Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what measures her Department has in place to support those of its staff who have mental health problems.

Civil Service Employee Policy provides a central health and well-being service to support departments in their well-being work.

The Department provides information and support to help all employees to stay well and manage their health conditions at work. This support includes a variety of programmes like occupational health support, counselling support through the Employee Assistance Programme and the Civil Service workplace adjustments service which helps with adjustments for employees suffering from a mental health condition.

The Department is a signatory to the Time to Change Pledge and raises awareness through national campaigns such as the “Time to Talk” day and the Mental Health Awareness Week.

The Department supports the Employee Mental Health Network with a Senior Civil Servant Champion and has introduced Mental Health Champions who are trained to provide support and guide people towards appropriate professional help. The Network has had the visible support of the Department’s Permanent Secretary and at DCMS Ministerial level.

The Civil Service Unconscious Bias training is mandatory for all employees and the Department is working with line managers to support individuals with mental health conditions, part of which is encouraging line managers to undertake Mental Health Awareness eLearning.