§ Richard OttawayTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Home Office staff have taken(a) periods of sick leave of over one month and (b) early retirement because of work related stress and depression since 1992. [75205]
§ Beverley HughesThe Home Office has not retained records on length of sick leave by staff from 1992. But for the period September 2001 to September 2002, records show that the Home Office had 694 staff out of a total of 11,666 on sick leave for more than one month, where one month is defined as 28 working days.
Records are not maintained by the Home Office which enable ill-health retirements to be separately identified as work related. Our records indicate that at 15 March 2001 for the previous 12 months, 327 early retirements were in the mental disorder category. But some mental disorders are not stress related and some stress related sickness manifests itself in a physical condition.