Asked by: Norman Lamb (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many working days were lost due to mental illness in the Law Officers' Departments in each of the last three years.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The Attorney General’s Office, Government Legal Department and Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate report quarterly sickness absence statistics to Cabinet Office and define mental disorders as absences for reasons of stress; mood affective disorders; disorders of personality & behaviour and schizophrenia.
Based on these definitions, the number of working days lost due to mental disorders in these three departments in each of the last three financial years is as follows:
Year Days lost to Mental Disorders
AGO GLD HMCPSI
01/04/2013 – 31/03/2014 23 1,843 15
01/04/2014 – 31/03/2015 0 1,704.5 168
01/04/2015 – 31/03/2016 0 1,551 28
In the last 3 financial years the following numbers of absence days have been recorded by the Serious Fraud Office for reasons of Anxiety, Depressive Disorder or Mental Disorder:
Year Days lost to Mental Disorders
2013/14 18 days
2014/15 176.5 days
2015/16 507 days
In addition to this the following number of absence days have been recorded as Stress or Work Related Stress:
Year Days lost to Mental Disorders
2013/14 105 days
2014/15 195 days
2015/16 529 days
The number of working days lost to mental illness in the Crown Prosecution Service for the last three financial years is shown in the table below:
Financial Year | Total Number of working days lost due to Mental Illness, including stress. | Number of working days lost which were attributed to stress. |
01/04/2013-31/03/2014 | 16028 | 7844 |
01/04/2014-31/03/2015 | 15989 | 7807 |
01/04/2015-31/03/2016 | 11854 | 5856 |
The absence reasons which are included in the Mental Illness category are categorised in line with World Health Organisation (WHO).