§ Mr. BellinghamTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate his Department has made of the cost to public funds of absenteeism within the public sector; and if he will make a statement. [186339]
§ Mr. BoatengThe Treasury does not collect data on absence in the public sector but there are other published sources. Figures for the civil service, including estimates of cost, are published annually by the Cabinet Office in "Analysis of Sickness Absence in the Civil Service". The Ch#rtered Institute of Personnel and Development published a survey in July titled "Employee absence 2004—A survey of management policy and practice" which included estimates of average sickness absence across the public sector.