§ Mr. Bishopasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance if she will give the comparable figures for the number of working days lost through industrial disputes, industrial injuries and sickness in the past year; and if she will give the amount of time lost with various categories of sickness.
§ Mr. PentlandI am informed by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Labour that in the year from June, 1963 to May, 1964 about 2,480,000 work days were lost through industrial disputes. In the same period injury benefit was paid for 21,780,000 days.
As regards sickness, I have information only about days of sickness which are notified to the Department for purposes of claiming sickness benefit and contribution credits under the National Insurance Act. The number of days of incapacity recorded in the relevant period is estimated at 287 million. The major groups of illnesses were as follows:
Illness Million Mental, psycho-neurotic and personality disorders 29 Diseases of the circulatory system 33 Diseases of the respiratory system 68 Diseases of the digestive system 25 Diseases of the bones and organs of movement 28 Accidents and poisonings other than those which attracted injury benefit under the Industrial Injuries Acts 22 Note.—Spells of sickness lasting less than four days do not usually attract benefit or a credit, and are not normally reported to the Department: nor does the Department know about absence from work of people such as those married women who have chosen not to be insured for benefit, or of non-industrial civil servants who do not normally claim benefit through the ordinary machinery during the first six months of an illness.