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.

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.