22 September 2006
Sickness absence rates across the civil service rose last year, despite a blizzard of Whitehall initiatives to tackle the problem, the Cabinet Office has revealed.
Whitehall staff took an average of 9.8 days off sick in 2005, compared with 9.1 days in 2004. The Cabinet Office said the rise could be attributed 'primarily' to a new method of calculating sickness absence annually, but admitted that the 12-month change represented a 'notable increase'.
In total, Whitehall lost 5.1 million working days in 2005, compared with 4.8 million in 2004.
The figures, published on September 18, compare unfavourably with reported absences in the private sector – estimated by the CBI at six days per employee per year. Senior CBI officials have attributed the difference to the relatively relaxed attitude of public employers towards most absences.
But that comes at a cost. The latest Cabinet Office figures show that sickness absence cost the civil service £450m in 2005, a rise of £50m on the previous year.
A Cabinet Office spokesman said that while the department was 'disappointed' by the figures, 'initiatives have been undertaken since 2005 that will help departments to tackle unnecessary absences'.
Former Cabinet secretary Sir Andrew Turnbull introduced a new regime for reducing Whitehall absences and departments have also launched their own and joint initiatives with trade unions – but the Cabinet Office said that the effects of some new systems had yet to be felt. A ministerial taskforce has also made recommendations to ease problems.
While the average number of times staff called in sick in 2005 – 1.7 – was the same as in 2004, the average length of absence increased, from 5.27 days to 5.90.
'Significantly, more than half of all staff had some form of sickness absence in 2005,' the Cabinet Office's report states.
The former Inland Revenue – now part of the merged Revenue & Customs department – topped the absence league again, with staff averaging 12.6 days off sick. Other organisations with high rates included the Prison Service (12.4 days), the Child Support Agency (11.2 days) and Jobcentre Plus (10.3 days).
A spokeswoman for Revenue and Customs, which employs more than 100,000 staff, said that the department's absence rate was 'unsustainable'. She added that it could be attributed to a combination of 'the size of the organisation, socio-demographic issues and nature of work'.
Civil service trade unions have long claimed that rising stress levels can partially explain the rising figures. The R&C spokeswoman said the department 'recognised that reported stress is a major factor', particularly among 'those in customer-facing roles', which often involve 'confrontational' meetings with the public.
The Cabinet Office experienced the lowest average absence rate at 4.2 days. The Meat Hygiene Service, whose inspection staff are asked not to attend work if they are suffering from certain viruses or conditions, had the highest absence rate – 17.2 days – among government agencies.
Prospect warns against cuts in vital public science research
The public sciences trade union, Prospect, has launched a national campaign to protect key research facilities from further closures.
Prospect believes that government cuts to research bases could shortly 'denude the UK of expertise needed to defend against the next health or environmental crisis, such as BSE or avian flu'.
The union's general secretary, Paul Noon, last week launched a charter to defend public science services. He said these were 'mostly hidden from the public eye' but undertook vital protective and technological activities on behalf of taxpayers.
The charter calls on ministers to halt 'cost-driven laboratory closures and privatisation' and 'the culture of continuous review and reorganisation' across the sector, and to provide 'adequate funds to invest in long-term research and infrastructure'.
Sue Ferns, the union's science policy officer, told Public Finance that several MPs had backed the charter. She described the recent closure of sites such as the Silsoe Institute, which undertook agricultural research, as 'short-termist and ill-conceived'.
Five facilities linked to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs — which has called for an additional £30m annually to maintain the research underpinning its current policy programme — are also at risk of closure, merger or privatisation over the next year, Prospect claimed.
'Public sciences are often seen as marginal services because few people know about them. They are viewed as easy services to cut when governments plan efficiencies. But private research units will not necessarily undertake the crucial research. We are losing key skills across the public sector — possibly for good,' Fern warned.
Trades Union Congress deputy general secretary Frances O'Grady warned that the cuts would affect the UK's economic competitiveness. Fewer than one in four public scientists affected by recent cuts have found similar work elsewhere in the UK.
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