§ Mr. FrenchTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what information he has on how many working days have been lost in each of the last three years due to back-related illness.
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardI have been asked to reply.
The available information is given in the following table. This shows the number of days of certified incapacity for sickness and invalidity benefit, where the cause of incapacity was due to a back-related illness.
441W
Total number of days millions1 7 April 1986 to 4 April 1987 39.8 6 April 1987 to 2 April 1988 46.5 4 April 1988 to 1 April 1989 52.6 1 This total excludes the first three days in any spell of sickness (waiting days). It also excludes all days of incapacity covered by statutory sick pay (payable for up to 28 weeks) and all days lost by other persons not entitled to sickness or invalidity benefit. It includes days of incapacity for which invalidity benefit was claimed by men aged 65 to 69 and women aged 60 to 64.