§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many staff in her Department were on long term sick leave in each of the last five years. [109257]
§ Clare ShortThere is no central definition of long term sick absence. DFID classifies sick absence of three months or more as long term.
The number of staff on long term sick absence for the period 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2003 was as follows:
1 April 2001 to 31 March 2002: 391 April 2002 to 31 March 2003: 39Details of staff on long term sick absence prior to this period could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
DFID is working towards a reduction of 23.8 per cent. in sick absence rates from 8.4 days per staff year in 1998 to 6.4 in 2003.