Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2018 to Question 210680 and with reference to the Backbench Business Committee debate on Mental Health First Aid on 17 January 2019, Official Report columns 1366-1395, what the main outcomes were of the Work Leadership Council on the 17 January 2019.

The Thriving at Work Leadership Council met for the first time on 17 January 2019. The council is an employer-led group that will continue to meet throughout 2019 with the primary objectives to champion the core and enhanced standards and explore innovative solutions to further drive their implementation and adoption. Individual members committed to promoting the standards through their networks and to create sector champions.

The Stevenson / Farmer review was clear that transparency was the best mechanism to drive take-up of the standards. This is why the Government developed the voluntary reporting framework which was launched on 22 November 2018.

The Government encourages employers to take up the Thriving at Work recommendations and is actively promoting these through our business networks and by providing information, advice and support to employers through initiatives like the Mental Health at Work gateway launched in September 2018. Actively attracting, retaining and supporting the progression of valuable skilled employees who are disabled or have health conditions can help businesses to grow and prosper at a time of high employment and a changing workforce.