'Employers are crucial' | Government's new mental health strategy could reshape HR's role in tackling workplace wellbeing

The Government’s newly launched consultation on a “once-in-a-generation” mental health strategy could place employers at the centre of efforts to tackle the UK’s growing mental health crisis, as workplace experts warn businesses will play a crucial role in preventing poor wellbeing before it escalates into long-term absence.

Ministers this week launched a call for evidence to help shape a new cross-government mental health strategy for England, aimed at shifting support away from crisis intervention and towards earlier, preventative care. The consultation, which runs until 10 July, invites input from clinicians, frontline workers, employers and people with lived experience.

For HR, the strategy may signal a growing expectation that workplaces play a more active role in supporting employee mental health, particularly as long-term sickness absence linked to stress, anxiety and depression continues to rise. The Government explicitly said the strategy will look beyond clinical settings and consider the role of “schools, workplaces, the voluntary sector and local government in promoting positive mental health.”

Why employers are likely to be central to the strategy

The Government said demand for mental health services has risen sharply in recent years, with around one in five people now affected by a common mental health condition. While NHS mental health spending is forecast to hit a record £16.1 billion this year, alongside £473 million earmarked for emergency departments, community-based mental health centres and wider capital projects, ministers acknowledged the current system remains “reactive, fragmented and inconsistent”.