Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of his Department's staff have had days off sick because of mental illness or stress in each of the last three years; and how many days off that amounted to in each of those years.

The table below sets out information about working days lost in my Department due to sickness absence related to mental illness or stress in each of the last three calendar years.

In the year to 31^st December 2017, an average of 2.15 working days were lost through sickness absence in the Cabinet Office. Levels of sickness absence in my Department remain amongst the lowest of all Government Departments.

The Cabinet Office is 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. Our Workwell community is staffed by volunteers who aim to make Cabinet Office a happy and healthy workplace through a number of interventions including a listening service for staff. We offer a 24 hour counselling support helpline through our Employee Assistance Programme provider and advocate early referral to our occupational health service where appropriate, for advice on a number of conditions including mental health. The Cabinet Office also has a pool of trained Mental Health First Aiders who provide face to face support and signposting to professional services.