2017, and will be taken through the health and wellbeing boards in each Authority. The strategy follows a recently completed audit of suicides across Berkshire which highlights the statistical trends and common risk factors.

The strategy will take a multidisciplinary approach that seeks to utilise resources across local authorities, the NHS and community sectors. While it will be a Berkshire wide plan, which better enables effective collaboration with key partners, we will ensure that the actions that flow out of the strategy will be tailored to the needs and circumstances of Slough Borough residents.

What are your current priorities?

Slough Borough Council will:

• Contribute to the Berkshire multi-agency suicide prevention plan.

• Develop a suicide action plan for Slough which will be informed by the Berkshire multi-agency strategy and reflects the needs of Slough residents.

• Continue to identify high risk locations and support high risk groups within Slough and Berkshire.

• Submit Slough Suicide Prevention Plan to Slough Borough Council’s Health and Well-being board.

What challenges are you currently facing?

Finance is an issue and like other Local Authorities we are working in an environment of harsh cuts to Public Health budgets.