The first suicide prevention strategy for England was published in September 2002, a second in 2012 and the most recent in 2023. Have these documents had any impact or have they remained ignored and unread? This presentation will chart the evolution of strategies over time, investigate their effect on outcomes, reflect on implementation, and discuss future priorities for action. The 2002 strategy was the first of its kind but the greater emphasis in 2012 on postvention and effective interventions for suicidal behaviour was welcomed by service users and carers, clinicians, and service planners. The 2023 strategy is more wide-ranging than the previous documents and includes a number of concrete measures, for example legislation to limit harmful online content. Suicide rates in England have been generally falling since 2000, apart from rises which might be attributed to the recession and changes to the classification of suicide deaths. Specific progress was made in mental health patient suicide and psychiatric in-patient suicide, reducing analgesic access, media guidelines, and involving service users in service design and delivery. The 2002 strategy was a landmark document in some ways but there was little specific implementation support. The 2012 focussed on local implementation with Local Authority suicide prevention groups central to delivery but with no dedicated funding. Additional funding for quality improvement initiatives for suicide prevention was provided in 2018 but this came to an end in 2024. Implementation arrangements for the new strategy remain unclear. Priorities for suicide prevention in the coming years are likely to include young people, middle aged men, clinical populations, and those affected by economic adversity. New initiatives include real time data collection on suicide deaths, an alert system for emerging methods, and a system to assess all new government policies for their potential mental health impact. The extent to which the 2023 strategy drives down suicide rates remains to be seen. Declaration of Interests: NK has been involved in developing a number of national clinical guidelines for the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in England. He sits on the UK government’s main advisory group for suicide prevention and was involved in drawing up the new strategy.