§ Mr. ClaphamTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many claims for work-related illness were settled by her Department in the last year for which records are available; and what the cost was in compensation. [56078]
§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 20 May 2002]: The most recent statistics available are for the year 2000 and relate to the former Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) and its agencies; the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) was not created until June 2001.
Records show that in the core Department, there was one case where compensation was awarded for work-related illness, at a cost of £2,000. There were no cases in the Central Science Laboratory (CSL) and the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) agencies. There was one case in the Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA).
201W Letter from Professor Steven Edwards to Mr. Michael Clapham, dated May 2002:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question on how many claims for work-related illness were settled by her Department in the last year for which records are available; and what the cost was in compensation.The VLA is committed to providing a safe and healthy working environment for staff, is proactive in monitoring procedures and ensures that comprehensive advice and guidance is available to all staff and managers.VLA is also committed to meeting targets for reducing the number of working days lost generally to work related injuries and illness arising from the Government Revitalising Health and Safety initiative.No claims for work-related illness were settled in 2000.One claim for a work-related accident was settled in 2000. The total cost of this compensation case was £56,073.09—broken down as follows:
£ Settlement 30,000.00 Costs 26,000.00 Additional travel costs and interest 73.09 Letter from Professor Mike Roberts to Mr. Michael Clapham, dated 21 May 2002:
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has asked me to reply, in respect of the Central Science Laboratory, to your question concerning how many claims for work-related illness were settled in the last year for which records are available, and what the cost was in compensation.There were no claims for work-related illness at CSL in the last year.
§ Mr. ClaphamTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many days of sick leave were taken by employees in her Department in the last year for which records are available; what proportion of those were due to work-related illness or injury; and what the cost was to the Department. [56080]
§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 20 May 2002]: In 2000, the latest year for which records are available, an average of nine days per staff year were taken by employees in what was then the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, including its agencies. These figures are published in the Cabinet Office annual report "Analysis of Sickness Absence in the Civil Service", copies of which are placed in House Libraries.
The Department does not hold figures on the proportion of these absences that were due to work-related illness or injury, or the cost of these absences, and these could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
The Department is committed to meeting its targets for reducing the number of working days lost due to sickness absence, which are contained in the published Service Delivery Agreement. The Department is also committed to reducing the number of working days lost from work-related injury and ill health, in response to the Government's Revitalising Health and Safety initiative.
§ Mr. ClaphamTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many employees of her Department retired through work-related ill-health in the last year for which records are available; and what the cost was to the Department. [56079]
202W
§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 20 May 2002]: Records are not maintained by the Department which enable ill health retirements to be separately identified as work-related. The number of staff retired with a medical retirement certificate issued by the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS) medical adviser for the period 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2001, was 20. Benefits provided on medical retirement are as set out in the rules of the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme and laid before Parliament, and provide for an immediate payment of an enhanced pension and lump sum. Ill-health retirement expenditure is met centrally from the Civil Superannuation Vote. For the year ending March 2002, provisional expenditure from the vote was £310 million in respect of all civil service cases for which an ill-health pension has been awarded. These cases number approximately 67,000 and include those who have formerly been ill-health retired but who have now reached and exceeded the normal retirement age.
This reply covers staff of the Intervention Board and the former MAFF and its agencies who joined DEFRA in June last year following Machinery of Government changes, but does not include the former DETR staff who are now part of DEFRA.