HC Deb 31 July 1997 vol 299 cc427-31W
Mr. Chidgey

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list for each Department and agency(a) the average days of sick leave, (b) the total days of sick leave and (c) the index figure, taking the civil service average as 100, in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [11504]

Dr. David Clark

The information requested is shown in the tables for 1994 and 1995. It is based on figures in the report "Analysis of Sickness Absence in the Civil Service 1995" prepared for my department by the Occupational Health and Safety Agency Ltd. and published last month. Figures for earlier years could be supplied only at disproportionate cost.

My Department regularly encourages Departments and agencies to review their approaches to sickness absence management.

Working days lost through sickness absence 1994
Average working days lost1 Estimated number of working days lost2 Index of average working days lost (Civil Service average=100)
Civil Service 9.9 4,902,000 100
Departments/Agencies of > 10,000 staff
Ministry of Defence 8.1 664,300 82
Customs and Excise 8.3 218,700 84
Inland Revenue 9.6 614,300 97
Home Office 10.5 499,500 106
Lord Chancellor Department 10.7 134,500 108
Employment Service 11.3 538,300 114
Benefits Agency 12.4 849,200 125
Departments/Agencies of 5,000–10,000 staff
Department of Trade and Industry 7.0 52,700 71
Department of Transport 7.4 45,700 74
MAFF 8.0 59,600 81
Crown Prosecution Service 8.7 58,600 88
Scottish Office 8.8 53,900 89
Employment Department 10.2 62,300 103
Land Registry 10.9 96,100 110
Contributions Agency 11.3 107,000 114
Child Support Agency 11.6 65,700 117
National Savings Department 14.3 84,300 144
Departments/Agencies of 1,000–5,000 staff
Met Office 4.9 7,900 50
ADAS (MAFF) 6.2 10,700 62

Working days lost through sickness absence 1994
Average working days lost1 Estimated number of working days lost2 Index of average working days lost (Civil Service average=100)
HM Treasury 7.0 9,600 71
HMSO 7.3 14,900 73
Department of the Environment 7.8 35,800 79
Department for Education 8.2 13,900 83
Ordnance Survey 8.4 17,600 84
Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal 8.4 8,600 85
Health and Safety Executive 8.6 35,600 87
Insolvency Service 8.6 15,900 87
Overseas Development Administration 8.6 10,800 87
Vehicle Inspectorate 8.7 12,100 88
IT Services Agency 8.9 34,300 89
Central Statistical Office 9.1 12,500 92
Welsh Office 9.5 21,500 96
Department of Health 9.7 47,700 98
OPCS 10.3 20,700 104
Intervention Board 10.7 10,700 108
Companies House 12.4 12,800 125
Department of Social Security 12.7 38,500 128
War Pensions Agency 12.8 19,800 129
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency 13.2 46,200 133
Scottish Prison Service (SO) 13.3 56,900 135
Driving Standards Agency 14.6 23,700 148
Registers of Scotland 14.7 17,100 148
Departments/Agencies of 500–1,000 staff
Natural Resources Institute 4.8 2,500 48
Nat Physical Lab. 5.1 3,500 51
Building Research Establishment 5.2 3,400 52
Office for Standards in Education 5.3 2,700 54
Central Science Lab. 6.1 4,100 62
Cabinet Office 6.8 4,200 68
Planning Inspectorate 6.9 4,000 70
COI (HMT) 6.9 3,600 70
ACAS 8.6 5,600 86
Department of National Heritage 8.6 5,200 87
Scottish Courts Service 9.9 8,000 100
Charity Commission 10.3 6,700 104
Central Vet. Lab. 10.3 6,500 104
Export Credit Guarantee 10.9 5,800 110
Paymaster General 11.6 9,600 117
Departments/Agencies of 200–500 staff
OPSS 4.5 2,000 45
Civil Service College 4.7 1,300 48
Serious Fraud Office 6.3 2,100 64
Office of Electrical Reg. 6.5 1,500 65
Northern Ireland Office 6.7 1,400 67
Government Centre for Information Systems 6.7 2,300 68
Chessington Computer Centre 7.5 3,100 76
Scottish Courts Administration 7.8 1,600 79
Nat. Engineering Lab. 7.9 1,900 80
PSA 8.1 2,400 82
Treasury Solicitor Department 8.7 3,400 88
Historic Royal Palaces 8.9 3,900 90
Fair Trading Office 9.5 4,000 96

Working days through sickness absence 1994
Average working days lost1 Estimated number of working days lost2 Index of average working days lost(Civil Service average=100)
Property Holdings 9.8 4,600 99
Teachers Pensions Agency 10.9 4,000 111
General Registers Office (SO) 11.6 3,000 117
Public Record Office 11.8 5,700 119
Departments/Agencies of <200 staff
NHS Estates 3.5 400 35
Office of Gas Supply 3.9 200 39
Vehicle Certification Agency 4.8 400 49
Warren Spring Lab. 5.0 300 51
Schools Funding Agency 5.0 1,000 51
Office of Water Services 5.5 900 55
Telecommunications Office 5.6 900 57
Government Actuary Department 5.8 500 58
Government Property Lawyers 6.1 800 62
Occ. Health Service 6.4 600 65
Buying Agency 6.4 700 65
Scottish Prison Service 6.8 800 69
Scottish Records Office 6.9 1,000 70
Friendly Societies Register 7.8 1,400 79
Crown Estate Office 8.5 1,700 86
RASA(OMCS) 10.5' 1,500 106
Resettlement Agency 16.1 3,200 163
Royal Mint 18.1 1,000 183
Excludes Departments/agencies with fewer than 50 staff.
2 Source: Analysis of Sickness Absence in the Civil Service 1995, OHSA Ltd.
2 Estimated by OPS from above report.

Working days lost through sickness absence, 1995
Average working days lost1 Estimated number of working days lost2 Index of average working days lost (Civil Service average=100
Civil Service 10.7 5,125,000 100
Departments/Agencies of > 10,000 staff
Ministry of Defence 8.9 709,200 83
Customs and Excise 9.6 240,400 90
Inland Revenue 10.8 661,100 101
Home Office 11.3 540,000 106
Court Service (LCD) 11.6 127,400 108
Employment Service 12.4 520,600 116
Benefits Agency 12.7 872,300 119
Departments/Agencies of 5,000–10,000 staff
Defence Research Agency 4.7 40,400 44
Department of Trade and Industry 8.2 69,600 77
Department of Transport 8.7 65,500 81
MAFF 9.1 62,600 85
Scottish Office 9.6 64,000 90
Crown Prosecution Service 9.7 64,000 91
Land Registry 10.5 63,900 98
Contributions Agency 12.5 71,800 117
Child Support Agency 13.4 72,200 125
National Savings Department 16.1 86,700 150

Working days lost through sickness absence, 1995
Average working days lost1 Estimated number of working days lost2 Index of average working days lost (Civil Service average=100)
Departments/Agencies of 1,000–5,000 staff
Meteorological Office 5.7 8,000 53
ADAS(MAFF) 6.2 7,300 58
Ordnance Survey 8.3 16,700 78
Department of Environment 8.3 36,400 78
HM Treasury 8.4 9,300 79
HMSO 8.5 19,500 79
Overseas Development Administration 8.6 18,400 80
Health and Safety Executive 9.1 40,100 85
Central Vet. Lab. 9.4 9,500 88
Vehicle Inspectorate 9.4 12,700 88
Insolvency Service 9.5 15,600 89
IT Services Agency 9.7 30,500 91
Department of Health 9.8 42,900 92
Welsh Office 10.0 21,400 93
DFEE 10.3 22,100 96
Crown Office and Proc. Fiscal 10.4 10,600 97
DSS 10.5 30,500 98
OPCS 11.4 21,700 107
Central Statistical Office 11.5 15,100 107
Employment Department 11.5 50,800 107
Scottish Prison Service 12.5 54,000 117
War Pensions Directorate 13.0 19,300 121
DVLA 13.4 46,000 125
Registers of Scotland 13.6 14,800 127
Driving Standards Agency 16.6 27,800 155
Departments/Agencies of 500–1,000 staff
Transport Research Lab. 3.7 1,600 35
Natural Resources Institute 4.0 1,900 37
Office of Public Service 4.9 2,700 46
Building Research Estab. 5.6 3,600 52
Central Science Lab. 5.6 3,800 52
Cabinet Office 6.9 4,300 64
Ofsted 7.0 3,600 65
Planning Inspectorate 7.4 4,400 69
ACAS 8.1 5,300 76
Lord Chancellor Dept. 8.7 7,500 81
Dept. of National Heritage 9.8 5,900 92
Paymaster General Office 10.5 7,700 98
Charity Commission 11.3 6,700 106
Scottish Courts Service 12.1 10,500 113
Intervention Board 12.6 12,300 118
Companies House 14.1 13,800 132
Public Trust Office 14.7 7,900 137
Departments/Agencies of 200–500 staff
Civil Service College 4.1 1,100 38
Schools Funding Agency 4.4 1,100 41
Northern Ireland Office 5.1 1.200 48
Govt. Centre for Info. Systems 5.2 1,500 49
Serious Fraud Office 5.3 1,800 50
Lab. of the Govt. Chemist 5.8 1,600 54
Treasury Solicitors Dept. 6.9 2,800 64
Office of Electrical Reg. 7.1 1,700 66

Working days lost through sickness absence, 1995
Average working days lost1 Estimated number of working days lost2 Index of average working days lost(Civil Service=100)
Chessington Computer Centre 8.2 3,300 77
Office of Fair Trading 8.4 3,400 79
Historic Royal Palaces 8.6 3,500 80
General Register Office(SO) 9.4 2,200 88
Property Holdings 9.9 4,200 93
Export Credit Guarantee 10.3 4,900 96
COI (HMT) 10.6 5,000 99
Public Record Office 10.6 4,900 99
Departments/Agencies of <200 staff
Ofgas 3.9 300 36
NHS Estates 5.4 500 50
Vehicle Certification Agency 5.8 400 54
Government Actuary Department 5.8 500 54
PSA 5.8 600 54
Ofwat 6.1 1,00 57
Crown Estate Office 6.5 1,200 61
Telecommunications Office 7.1 1,100 66
Monopolies and Mergers Comm. 7.1 500 66
Scottish Record Office 7.5 1,100 70
Government Property Lawyers 8.5 1,100 79
Occ. Health and Safety Agency 8.6 800 80
Buying Agency 8.9 1,000 83
Nat. Engineering Lab (DTI) 9.4 1,500 88
Scottish Courts Admin. 9.8 1,500 92
RAS 10.8 1,600 101
Friendly Societies Register 11.8 2,00 110
Resettlement Agency 17.2 1,600 161

Excludes Department/agencies with fewer tha 50 staff.

1 Source:Analysis of sickness Absence in the civil Service 1995,OHSA Ltd.

2 Estimated by OPS from above report.