§ Helen JonesTo ask the Secretary of State (1) for the Home Department what the average number of days1496W sickness absence per year was for (a) police officers and (b) support staff in the Cheshire Constabulary in each of the past five years; [36508]
(2) what the average number of days sickness absence was in each of the past five years for police officers in (a) Cheshire and (b) other forces in the North West. [36507]
§ Mr. Denham[holding answer 25 February 2002]: The average number of days' sickness absence per police officer is shown in the table:
Police Force 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 Cheshire 13 14 13 12 14 Cumbria 9 10 10 12 13 Greater Manchester 15 15 14 14 15 Lancashire 12 11 12 12 13 Merseyside 19 12 11 12 13 The average number of days' sickness absence per member of Cheshire Constabulary's support staff was:
1996–97: 16 1997–98: 16 1998–99: 16 1999–2000: 14 2000–01: 16