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.

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.