Departmental Sick Leave Chris Huhne To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many staff in (a) his Department and its predecessor and (b) its agencies took long-term sick leave in each year since 1997; (2) how many days sick leave (a) in total and (b) on average employees of (i) his Department and its predecessor and (ii) its agencies took in each year since 1997. Mr. Straw The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) was created on 9 May 2007. The MOJ—and its predecessors, the Lord Chancellor’s Department and the Department for Constitutional Affairs—does centrally monitor long term sickness absence but does so by the number of days’ absence taken, not by the number of individual staff on long-term sick leave. To obtain this information would incur disproportionate cost. Information relating to the total and average sick leave for the MOJ and its predecessors, the Department for Constitutional Affairs and Her Majesty’s Prison Service, is shown in the tables. Approximately 1,530 staff transferred from the Home Office to the MOJ on 1 November 2008. However, it would be possible to obtain sick absence figures from the Home Office for these staff only at disproportionate cost. Absence figures for the 51,239 Prison Service staff migrated into MOJ are shown as follows. Figures for the Lord Chancellor’s Department (prior to 2003-04) and Her Majesty’s Prison Service (prior to 1999-2000) are not readily available and to obtain this information would incur disproportionate cost. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |Working days lost|Average staff in post|Working days lost per person| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |2003-04|128,170 |12,154 |10.5 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |2004-05|124,390 |12,643 |9.8 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |2005-06|174,096 |16,702 |10.4 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |2006-07|276,166 |25,395 |10.9 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |Working days lost|Average staff in post|Working days lost per person| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |1999-2000|542,922 |43,111 |12.6 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |2000-01 |592,173 |43,878 |13.5 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |2001-02 |614,150 |44,155 |13.9 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |2002-03 |668,337 |45,419 |14.7 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |2003-04 |328,623 |47,224 |13.3 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |2004-05 |616,367 |48,607 |12.7 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |2005-06 |578,211 |48,419 |12.2 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |2006-07 |573,071 |49,216 |11.6 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ministry of Justice sick absence rates The figure includes MOJ Headquarters, Her Majesty’s Court Service, the Office of the Public Guardian, the Tribunals Service and Scotland and Wales Offices. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |Working days lost|Average staff in post|Working days lost per person| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |2007-081 |211,807 |25,722 |8.2 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |2008-092 |184,027 |24,099 |7.6 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |1 Includes all MOJ employees on Home Office systems (MOJ and NOMS HQ)2 Statistics still to be validated and includes staff that migrated across from HO systemsSource:MOJ Cabinet Office return minus Land Registry and NOMS Agency| | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |Working days lost|Average staff in post|Working days lost per person| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |2007-081 |68,590 |58,540 |11.6 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |2008-092 |542,821 |50,135 |10.8 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |1 Excludes staff on Home Office systems2 Statistic still to be validated and includes staff that migrated across from HO systemsSource:NOMS Agency Cabinet Office return| | | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------