Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the number of days of sick leave taken by staff in his Department for mental health reasons in each year since 2010.

The number of working days lost to sickness absence relating to mental health for each of the years for which data has been published is:

• 2014: 227

• 2015: 82

• 2016: 259

The department has implemented a number of policies to ensure that staff feel comfortable in taking, and reporting, mental health-related sickness absence including

• early referral to occupational health experts, particularly for mental health and stress,

• early referral to Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy based counselling support for mental health issues,

• workplace adjustments that help to prevent conditions from developing or worsening, whilst reducing the barriers to work for those affected by mental or physical impairments,

• extensive training for managers and employees - including on disability and mental health awareness, well-being, resilience and stress.

• line managers can use the Stress Assessment and Reduction Plan toolkit in identifying and managing stress when required,

• a page on the intranet is dedicated to stress management and it contains resources to support line managers and employees identify and manage stress.

Finally, the Department is a signatory to the ‘Time to Change Pledge’ and raises awareness of mental health and coping strategies through national campaigns such as the ‘Time to Talk’ day and the Mental Health Awareness Week. The department also organises ‘Mindfulness’ sessions for employees.