For the purpose of answering this question, it has been assumed that the information requested relates to the level of sickness absence in each of the 11 Departments of the Northern Ireland administration, the Northern Ireland Office, departmental executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs).
The table at Annex A reflects both the position for 2004-05 in respect of non-industrial staff and industrial staff in NI Departments and their executive agencies. It should be noted that there are differing methods in place across Departments for recording industrial sickness absence, and information such as the average days lost per staff year is not available in all cases. The information on sickness absence levels for 2005-06 is not yet available but will be published in September 2006.
Information relating to all NDPBs is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, where the information is available, this is reflected in the tables at Annex B.
Department/agency Total number of days lost Average days lost per staff year Cost (£) Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD)-Overall 40,273.3 11.5 3,033,434 Forest service 1,282.8 10.1 94,328 Rivers agency 2,520.2 14.5 214,731 DARD industrial staff 12,635.0 20.6 707,468 Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL)-Overall 4,653.7 11.0 434,989 Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) 1,548.3 16.9 127,476 Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland (OSNI) 1,283.5 8.1 126,956 DCAL industrial staff 392 n/a 14,780 Department of Education (DE) 8,274.7 12.8 716,665 Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) 24,610.1 14.7 1,760,015 Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) 7,090.8 9.9 570,762 DETI industrial staff 29 n/a 1,802 Department of Finance and Personnel (DFP)-Overall 39,831.3 13.7 2,990,330 Business Development Service (BDS) 3,814.7 17.3 291,929 Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) 3,081.4 9.0 236,663 Valuation and Lands Agency (VLA) 3,453.2 11.2 253,701 Land Registers of Northern Ireland 3,971.2 17.9 238,229 Rate Collection Agency 5,995.3 21.8 341,892 DFP industrial staff 351 n/a 12,199 Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS)-Overall 9,584.9 9.5 948,547 Health Estates Agency 1,183.4 8.9 145,488 Department of the Environment (DOE)-Overall 29,241.7 12.0 2,470,560 Planning Service 8,592.4 11.9 800,443 Environment and Heritage Service 5,204.8 9.8 461,967 Driver and Vehicle Licensing Northern Ireland (DVLNI) 8,373.3 17.3 576,398 Driver Vehicle Testing Agency (DVTA) 5,068.0 10.5 418,805 DOE Industrial Staff 1,125 n/a 52,525 Department for Regional Development (DRD)-Overall 32,285.3 10.2 2,877,604 Roads service 15,143.4 9.6 1,238,456 Roads service industrial staff 11,329 n/a 494,958 Water service 10,503.2 9.9 1,025,134 Water service industrial staff 12,258.0 12.6 710,725 Department for Social Development (BSD)-Overall 152,260.4 19.4 9,212,062 Child Support Agency (CSA) 38,789 24.5 2,088,822 Social Security Agency (SSA) 103,481.0 18.5 6,358,803 Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister (OFMDFM) 3,314.9 8.6 326,737 Northern Ireland Office (NIO) 18,364.5 12.6 1,485,044 NI Prison Service 33,272.0 15.9 3.76 million Notes: 1. Staff from the parliamentary Commissioner for Complaints and the Planning Appeals Commission are included in the DFP figures. 2. Staff from HSENI and OFREG are included in the DETI figures. 3. The NIO figures include staff in both the NICS and HCS. 4. It is important to remember that information should not be added together to give an overall total as the information for the Agencies is also counted in the information for the Department to which they belong. 5. Note that unless specifically stated staff are non-industrial.
NDPB Total number of days lost Cost (£) DARD AFBI1 647 33,220 NIFHA2 264 15,730 LMC3 290 13,996 DSD Housing executive 47,770 2,915,612 Laganside 38 2,395 DCAL Core (industrial staff) 392 14,780 Arts council 322 31,972 Sports council 788 39,484 Fishery conservancy board 416 13,383 National Museums NI 4,984 n/a NI Museums Council 6 550 DEL Labour Relations Agency 924 91,082 Enterprise Ulster 2,077 103,133 USEL4 213 21,480 CITB5 581 53,169 DETI Invest NI 6,553 538,469 NI Tourist Board 1,522 124,804 General Consumer Council 242 23,072 DOE NILGOSC6 599 31,716 LGSC7 72 8,199 DE Northern Ireland Council for the curriculum, examinations and assessment 1,648 145,000 Youth Council for Northern Ireland 33 4,500 Council for Catholic maintained schools 651 67,000 Staff commission for education and library boards 10 n/a Belfast education and library board 9,402 n/a Southern education and library board 8,129 n/a North Eastern education and library board 5,604 n/a South Eastern education and library board 4,612 n/a Western Education and library board 4,959 n/a
2005-06NDPBTotal number of days lostCost (£)DARDAFBI166142,127NIFHA220312,030LMC342938,429DSDHousing executive 46,4762,967,366Laganside1215,579DETIInvest NI5,309558,114NI Tourist Board 2,233183,106 General Consumer Council16513,096DOENILGOSC632624,468LGSC7403,453DENorthern Ireland Council for the curriculum, examinations and assessment1,816160,000Youth Council for Northern Ireland9814,000Council for Catholic maintained schools84086,000Staff commission for education and library boards33n/aBelfast education and library board10,918n/aSouthern education and library board6756n/aNorth Eastern education and library board4,971.5n/aSouth Eastern education and library board5,594n/aWestern education and library board6,798.5n/a n/a = Information not readily available.1 AFBI—Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (formerly Agricultural Research Institute NI).2 NIFHA—Fishery Harbour Authority (NI).3 LMC—Livestock and Meat Commission for NI.4 USEL—Ulster Supported Employment Ltd.5 CITB—Construction Industry Training Board6 NILGOSC—Northern Ireland Local Government Officers' Superannuation Committee.7 LGSC—Loc al Government Staff Commission.