Asked by: Paul Burstow (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to reduce mental health stigma and discrimination as a result of signing up to the Time to Change Pledge.
Answered by Karen Bradley
The Home Secretary signed the Time to Change Pledge on 9 June 2014 showing her commitment to raising the profile of mental health issues in the workplace.
As part of the Home Department’s commitment, steps have included:
• The Home Office taking part in the Time to Talk day on 5 February 2015 with the aim of generating conversations about mental health. Staff were provided
with questions to stimulate conversations and literature about mental health.
• The Home Office taking a leading role in the development of the Mental Health Awareness e-learning produced for all civil servants.
• Support for the Home Office Disability Support Network’s four mental health awareness buddy networks which provide peer support and work to raise awareness of mental health issues.
• Break the Stigma, a programme of speakers to come into the department to raise awareness of mental health with the first being led by Sue Baker, the
Director of Time to Change.
• A steering group being established to lead implementation of our commitments to reduce mental health stigma and discrimination across the Department.
Asked by: Paul Burstow (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department has taken to reduce mental health stigma and discrimination as a result of signing up to the Time to Change Pledge.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
Mental health problems are common - but nearly nine out of ten people who experience them say they face stigma and discrimination as a result. This year mental health has been a strategic focus for our workplace inclusion programme. This work was instigated in August 2013 with our signing both the ‘Time to Change’ and ‘See Me Scotland’ pledges to tackle stigma.
Throughout the year we have sustained momentum on this agenda through:
· The delivery of a series of strategic and targeted communications including the UN Day for People with Disabilities and the ‘Time to Talk’ day.
· Working with external partners to conduct an in-depth and impartial audit of our management practices where they relate to the mental health of our staff.
· Sharing our learning with other government departments.
Our work in this area will continue over the coming year as we implement the recommendations of the audit above.
Asked by: Paul Burstow (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department has taken to reduce mental health stigma and discrimination as a result of signing up to the Time to Change Pledge.
Answered by Jo Swinson
Since signing the Pledge the Department has been actively engaging employees at all levels in a wide range of positively regarded and innovative initiatives. Focussing on building awareness and capability, this has included:
• introducing a mental health buddies scheme for managers;
• running workshops on managing employees with mental health illnesses;
• championing ‘Time to Talk Day’ on 5 February and;
• running events such as a talk by an international cricketer on his experience of depression and a film by Rethink Mental Illness, followed by a staff Q&A session with the Director and the person featured in the film.
Asked by: Paul Burstow (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department has taken to reduce mental health stigma and discrimination as a result of signing up to the Time to Change Pledge.
Answered by Lord Maude of Horsham
The Cabinet Office takes the issue of mental health discrimination seriously and is taking action to ensure that it provides an environment that supports the mental wellbeing of its staff.
Since signing the Time to Change pledge a senior mental health and wellbeing champion has been appointed. Activity has included: improving staff accessibility to support by revamping information in our induction packs and the intranet; creating and circulating guidance for managers on responding to mental health issues; encouraging discussions across the Cabinet Office by running a ‘Time to Talk’ day; and creating new opportunities for staff and managers to access mental health training.
Asked by: Paul Burstow (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department has taken to reduce mental health stigma and discrimination as a result of signing up to the Time to Change Pledge.
Answered by Helen Grant
· DCMS held a health and wellbeing event which included mental health as a key part of employee wellbeing. To support this, Time To Change representatives attended and ran a stall to raise awareness both of mental health and the stigma surrounding it, and the support available.
· DCMS set up market stalls at the last two 'All staff Away' days, giving a chance to discuss mental health with all staff.
· DCMS arranged an informal 'Time to Talk' tea & cake morning arranged during DCMS inclusion week to encourage all staff to discuss mental health to help reduce the stigma.
· All DCMS staff are invited to the regular meetings that are run by the Mental Health staff network.
· Interesting and informative articles posted on the Mental Health forum, to encourage staff to think about information on mental health that may not be common knowledge.
· DCMS will be taking part the Whitehall event at the end of March 2015 which is organised by 'Time to Change' to encourage all governmental departments to work together to reduce the stigma around Mental Health.
· DCMS have been encouraging all staff to complete the 'Unconscious Bias' e-learning and face to face to session to help identify, challenge, prevent and remove unconscious bias in the workplace.
Asked by: Paul Burstow (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department has taken to reduce mental health stigma and discrimination as a result of signing up to the Time to Change Pledge.
Answered by Anna Soubry
As the Minister for Defence Personnel I signed the Time to Change Pledge on 11 September 2014, since then the Department has undertaken a programme of communication to raise awareness of the challenges faced by those who may struggle with mental health issues.
Further resources and tools have been introduced, and these include, the trial of cognitive and behavioural therapy self help services, stress management advice, health fairs, a staff intranet site dedicated to mental health and comment forums for staff to share experiences. The Department has also provided guidance for line managers who may have staff who are absent from work due to poor mental health who need support in their efforts to return to the workplace.
To support staff experiencing mental health issues the Department is building up a number of training opportunities and these include, Mental Health First Aid training, Stress management workshops, online training tools and face to face line manager training.
The Department also promoted Time to Talk day and brought in speakers for a seminar to encourage the open discussion of these issues in the workplace. Further events are planned for the year ahead and work is being taken forward with other Government Departments to share best practice and take a collaborative approach to tackling the stigma and discrimination of mental health.
This is in addition to the wide ranging excellent support that was put in place for Armed Forces personnel following Dr Murrison's Fighting Fit report in 2010, such as, an increase in the number of mental healthcare professionals, a dedicated 24-hour helpline in partnership with Combat Stress, an on-line mental health support and advice website provided by the Big White Wall, and structured mental health assessment as part of routine and discharge medicals.
Asked by: Paul Burstow (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department has taken to reduce mental health stigma and discrimination as a result of signing up to the Time to Change Pledge.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
Defra signed up to Time to Change in March 2014, and it forms part of a wider, established wellbeing programme. There have been a number of activities, including:
· launch of a Break the Stigma (BTS) group was launched in January 2014; an employee-led network of buddies providing support, information, and raising awareness of mental health issues. There are now over 140 BTS supporters and over 40 BTS buddies within the Department. BTS buddies share their personal experiences on our intranet and join team meetings to explain the issues of discrimination and stigma and highlight the role of line managers and colleagues in supporting people with mental ill-health.
· Awareness events were held during Mental Health Week, World Mental Health Day, European Week of Health and Safety (theme: Workplace Stress) and Time to Talk Day.
· Intranet pages provide information about mental health and wellbeing and sources of support (e.g. Employee Assistance Programme) for staff and Line Managers.
· Defra promotes Civil Service Learning resources and offers workshops on personal resilience, mindfulness and mental health awareness for line managers.
Asked by: Paul Burstow (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department has taken to reduce mental health stigma and discrimination as a result of signing up to the Time to Change Pledge.
Answered by Esther McVey - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
DWP is actively committed to creating an environment where open conversations around mental health are encouraged in order to tackle the associated stigma and discrimination.
Activities undertaken since signing the Time to Change pledge in February 2014 include:
1) the introduction of training, including Unconscious Bias and Mental Health Awareness;
2) staff communications from the DWP Champion for Disability, Wellbeing and Work Life Balance;
3) development of comprehensive support and guidance for all staff through on-going work with external partners such as Occupational Health and Employee Assistance Providers and Business Disability Forum.
Asked by: Paul Burstow (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department has taken to reduce mental health stigma and discrimination as a result of signing up to the Time to Change Pledge.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
The Department is strongly committed to positively addressing these issues and since signing the Pledge in 2013, has trained staff in mental health first aid and run several courses to better equip staff and managers in dealing positively with mental health issues. The Department has also trained and supported staff to act as Mental Health Ambassadors refreshing that group and role in March this year and enabling them to raise awareness of mental health issues and reduce the fear and stigma that often does attach to those illnesses. We have also run a number of Mental Health Awareness Workshops to support that work and have offered places on those sessions to staff from other Government Departments so that we can support the wider positive approach to addressing mental health across the Civil Service. The Department is now developing a Wellbeing Plan that will focus on continuing and resourcing this drive into 2015-16 and beyond.
Asked by: Paul Burstow (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department has taken to reduce mental health stigma and discrimination as a result of signing up to the Time to Change Pledge.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Tackling mental health stigma and discrimination is vital. The Department for Education has continued to take action to tackle mental health stigma and discrimination since signing the Time to Change pledge.
The Department’s staff-led Wellbeing Network was launched at the time of the signing of the pledge and has run a series of staff events to help raise awareness of mental health issues. We have also delivered a series of mental health awareness workshops for staff and managers to help equip them with the skills needed to support and work effectively with people who have mild to moderate mental health issues. We have focused on raising awareness of the resources available to staff and managers, including guidance and briefings on mental health issues, access to support through our Employee Assistance Programme and occupational health advice, and mandating Unconscious Bias training for all managers.
Together with Time to Change, the Department also hosted an inaugural cross-departmental networking event to share good practice across the Civil Service on addressing mental health issues within the workplace.