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1126566

registered interest
date	14/05/2019
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Sick Leave
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many and what proportion of officials in his Department took sick leave for reasons relating to stress in the last 12 months; what proportion that leave was of total sick leave taken in his Department; and what the cost was to his Department of officials taking sick leave over that period.
tabling member constituency	Carshalton and Wallington
tabling member printed	Tom Brake
uin	254075
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/05/2019 answer text <p>We can confirm we have searched our records and can provide the information below. This information covers the period 1 April 2018 – 31 March 2019. We do not hold data relating specifically to stress as a separate category of sick leave absence. Instead we have provided data relating to all mental health absences. This category includes psychological illnesses such as stress, depression, anxiety and any other mental health condition.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>How many and what proportion of officials in his Department took sick leave for reasons relating to mental health in the last 12 months</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>109 members of staff 2.25% of total staff headcount</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>What proportion that leave was of total sick leave taken in his Department</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Absences relating to mental health made up 34.9% of all sickness absences</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>What the cost was to his Department of officials taking sick leave over that period</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Total cost of mental health sickness is £427,559.55</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The proportion of officials taking sick leave for reasons relating to mental health has remained constant at around 2% for the last five years.</p><p> </p><p>We have various services and support mechanisms in place to support employee mental health. For example we have an internal employee led mental health ‘buddy’ network, and employees have access to an external provider Employee Assistance Programme, and Occupational Health Service. We also have a process in place for notifying and managing work related stress.</p> answering member constituency Scarborough and Whitby answering member printed Mr Robert Goodwill question first answered 22/05/2019 14:37:00 answering member 1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill
tabling member	151 label Biography information for Tom Brake

1126567

registered interest
date	14/05/2019
answering body	Attorney General
answering dept id	88
answering dept short name	Attorney General
answering dept sort name	Attorney General
hansard heading	Attorney General: Sick Leave
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Attorney General, how many and what proportion of officials in his Department took sick leave for reasons relating to stress in the last 12 months; what proportion that leave was of total sick leave taken in his Department; and what the cost was to his Department of officials taking sick leave over that period.
tabling member constituency	Carshalton and Wallington
tabling member printed	Tom Brake
uin	254076
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/05/2019 answer text <p>The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has had officials take sick leave for reasons relating to stress in the last 12 months. However, we are not in a position to release this data, as due to the small size of the office this could lead to individuals becoming identifiable.</p><p>The AGO is highly committed to the health and wellbeing of its staff, and works to help them to manage stress in the workplace. The AGO offers a range of guidance and services in place to support staff, including launching its own wellbeing statement and strategy, and receiving the commitment of the Executive Board to wellbeing. The staff volunteer led wellbeing group has organised numerous events for colleagues to help improve wellbeing and manage stress. The AGO also offers free counselling services for staff members.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 22/05/2019 14:47:16 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	151 label Biography information for Tom Brake

1126568

registered interest
date	14/05/2019
answering body	Wales Office
answering dept id	28
answering dept short name	Wales
answering dept sort name	Wales
hansard heading	Wales Office: Sick Leave
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many and what proportion of officials in his Department took sick leave for reasons relating to stress in the last 12 months; what proportion that leave was of total sick leave taken in his Department; and what the cost was to his Department of officials taking sick leave over that period.
tabling member constituency	Carshalton and Wallington
tabling member printed	Tom Brake
uin	254077
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/05/2019 answer text <p>The Office of the Secretary of State for Wales is unable to disclose the number or proportion of officials in the Department citing stress as a reason for sick absence in the last twelve months as the data relates to fewer than five staff, and releasing the data would risk the identification of individuals.</p><p>Sick leave for reasons relating to stress amounted to 33% of total sick leave days in the Department in the 12 months to 31 March. The cost of officials taking sick leave was £14,117.</p><p>The physical and mental wellbeing of our staff is crucially important to the department and staff have access to all employee services that help to sustain physical and mental wellbeing, including Occupational Health and a 24-hour employee assistance helpline.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster question first answered 17/05/2019 09:24:23 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
tabling member	151 label Biography information for Tom Brake

1126569

registered interest
date	14/05/2019
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Cabinet Office: Sick Leave
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of officials in his Department took sick leave for reasons relating to stress in the last 12 months; what proportion that leave was of total sick leave taken in his Department; and what the cost was to his Department of officials taking sick leave over that period.
tabling member constituency	Carshalton and Wallington
tabling member printed	Tom Brake
uin	254078
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/05/2019 answer text <p>The number of employees in Cabinet Office from 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019 who were<br>absent for stress related reasons was 48. This represented 0.64% of the total workforce</p><p>The proportion of sickness absence related to stress related reasons was 11.35% of the<br>overall sickness absence for the department for the same time period</p><p>The estimated cost to the department from 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019 for employees<br>taking stress related reasons, is estimated at £199,634</p><p>Cabinet Office sickness absence data is published regularly, and is available up to<br>December 2018 here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-absence-<br>data</p><p> </p><p>The Cabinet Office wellbeing action plan enables support for all staff’s health and<br>wellbeing. Key initiatives include: running leadership wellbeing training for all Senior Civil<br>Servants, updating line manager training to ensure wellbeing is included in all<br>conversations, embedding wellbeing into the Senior Civil Service leadership objective and<br>including wellbeing in performance management monthly conversation tools</p><p>There are a number of support services available in Cabinet Office that provide support or<br>advice to all employees. These include the Cabinet Office alumni network, the Cabinet<br>Office listening service and the employee assistance programme.</p> answering member constituency Hertsmere answering member printed Oliver Dowden question first answered 22/05/2019 15:15:46 answering member 4441 label Biography information for Oliver Dowden
tabling member	151 label Biography information for Tom Brake

1126570

registered interest
date	14/05/2019
answering body	Scotland Office
answering dept id	2
answering dept short name	Scotland
answering dept sort name	Scotland
hansard heading	Scotland Office: Sick Leave
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many and what proportion of officials in his Department took sick leave for reasons relating to stress in the last 12 months; what proportion that leave was of total sick leave taken in his Department; and what the cost was to his Department of officials taking sick leave over that period.
tabling member constituency	Carshalton and Wallington
tabling member printed	Tom Brake
uin	254079
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2019 answer text <p>The Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland does not employ staff directly. All staff that join do so on an assignment, loan or secondment from other government departments, who remain the employers. These Departments have their own absence management policies and recording processes that apply to those of their staff working in the office. Detailed reasons for absence attributable to stress and other sickness absence is not retained by the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland.</p><p>The office takes sickness absence and the general wellbeing of staff very seriously and works alongside the employing departments to ensure that anyone who is experiencing issues receives support and assistance.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale answering member printed David Mundell question first answered 21/05/2019 11:52:21 answering member 1512 label Biography information for David Mundell
tabling member	151 label Biography information for Tom Brake

1126571

registered interest
date	14/05/2019
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Department for Transport: Sick Leave
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of officials in his Department took sick leave for reasons relating to stress in the last 12 months; what proportion that leave was of total sick leave taken in his Department; and what the cost was to his Department of officials taking sick leave over that period.
tabling member constituency	Carshalton and Wallington
tabling member printed	Tom Brake
uin	254080
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/05/2019 answer text <p>The Department and its Agencies have provided the responses below for the period 1 May 2018 to 30 April 2019.</p><ol><li>The number of staff that took sickness absence due to stress was 553. The Department and its agencies employed a total of 14,956 employees at the end of April 2019.</li><li>Of the total number of staff that took sickness absence, the proportion due to stress was 7.57%. The proportion of working days lost to stress, out of all days lost due to sickness absence, was 14.33%.</li><li>The total cost of working days lost to sickness absence for the period above is estimated at £13,710,056.78.</li></ol><p> </p><p>The Department has a number of sources of support for employees including a free-to-use Employee Assistance Programme, which offers up to six counselling sessions at a convenient location within days of referral, and a Wellbeing Buddy Network run by volunteers. It has also launched a Mental Health First Aid service run by trained volunteers for colleagues in immediate emotional distress.</p><p>The Department recognises the importance of the line manager in mental health, and has a resource available for line managers to provide guidance on managing colleagues with mental health difficulties/issues. It has also launched Wellbeing Action Plans, to guide line managers in conversations about wellbeing, including in relation to mental health.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hereford and South Herefordshire answering member printed Jesse Norman question first answered 22/05/2019 09:33:59 answering member 3991 label Biography information for Jesse Norman
tabling member	151 label Biography information for Tom Brake

1126572

registered interest
date	14/05/2019
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Ministry of Defence: Sick Leave
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of officials in her Department office took sick leave for reasons relating to stress in the last 12 months; what proportion that leave was of total sick leave taken in her Department; and what the cost was to her Department of officials taking sick leave over that period.
tabling member constituency	Carshalton and Wallington
tabling member printed	Tom Brake
uin	254081
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2019 answer text <p>The Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) Civilian Sickness Absence data has been published on the GOV.UK website since January 2016 and the latest available edition can be found at the following link:</p><p> </p><p>https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mod-civilian-sickness-absence-financial-year-201718.</p><p> </p><p>Data relating to the 12 month period to 31 March 2019 is due to be published on 13 June 2019.</p><p> </p><p>The MOD takes the health and wellbeing of its personnel very seriously. The Department’s Health and Wellbeing Strategy for all MOD employees, military and civilian, is designed to provide guidance to the chain of command and civilian line managers on how to manage the health needs, both mental and physical, of their people. The aim is to maximise the number of people fit to work, managing people back to work after a period of sickness, so that they are fit and able to meet the requirements of Defence outputs, including operational effectiveness. In 2017, the Department also launched its Defence People Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2017–2022 with a four-step plan of implementation; promotion, prevention, detection and treatment.</p><p> </p><p>All civilian staff can access the Department’s Employee Wellbeing Service which offers emotional support and advice on life events as well as counselling services. In addition, the Speak Safe helpline provides a safe space to discuss issues relating to bullying, harassment and discrimination. The Department also has over 2,000 civilian and military Mental Health First Aiders, each of whom has completed a two-day course delivered in accordance with the requirements of Mental Health First Aid England (or equivalent).</p><p> </p><p>The MOD offers a range of flexibilities to enable a better work-life balance for civilian employees. The department recognises that by enabling employees to create a good work-life balance it benefits by attracting and retaining high calibre staff.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bournemouth East answering member printed Mr Tobias Ellwood question first answered 20/05/2019 13:09:22 answering member 1487 label Biography information for Mr Tobias Ellwood
tabling member	151 label Biography information for Tom Brake

1126573

registered interest
date	14/05/2019
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Department for Work and Pensions: Sick Leave
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of officials in her Department took sick leave for reasons relating to stress in the last 12 months; what proportion that leave was of total sick leave taken in her Department; and what the cost was to her Department of officials taking sick leave over that period.
tabling member constituency	Carshalton and Wallington
tabling member printed	Tom Brake
uin	254082
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/05/2019 answer text <p>The Department recognises its legal duty to protect the health, safety and welfare of our employees; this includes identifying and reducing workplace stressors. Our approach is a holistic one that utilises the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Management Standards for work related stress and follows key principles to help identify and reduce work place stressors.</p><p> </p><p>2,473 employees took sick leave for reasons relating to stress in the last 12 months which represents 3% of our paid staff. As a percentage, such absences equated to 10.7% of all Working Days Lost due to sickness absence. However, as the Department continues to pay salaries during sickness absence there is no direct financial cost.</p><p> </p><p>Our approach to absence is fair but robust with the emphasis on health promotion and absence prevention. The Department has a range of support from mental health toolkits, stress reduction plans plus tailored support for people who do go off sick or need support through our Employee Assistance Programme which includes counselling.</p><p> </p><p>The Department has 965 Mental Health First Aiders, who provide acute, short-term and structured support to individuals, provide reassurance and signpost colleagues to both DWP and external sources of support as appropriate. Mental Health First Aiders are also provided with continuous professional development and support for their own mental wellbeing.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 22/05/2019 16:17:12 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	151 label Biography information for Tom Brake

1126574

registered interest
date	14/05/2019
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Prime Minister: Sick Leave
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of officials in the Prime Minister's office took sick leave for reasons relating to stress in the last 12 months; what proportion that leave was of total sick leave taken in her Department; and what the cost was to her Department of officials taking sick leave over that period.
tabling member constituency	Carshalton and Wallington
tabling member printed	Tom Brake
uin	254083
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/05/2019 answer text <p>The number of employees in Cabinet Office from 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019 who were<br>absent for stress related reasons was 48. This represented 0.64% of the total workforce</p><p>The proportion of sickness absence related to stress related reasons was 11.35% of the<br>overall sickness absence for the department for the same time period</p><p>The estimated cost to the department from 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019 for employees<br>taking stress related reasons, is estimated at £199,634</p><p>Cabinet Office sickness absence data is published regularly, and is available up to<br>December 2018 here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-absence-<br>data</p><p> </p><p>The Cabinet Office wellbeing action plan enables support for all staff’s health and<br>wellbeing. Key initiatives include: running leadership wellbeing training for all Senior Civil<br>Servants, updating line manager training to ensure wellbeing is included in all<br>conversations, embedding wellbeing into the Senior Civil Service leadership objective and<br>including wellbeing in performance management monthly conversation tools</p><p>There are a number of support services available in Cabinet Office that provide support or<br>advice to all employees. These include the Cabinet Office alumni network, the Cabinet<br>Office listening service and the employee assistance programme.</p> answering member constituency Hertsmere answering member printed Oliver Dowden question first answered 22/05/2019 15:24:11 answering member 4441 label Biography information for Oliver Dowden
tabling member	151 label Biography information for Tom Brake