§ Mrs. FitzsimonsTo ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the overall level of sickness absence in the civil service was in 1999. [151194]
§ Mr. StringerThe report "Analysis of Sickness Absence in the Civil Service 1999", prepared for my Department by Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland (BioSS), shows that by applying the same methodology as in previous years the average level of sickness absence was 10.1 days per staff year. Calculated on the basis of absence per person, the figure for the civil service was 8.5 days. The report contains a comprehensive analysis of the 1999 figures.
The figure of 10.1 days sickness absence per staff year represents an increase over the equivalent figure of 9.8 days set out in the report for 1998. However, as I explained in the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Stevenage (Barbara Follett) on 11 May 2000, Official Report, column 433W, a more accurate comparator for 1998 is the figure of 10.3 days which emerged after Departments own audits of their sickness absence systems had revealed an element of under-recording. On that basis, the figures show that there has been a small decrease in sickness absence per staff year in 1999 as compared with 1998.
Departments have now published service delivery agreements which contain their individual targets for reducing sickness absence. Overall, the civil service has been targeted to reduce sickness absence by 20 per cent. for 2001 and by 30 per cent. for 2003 against the 1998 270W baseline. My Department is continuing to work with other Departments and agencies as they take forward their plans to reduce sickness absence.
I have placed copies of the BioSS report in the Libraries of the House.