§ David MacleanTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many days on average were lost per employee in her Department because of sickness; and how many officials retired early from her Department in each of the past 10 years. [R] [5059]
§ Ms HewittThe information requested is as follows:
Average number of staff days lost per staff year through sick absence in the DTI Group Year Average 1993 8.9 1994 10.0 1995 8.9 1996 8.8 1997 8.2 1998 8.0 1999 7.8 The DTI Group, in addition to DTI HQ, consists of: ACAS, Companies House, Patent Office, Insolvency Service, National Weights and Measures Laboratory, Employment Tribunals Service, and The Radiocommunications Agency.
The figures are taken from the annual reports on public sector sick absence commissioned by the Cabinet Office each year since 1993; there are no comparable figures available for previous years. Various adjustments are made to the figures to take account of factors such as flu epidemics that may occur in any given year.
The figure for the year 2000 is not yet available.
We are currently collating the information of early retirements and will write to the right hon. Member shortly.