Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department plans to assess the effect of work-related stress on the retention of teaching staff; and if he will make a statement.

Schools have a 'duty of care' to protect the health, safety and welfare of all their employees. The Stevenson/Farmer Review states that public sector employers should support employee wellbeing. The Department is currently considering evidence about teachers’ wellbeing and will consider what more can usefully be done to support the sector. In the Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health green paper the Department set out plans to support schools to put in place designated senior mental health leads.

The Department is developing a strategy to drive recruitment and boost retention of teachers, working closely with the sector, teaching unions and professional bodies. This strategy will cover a wide range of areas including stripping away unnecessary workload, clarifying the accountability system and providing tailored recruitment support for schools. As part of the strategy, the impact of work-related stress on teacher retention will be considered. In addition, the Workload Reduction Toolkit was published in July 2018 and provides accessible materials, including practical advice, tools and case studies that school leaders, teachers and other staff can use to address workload issues in their school.