Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, how many senior civil servants in the Law Officers' Departments were on a leave of absence from work due to mental illness in each month of each year since the Departments' creation.

There were no members of the Senior Civil Service in the Attorney General’s Office, Serious Fraud Office, Crown Prosecution Service or Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate who had sickness absence due to mental health issues in the last 5 years.

In the last 5 years, less than 5 members of the Senior Civil Service in the Government Legal Department had sickness absence due to mental health issues.

The Law Officer’s Departments are committed to reducing work related absence due to mental illness and has a number of services in place to support members of staff suffering from such conditions.

* Data has been drawn over the past full five financial years to provide an accurate historical response. To retrieve data from the creation of each department would represent a disproportionate cost.

** Data is based on the WHO absence reason of 'Mental Disorder' which according to the WHO website covers the following; Anxiety, Stress, Affective Psychoses, Alcoholism, Depressive Disorder, Emotional Upset, Mental Disorder, Personality Disorder, Schizophrenia, Work Related Stress.