Campaigners have welcomed a new government consultation which puts the presence of mental health in the workplace, at the heart of its strategy.

The New Horizons paper will disclose mental health policy over the next ten years and is being discussed until October this year.

The paper has recommended that by 2020 more work should be done to tackle the stigma surrounding mental health in the workplace. Additional advice suggests that psychological treatments should be more readily available whilst individuals should have access to care packages.

Angela Greatley, Chief Executive at Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health, said: "We warmly welcome the government's commitment to creating healthier workplaces. Mental health illness costs British business £25bn a year, so action to improve mental health at work should be a national priority."

William O'Neill Head of Head of the Employment Law Department at Rowlands Solicitors believes that: "It is incredibly important to give credence and recognition to the mental health of employees.  Simply speaking, a happy and healthy worker is an effective worker. Any treatments or therapies that can aid an employee with mental health issues should be made extremely welcome by employers..  Such schemes may also reduce the number of employment law claims brought by disabled workers on the basis of alleged discrimination"

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has also announced the extension of a scheme to help mental health suffers keep their jobs. Pilots of the scheme, run in conjunction with mental health charity Mind, have already shown a 90% success rate in helping sufferers stay in work, and the DWP is keen to see it continue.

"I know disabled people dearly want to stay in work and their employers want to do everything they can to keep good staff," said Minister for Employment and Welfare Reform, Jim Knight.

"Our plan is to offer the right help early on and end the downward spiral of people falling out of work, into sick leave, and onto benefits."