Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure adequate support for people with mental health problems when they return to the workforce.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

My department has a range of initiatives to ensure adequate support for individuals with mental health conditions when they return to work, including Access to Work. The Access to Work grant provides personalised support and workplace assessments, travel to work, support workers, and specialist aids and equipment. Access to Work also has the Mental Health Support Service which can provide up to nine months of non-clinical support for people who need additional help with their wellbeing while in employment.

DWP has also developed the Support with Employee Health and Disability digital guidance for employers. This offers practical advice on supporting health and disability in the workplace. DWP continues to champion the Disability Confident Scheme which promotes employer good practice, as well as working with the occupational health sector to increase the proportion of the workforce supported by expert health services.

WorkWell provides funding to 15 local areas in England to lead, design and deliver early intervention, low intensity, integrated work and health support, including for mental health. Participation in WorkWell is voluntary and includes people in and out of work, regardless of benefit entitlement.

Additionally, the Employment Advisors in the NHS Talking Therapies service – jointly funded by DWP and Department for Health & Social Care - enables patients to access combined therapeutic treatment and employment support to help them to remain in, return to or find work as well as improve their mental health. The service co-locates employment advisors alongside therapists to offer support and advice to patients, whatever their employment or benefit status.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether HM Revenue and Customs has updated its assessment of the number of suicides linked to the loan charge since January 2023; and whether the Government plans to publish updated figures on a routine basis.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government promised to commission a new independent review of the loan charge and that is what it delivered. The purpose of the review was to bring the matter to a close for people who have not settled and paid their loan charge liabilities. The Government accepted all but one of the review’s recommendations and in a number of instances has decided to go further.

Most notably, we decided to write off the first £5,000 of everyone’s liability, providing significant relief to those with the lowest liabilities who are more likely to have been lower earners and targeting support at those who most need it. Because of the decisions the Government has taken, around 30 percent of people within scope of the review could have their liabilities removed entirely. Most other individuals will see their liabilities reduced by at least half.

HMRC are committed to supporting customers through this process and are working hard to give them certainty on their tax positions as quickly as possible. This includes a dedicated service to guide customers through the settlement process and provide extra support for those who need it. Anyone who is worried about a tax liability should get in touch with HMRC as soon as possible. HMRC can provide reasonable adjustments to meet an individual’s needs and is working with Samaritans to provide guidance to advisors and signposting taxpayers where needed to a dedicated Samaritans helpline.

Any loss of life is a tragedy. The government and HMRC take the safeguarding of individuals and issues relating to loss of life extremely seriously. HMRC has a statutory obligation to refer incidences of death or serious injury of a customer, where there is an indication that HMRC contact may have directly or indirectly contributed to the event, to external oversight bodies. Since March 2019, HMRC has made eleven referrals to the Independent Office for Police Conduct where a taxpayer has sadly taken their life and had used a disguised remuneration scheme. HMRC does not currently have arrangements in place to routinely publish these figures.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of adopting a preventative approach to mental health; and what steps he is taking to support such an approach.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government’s 10-Year Health Plan sets out ambitious plans to transform mental health services. We want to promote good mental health and wellbeing for the nation, prevent people from developing mental health problems, and improve the lives of people living with a mental health condition. This includes providing mental health support teams in schools and colleges, improving assertive outreach, investing in mental health emergency departments, and increasing access to evidence-based digital interventions.

Additionally, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities Regional Public Health team work closely with local councils to become signatories to the Prevention Concordat for Better Mental Health. This includes developing local plans to improve mental wellbeing across the life course and to reduce inequalities in mental health, working with partners across the health and care system, as well as schools and employers.

The Government has also recently launched an independent review into prevalence and support for mental health conditions, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and autism. This review will seek to identify opportunities to provide different models of support and pathways, within and beyond the National Health Service, that promote prevention and early intervention.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that men can access timely support for their mental health.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The 10-Year Health Plan sets out ambitious plans to boost mental health support across the country. This includes transforming mental health services into 24/7 neighbourhood mental health centres, improving assertive outreach and access to timely mental health care, expanding talking therapies, and giving patients better access to 24/7 support directly through the NHS App. These services are available to men.

The Suicide Prevention Strategy for England, published in 2023, identifies middle aged men as a priority group for targeted and tailored support at a national level.

On 19 November 2025, to coincide with International Men’s Health Day, we published the Men’s Health Strategy. The strategy includes tangible actions to improve access to healthcare, provide the right support to enable men to make healthier choices, develop healthy living and working conditions, foster strong social, community and family networks and address societal norms. It also considers how to prevent and tackle the biggest health problems affecting men of all ages, which include mental health and suicide prevention, respiratory illness, prostate cancer, and heart disease.

Through the Men’s Health Strategy, we are launching a groundbreaking partnership with the Premier League to tackle male suicide and improve mental health literacy, by embedding health messaging into the matchday experience.

We also announced the Suicide Prevention Support Pathfinders programme for middle-aged men. This program will invest up to £3.6 million over three years in areas of England where middle-aged men are at most risk taking their own lives and will tackle the barriers that they face in seeking support.

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British forces on the front line in Afghanistan

Situation in Iran

Found: Members present: Bob Blackman (Chair); Mr Lee Dillon; Mary Glindon; Alison Hume; Will Stone; Martin Vickers

Found: Bob Blackman (Chair); Jonathan Davies; Mr Lee Dillon; Mary Glindon; Alison Hume; Will Stone; Martin Vickers

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Martin Vickers (Chair); Jonathan Davies; Mr Lee Dillon; Mary Glindon