To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many members of staff from his Department missed at least (a) 30, (b) 50 and (c) 99 days of work through illness in each of the last five years. (262847)

[holding answer 11 March 2009]: The number of DEFRA staff who have missed at least 30, 50 and 99 days of work through illness in the core Department is set out in the following table:

Record-keeping practices vary across DEFRA’s agencies and analysing the data by the categories requested would incur disproportionate cost. Data prior to 2006 are not available in the form requested.

DEFRA has a policy for managing long-term sickness absence for its employees by facilitating timely employee access to occupational health and medical or well-being advice. Individuals are also encouraged to return to work through the use of occupational health expertise that enables them to undertake a structured programme of recuperative duties, helping them to return to full working hours as quickly as possible. All staff have a return to work interview with their manager.