HC Deb 23 July 2004 vol 424 cc846-7W
Mr. Goodman

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have left employment in his Department because of(a) anxiety, (b) stress, (c) depression and (d) other mental health reasons in each year since 1997. [175677]

Fiona Mactaggart

The Home Office does not record the reasons for employees leaving employment in the level of detail requested.

However, since 2003 the Home Office has operated a voluntary exit survey which indicates that seven staff have stated stress as their reason for leaving the Department in 2003 and (to date) four staff in 2004.

The Department is legally obliged to providing a safe working environment for employees and has a number of initiatives in place to reduce work related stress, including return to work interviews and managing sick absence by line managers and stress seminar and workshops run by the Home Office Health and Welfare Service.