Conservative MP Dean Russell has recently proposed a new bill to the House of Commons, which would make it a legal requirement for businesses to offer mental health first aid (MHFA) training.

Mr Russell proposed the new law as a Ten Minute Rule Bill, which allows a backbench MP to make a case for new legislation they would like to see passed into law.

The MP is allowed to speak uninterrupted for up to ten minutes - another MP will then be given the opportunity to make an opposing speech, which must also last no longer than ten minutes - before the House decides whether it should proceed to a first reading.  Ten Minute Rule Bills rarely become law but can be used to help raise awareness of an issue.

Mr Russell - the MP for Watford - attempted to put forward similar legislation two years ago in 2021, when he referenced the work of the Where’s Your Head At! Campaign. This campaign gained 200,000 signatures asking to make mental health first aid part of workplace first aid. 

The proposal comes on the back of data from Health and Safety Executive (HSE) who estimated that mental ill-health, including stress, depression and anxiety, accounted for around half of all work related illnesses last year – costing employers an estimated 17 million work days. In his speech, Mr Russell also referenced a 2022 report by Deloitte which informed that the cost of mental health to UK businesses is £56 billion a year and that 54% of workers who take more than two days of leave due to mental health related absences will go on to leave their job.

Mr Russell stated that at the heart of the Bill is “a simple request: to create parity between mental health and physical health first aid in the workplace.”

He added:

“Mental health first aiders, I must be clear, are not expected to be counsellors or psychologists, but just like physical first aiders, who are not expected to be paramedics or surgeons, this bill will simply mean workers have someone to signpost them to the support and help they need when they need it.”

He continued:

“We spend so much time in the workplace, yet we cannot always be ourselves when we are there. It can be hard to show our true face when times are tough because we aim, as always, to be professional. But people do not wear bandages to show where they have anxiety and depression. Many learn to hide their pain in fear of damaging their careers.”

At the time of its reading, the Bill received no objections and so will go through to a second reading on 24th February.