To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many staff in his Department have had five or more periods of sickness absence of less than five days since its inception. (316468)

Information on sickness absence for 2004, 2005, 2006-07 for the Department for Communities and Local Government can be found on the civil service website:

http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/about/resources/sickness/sickness.aspx

For the periods 2008-09 and 2009-10, Communities and Local Government has been monitoring absence figures on a quarterly basis and details will be published shortly on the Department's external website and as annual figures in our forthcoming departmental report.