§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will commission and publish an independent report on the reasons for the level of sickness absence in her Department. [26972]
§ Mr. MorleyThe Department does not intend to commission and publish an independent report on the reasons for the level of its sickness absence, but it is planning to carry out its own analysis.
A comprehensive analysis of sickness absence in the civil service is produced annually by Cabinet Office. Copies of such reports are placed in the Library of the House.
Responsibility for attendance matters within the Central Science Laboratory, the Veterinary Laboratories Agency and the Centre for Environmental Fisheries and 791W Aquaculture Agency—all former MAFF agencies—has been delegated to the agency chief executives and I have asked them to reply direct. The Pesticides Safety Directorate, the Rural Payments Agency and the veterinary medicines directorate agencies are covered by the departmental response.