To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the total number of absence days of staff in his Department was in 2007. (187891)

The total number of sickness absence days taken by staff in the Department in the period July to December 2007 is 10,404 days.

It is not possible to provide a figure for the whole calendar year as the Department was created as part of the machinery of government changes on 28 June 2007. The total provided here is based on the six-month period 1 July to 31 December 2007 (the latest information available). The rolling average of working days lost per staff member at 31 December 2007 was 7.7. The Department is on target to achieve year on year sickness absence targets agreed with Cabinet Office, including a 2010 target to reduce sickness absence levels to 7.0 days per full-time equivalent member of staff.