§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many cases of work-related stress have been reported in his Department in each of the last three years; how much compensation has been paid to employees; how many work days have been lost due to work-related stress, and at what cost, what procedures have been put in place to reduce work-related stress, and at what cost; and if he will make a statement. [136852]
§ Mr. TouhigDetailed sick absence statistics are derived from medical and self-certificates, which are completed by staff or their GPs. While certain illnesses, such as "depression", "anxiety", "general debility" and even "stress" may be indicated on certificates, it is not possible to determine levels of "work-related stress". Consequently, we have no details on the number of working days lost due to work-related stress or the cost to the Department.
The Wales Office staff have available to them the resources of the National Assembly, and since June 2003, of the Department for Constitutional Affairs in tackling stress. These include a range of stress management courses for both line managers and employees, Health, Safety and Welfare intranet site, a stress handbook for line managers, and a fully trained in-house Welfare service.
The Department offers flexible working patterns, enabling staff to adopt more effective working patterns to better balance their work and home life.
We have a legal obligation to provide a safe working environment for all our staff and, under the Government's Revitalising Health and Safety initiative, we are committed to meeting targets for reducing the number of working days lost generally to work-related injuries and illnesses.