§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what assessment he has made of the effect of fears of job insecurity on the level of performance of employees of Her Majesty's Coastguard; [13431]
(2) if he will make a statement on current levels of job insecurity in Her Majesty's Coastguard service. [13432]
§ Mr. Bowis[holding answer 3 February 1997]: I have asked the chief executive of the Coastguard agency to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from C. J. Harris to Mrs. Gwyneth Dunwoody, dated 4 February 1997:
The Secretary of State for Transport has asked **me to reply to your recent Questions about job insecurity in the Coastguard Agency.The Chief Coastguard has given assurances to staff and the Trade Unions that the Agency has no plans for compulsory redundancies. The performance of employees is continually assessed and there are no indications at present that concerns about job insecurity are having a significant effect on the performance of staff.
§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people are currently employed by the Coastguard agency; how many were employed in 1992; and what projections he has made of the number who will be employed in 2001. [13435]
§ Mr. Bowis[holding answer 3 February 1997]: The number of people employed by the Coastguard agency at the end of 1996 was 666. The number of people employed in 1992 was 522. The agency is developing a strategy for using the benefits of new communication technology to meet its requirements into the 21st century. The strategy is under development, and there are currently no projections for the number of staff the agency will employ in 2001.
§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will make a statement on the reported levels of stress incurred by those employed by Her Majesty's Coastguard; and what measures he has put in place to reduce them; [13430]
(2) on what date the most recent assessment was made of levels of stress incurred by employees of the Coastguard agency; [13433]
(3) what surveys he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated into levels of stress incurred by employees of the Coastguard agency; and if he will place copies of them in the Library. [13434]
§ Mr. Bowis[holding answer 3 February 1997]: I have asked the chief executive of the Coastguard agency to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from C. J. Harris to Mrs. Gwyneth Dunwoody, dated 4 February 1997:
The Secretary of State for Transport has asked me to reply to your recent Questions about levels of stress in the Coastguard Agency.573WThe Agency takes the issue of stress in the workplace very seriously and has initiated a series of stress management workshops aimed at recognising and dealing with stress. We also provide post incident traumatic stress counselling to all staff as required. We have not yet conducted a survey into the level of stress incurred by staff. We have, however, recent commissioned a thorough study of sick absence amongst staff, which is currently being evaluated. Initial conclusions from the study suggest that the levels of sickness and absenteeism in the Agency, including stress-related illness, are below those for the civil service as a whole and compare favourably with other emergency organisations.