Asked by: Luciana Berger (Liberal Democrat - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many senior civil servants in the Law Officers' Departments were on a leave of absence from work due to mental illness in each month of each year since the Departments' creation.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
There were no members of the Senior Civil Service in the Attorney General’s Office, Serious Fraud Office, Crown Prosecution Service or Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate who had sickness absence due to mental health issues in the last 5 years.
In the last 5 years, less than 5 members of the Senior Civil Service in the Government Legal Department had sickness absence due to mental health issues.
The Law Officer’s Departments are committed to reducing work related absence due to mental illness and has a number of services in place to support members of staff suffering from such conditions.
* Data has been drawn over the past full five financial years to provide an accurate historical response. To retrieve data from the creation of each department would represent a disproportionate cost.
** Data is based on the WHO absence reason of 'Mental Disorder' which according to the WHO website covers the following; Anxiety, Stress, Affective Psychoses, Alcoholism, Depressive Disorder, Emotional Upset, Mental Disorder, Personality Disorder, Schizophrenia, Work Related Stress.
Asked by: Luciana Berger (Liberal Democrat - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, whether his Department is undertaking investigations into the compliance of clinical commissioning groups' resourcing of child and adolescent mental health services with the provisions in section 11 of the Children Act 2004 on arrangements to safeguard and promote welfare.
Answered by Robert Buckland
Children and young people’s mental health is a priority area for this Government. The Attorney General’s Office, however, does not have responsibility for investigations into the compliance of clinical commissioning groups' resourcing.
Asked by: Luciana Berger (Liberal Democrat - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what account the CPS takes of mental health conditions when deciding whether to prosecute people under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The Crown Prosecution Service is committed to taking into account the mental health condition of an offender when considering bringing a prosecution. Each case is considered on its merits, taking into account all available information about any mental health issues, and their relevance to the offence, in accordance with the principles set out in the Code for Crown Prosecutors (the Code).
The Code explains that there is a balance to be struck between the public interest in diverting a defendant with significant mental illness from the criminal justice system and other public interest factors in favour of prosecution, including the need to safeguard the public.