§ Mr. GoodmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people employed in his Department have claimed statutory sick pay for(a) less than one week, (b) one to three weeks, (c) four to six weeks, (d) seven to 12 weeks, (e) 13 to 20 weeks and (f) 21 to 28 weeks in each year since 1997. [148624]
§ Mr. McNultyThe Department for Transport was established following machinery of Government changes in May 2002. The first complete year for which we have data on staff sick absence rates for staff in the centre of the Department for Transport is January to December 2003. During this period, the number of people taking sick leave was as follows:
Days Number (a) Four to seven 292 (b) Eight to 21 137 (c) 22to42 37 (d)43to72 17 (e)73 to 140 16 (f) 141 to 196 6 The Department is committed to managing sick absence effectively.