§ Mr. GoodmanTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs 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. [175675]
§ Mr. LammyMy Department has no central record of the reasons for staff leaving the Department broken down by these categories. When staff leave on medical grounds, the reasons are recorded on their individual personal files. However, the Civil Service Pensions Division of the Cabinet Office has provided figures on the number of medical retirement certificates issued for reasons of mental health as follows:
2000–01: 13
2001–02: 13
These may not all have resulted in retirements. Figures for 2002 onwards cannot be provided for reasons of confidentiality as there are fewer than five cases in each year. Figures for the years prior to 2000 are not available due to a change of medical advice contractor (this information was not a requirement of the contract before April 2000).
1214WMy Department is committed to ensuring the health, safety and welfare of its employees while at work. Initiatives include an in-house Welfare Service and a Stress Toolkit due to be launched in early July. In addition the Department won the Opportunity Now National Public Sector award last year for its work-life balance policies.