Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress the Government has made on reducing the extent of employer discrimination against people with (a) criminal records and (b) mental health problems.

The Government has taken action to reduce the extent of employer discrimination against people with (a) criminal records and (b) mental health problems in the following ways:

My department leads the cross-Government campaign ‘Disability Confident’ which supports businesses to employ disabled people and the ‘See Potential’ campaign which actively encourages employers to recruit individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, including ex-offenders.

See Potential champions employers which recognise individuals’ talents from different backgrounds and offers advice on adopting more inclusive recruitment practices. More than 150 organisations support the campaign. The Disability Confident scheme has over 6,000 employers signed up and works collaboratively with prominent business leaders to spread and share best practise.

Government also continues to support ‘Ban the Box’, an initiative run by Business in the Community (BITC). This initiative gives people with criminal convictions the opportunity to demonstrate relevant skills ahead of formally disclosing any conviction(s). So far 87 employers (including the Civil Service), covering more than 720,000 roles, have committed to adopting the Ban the Box scheme.

Furthermore Thriving at Work: the Stevenson/Farmer Review of Mental Health and Employers, published in October 2017, set out the business case for employers to support their staff’s mental health. The Government supports the review’s recommendations and encourages all employers to implement the core mental health standards set out in the Review.