Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, 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.

The MoJ was the second government department to sign the Time to Change pledge in April 2013 and since then has been working to take steps to eliminate discrimination and stigma surrounding mental health through a variety of measures including:

· Training with Mind for senior managers in 2013 and more recently encouraging all staff to access Mental Health Awareness online learning on the Civil Service Learning portal;

· Provision of extensive information and guidance to staff and managers of all grades, including introducing Mental Wellbeing intranet pages, guides on mental health in the workplace, links to external support (such as Mind, Rethink, Business Disability Forum and Time to Change) and internal information and support such as the MoJ Employee Assistance Programme and the Reasonable Adjustment Support Service;

· Awareness raising activity and staff events to increase understanding of mental health issues and challenge stereotypes, including events for the International Day of Disabled People and 'Time to Talk' days, as well as including staff with mental ill-health in an internal 'Positive Images of Disability' communications campaign.

Time to Change and issues surrounding mental health in the workplace remain high on MoJ's employee wellbeing and diversity and inclusion agendas.