Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the average number of sick days taken by people in each grade of the Civil Service.

The Civil Service has a range of measures in place to support the health and wellbeing of civil servants. These include access to advice from Occupational Health practitioners on how they can be supported to stay in or return to work as well as to counselling and support for a range of issues which may include the impacts of ill-health. The Civil Service proactively ensures that its policies reflect best practice on health and wellbeing by monitoring the latest research and emerging trends.

The letter from PCS of 22 February 2021 was discussed during one of the regular discussions Cabinet Office has with the National Trade Union Committee - which includes PCS - on our policies to support the health, wellbeing and attendance of civil servants.

The Cabinet Office publishes sickness absence management information for the Civil Service on an annual basis, including breakdowns by grade. The latest data is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-sickness-absence