Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to reduce levels of stress in the civil service.

We are committed to the health and wellbeing of all our staff, including helping them to manage stress in the workplace.

We have committed to delivering the Thriving at Work standards to refine our approach to mental health support in the workplace. The Civil Service health and wellbeing strategy features specific actions including:

• A Health and Wellbeing Dashboard which tracks progress against six health and wellbeing indicators.
• Wellbeing Confident Leaders interventions to equip all Senior Civil Servants with the knowledge and tools to understand their impact on staff stress and embed wellbeing into planning, decision-making, communications and change management.
• A Resilience and Wellbeing toolkit that includes learning, resources, frequently asked questions (FAQs) and practical tips to manage resilience and wellbeing individually or in team supplemented by departmental resources.
• Promoting softer adjustments for mental ill health such as adjustable start and finish times and working from home

Building a network of an estimated 4000 Mental Health First Aiders (MHFA’s) or equivalent who are equipped with the knowledge to recognise early symptoms and provide initial help to colleagues experiencing mental health concerns.