§ Mr. ClaphamTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many days of sick leave were taken by employees in her Department in the last year for464W which records are available; what proportion of those were due to work-related illness or injury; and what the cost to the Department was. [56056]
§ Mr. Ivan Lewis[holding answer 20 May 2002]: An average of 7.7 days sick leave were taken by employees in the former Department for Education and Employment in 2000, the latest year for which this information is available. Information is not held for sick absences due to work-related illness or injury and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
During the period April 2001 to March 2002 three cases for work related illness reached final settlement at a cost of £20,318 including solicitors' fees. During the same period the Department received £3,280 back from a previous case where a claimant lost an appeal.
My Department is committed to meeting targets for reducing the number of working days lost due to sickness absence as published in our Service Delivery Agreement.