Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average number of working days lost to sickness absence per full-time equivalent member of staff was in (a) the Department and (b) its executive agencies in the last year; and how many formal performance warnings were issued to staff whose absence exceeded departmental triggers.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The figures below are calculated as a rolling 12-month period up until 31st October 2025.
The Average Working Days Lost for the Department is currently 4.2.
The table below shows the average working days lost for the Department’s Executive Agencies
Column1 | Average Working Days Lost |
ATE | 0.90 |
DVLA | 13.11 |
DVSA | 9.36 |
MCA | 7.17 |
VCA | 9.06 |
The total number of formal performance warnings issued to staff who exceeded departmental triggers for the Department for Transport and its Executive Agencies for the rolling 12-month period up until 31st October 2025 is 21.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many days were lost to sickness absence by civil servants in their Department (a) in total and (b) on average per employee between 5 July 2024 and 4 July 2025.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Data is published on the average working days lost for the central Department on an annual basis for each financial year. Information can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/sickness-absence with figures back to 1999.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Answer of 2 February 2024 to Question 11521 on Government Departments: Sick Leave, if he will make an estimate of the number of staff days lost to long term sick absences in each Department in 2023.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The table below provides the estimates requested, number of long term sick days lost per department, along with our preferred measure, Average Working Days Lost (AWDL) per staff year which accounts for workforce size and composition. Data is provided for the main Ministerial Departments consistent with the answer of 2 February 2024 to Question 11521.
Long term sickness absence by Main Department, days lost and average working days lost per staff year, 2023
| 2023 (year ending 31 Mar 2023) | |
Department | Long Term Sick Days Lost | Average Working Days Lost |
Cabinet Office | 24,260 | 2.3 |
Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities | 8,360 | 2.0 |
Department Culture Media and Sport | 3,370 | 1.4 |
Department for Environment | 25,560 | 2.1 |
Department for Education | 19,790 | 2.5 |
Department for Transport | 75,190 | 4.8 |
Department for Health and Social Care | 34,180 | 3.3 |
Department for Work and Pensions | 367,360 | 4.7 |
HM Customers and Revenue | 305,190 | 4.5 |
HM Treasury | 4,230 | 1.5 |
Home Office | 139,980 | 3.8 |
Ministry of Defence | 173,050 | 3.2 |
Ministry of Justice | 580,740 | 6.9 |
Scottish Government | 151,000 | 5.8 |
Welsh Government | 21,560 | 3.9 |
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2024 to Question 8810 on Cabinet Office: Sick Leave, if he will make an estimate of the total number staff days lost to long term sick absences in each Department in each year since 2015.
Answered by John Glen
The tables below provide the estimates requested, long term sick days lost per department (Table 1), along with our preferred measure, Average Working Days Lost (AWDL) per staff year which accounts for workforce size and composition (Table 2). Data is provided for the main Ministerial Departments and excludes those that have been most impacted by Machinery of Government changes, for which times series comparisons between 2015 and 2022 are not possible.
Table 1: Long Term Sickness Absence by Main Department, Days Lost, 2015-2022
| Long Term Sick Days Lost | |||||||
Department | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
Cabinet Office | 5,580 | 6,510 | 6,400 | 5,050 | 10,550 | 13,250 | 13,090 | 20,750 |
Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities | 8,460 | 9,270 | 7,840 | 7,140 | 6,710 | 7,310 | 6,850 | 7,670 |
Department Culture Media and Sport | 530 | 1,810 | 1,490 | 3,470 | 3,710 | 3,630 | 2,670 | 4,110 |
Department for Environment | 18,960 | 16,690 | 14,890 | 14,240 | 15,490 | 19,880 | 19,210 | 27,070 |
Department for Education | 10,940 | 7,990 | 7,890 | 12,370 | 13,870 | 13,810 | 9,580 | 20,410 |
Department for Transport | 84,920 | 67,810 | 64,430 | 66,560 | 72,710 | 70,130 | 51,950 | 71,260 |
Department for Health and Social Care | 27,790 | 26,270 | 21,140 | 23,520 | 24,950 | 24,300 | 20,880 | 27,770 |
Department for Work and Pensions | 261,960 | 221,470 | 234,770 | 239,720 | 276,110 | 311,110 | 243,230 | 383,320 |
HM Customers and Revenue | 214,960 | 232,220 | 225,420 | 208,810 | 205,770 | 233,750 | 189,360 | 243,040 |
HM Treasury | 1,500 | 2,030 | 2,870 | 2,150 | 3,190 | 3,050 | 2,770 | 3,990 |
Home Office | 95,910 | 103,870 | 101,740 | 114,820 | 119,990 | 132,200 | 109,360 | 148,080 |
Ministry of Defence | 222,240 | 203,240 | 197,180 | 195,440 | 185,100 | 219,600 | 219,380 | 149,690 |
Ministry of Justice | 442,840 | 414,460 | 403,990 | 372,220 | 398,510 | 434,270 | 435,690 | 596,420 |
Scottish Government | 83,580 | 80,990 | 88,840 | 97,660 | 109,990 | 123,980 | 111,300 | 134,510 |
Welsh Government | 23,160 | 23,980 | 22,880 | 22,630 | 23,840 | 17,290 | 14,590 | 20,110 |
Table 2 : Long Term Sickness Absence by Main Department, Average Working Days Lost per Staff Year, 2015-2022
| Long Term Average Working Days Lost per Staff Year | |||||||
Department | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
Cabinet Office | 1.9 | 2.2 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 1.9 |
Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities | 3.4 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 3.1 | 2.4 | 2.3 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
Department Culture Media and Sport | 1.0 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 2.7 | 2.5 | 2.1 | 1.3 | 1.4 |
Department for Environment | 2.5 | 2.4 | 2.2 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 2.1 | 1.9 | 2.4 |
Department for Education | 3.2 | 2.6 | 2.0 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 2.2 | 1.3 | 2.6 |
Department for Transport | 5.3 | 5.3 | 4.9 | 5.0 | 5.3 | 5.0 | 3.6 | 4.9 |
Department for Health and Social Care | 3.4 | 3.2 | 3.2 | 2.8 | 3.1 | 3.0 | 2.2 | 2.6 |
Department for Work and Pensions | 3.2 | 2.9 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 3.7 | 4.4 | 3.3 | 4.5 |
HM Customers and Revenue | 3.6 | 3.7 | 3.5 | 3.3 | 3.4 | 3.8 | 3.2 | 3.9 |
HM Treasury | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 1.6 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 1.5 |
Home Office | 3.6 | 3.9 | 4.0 | 4.4 | 4.2 | 4.2 | 3.4 | 4.5 |
Ministry of Defence | 4.4 | 4.1 | 4.0 | 3.9 | 3.8 | 4.2 | 4.1 | 2.8 |
Ministry of Justice | 6.8 | 6.4 | 6.4 | 5.8 | 5.7 | 6.1 | 6.0 | 7.4 |
Scottish Government | 5.1 | 5.0 | 5.5 | 5.9 | 6.4 | 6.3 | 5.4 | 5.9 |
Welsh Government | 4.2 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 4.7 | 3.3 | 2.8 | 3.7 |
Notes:
Annual Data for year ending 31 March 20xx
Source – Management Information
Days rounded to nearest 10 days, AWDL rounded to 1 decimal place
Ministerial Departments which have been most impacted by Machinery of Government changes over the period, and for which, consistent comparisons are not possible, are not shown.
For sickness absence publications see https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/sickness-absence
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an estimate of the total number staff days lost to long term sick absences in each Department in each year since 2021.
Answered by John Glen
Cabinet Office publishes sickness absence data for the Civil Service on an annual basis on gov.uk. Our preferred measure is Average Working Days Lost (AWDL) per staff year which accounts for workforce size and composition. The table below provides the data requested, days lost per department, along with AWDL for context. Data for 2023 are in production for planned publication by end March 2024.
Table: Long Term Sickness Absence by Department 2021 and 2022
Organisation | 2021 | 2022 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Days | AWDL | Days | AWDL | |
Attorney General's Departments | 5,250 | 2.2 | 7,190 | 2.9 |
Crown Prosecution Service | 18,530 | 3.1 | 23,570 | 3.7 |
Serious Fraud Office | 830 | 1.8 | 940 | 2.0 |
Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy | 34,010 | 2.1 | 47,160 | 2.5 |
Cabinet Office | 13,090 | 1.4 | 20,750 | 1.9 |
National Savings and Investments | 370 | 1.9 | 170 | 0.9 |
Charity Commission | 1,300 | 2.7 | s | s |
Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities | 6,850 | 2.0 | 7,670 | 2.0 |
Competition and Markets Authority | 1,100 | 1.4 | 870 | 1.0 |
Department for Digital, Culture Media and Sport | 2,670 | 1.3 | 4,110 | 1.4 |
Ministry of Defence | 219,380 | 4.1 | 149,690 | 2.8 |
Department for International Trade | 3,960 | 0.8 | 6,820 | 1.3 |
Department for Education | 9,580 | 1.3 | 20,410 | 2.6 |
Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs | 19,210 | 1.9 | 27,070 | 2.4 |
ESTYN | 410 | 3.9 | 320 | 3.1 |
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office | 16,750 | 1.9 | 18,830 | 2.3 |
Food Standards Agency | 3,850 | 2.9 | 4,500 | 3.4 |
The Health and Safety Executive | 7,440 | 3.2 | 10,520 | 4.2 |
Department of Health and Social Care | 20,880 | 2.2 | 27,770 | 2.6 |
HM Revenue and Customs | 189,360 | 3.2 | 243,040 | 3.9 |
HM Treasury | 2,770 | 1.1 | 3,990 | 1.5 |
Home Office | 109,360 | 3.4 | 148,080 | 4.5 |
Ministry of Justice | 435,690 | 6.0 | 596,420 | 7.4 |
National Crime Agency | 10,640 | 2.1 | 15,180 | 3.3 |
Northern Ireland Office | 140 | 0.9 | 420 | 2.4 |
Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services & Skills | 6,530 | 3.6 | 9,270 | 5.3 |
Office of Gas and Electricity Markets | 2,260 | 2.1 | 2,650 | 2.1 |
Office of Rail and Road | 590 | 1.9 | 290 | 0.9 |
Scotland Office (incl. Office Advocate General for Scotland) | 320 | 2.8 | 490 | 4.2 |
Scottish Government | 111,300 | 5.4 | 134,510 | 5.9 |
Department for Transport | 51,950 | 3.6 | 71,260 | 4.9 |
United Kingdom Statistics Authority | 9,250 | 2.4 | 10,070 | 2.2 |
UK Export Finance | 250 | 0.7 | 340 | 0.8 |
UK Supreme Court | * | * | 280 | 5.2 |
Wales Office | 230 | 4.4 | 190 | 4.1 |
Water Services Regulation Authority | 570 | 2.4 | 250 | 1.0 |
Welsh Government | 14,590 | 2.8 | 20,110 | 3.7 |
Department for Work and Pensions | 243,230 | 3.3 | 383,320 | 4.5 |
Notes:
Annual Data for year ending 31 March 2021 and 31 March 2022
Source – Management Information
Days rounded to nearest 10 days, AWDL rounded to 1 decimal place
s = suppressed due to data review, * = suppressed due to low counts
For sickness absence publications see https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/sickness-absence
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the Average Working Days Lost was for (a) female and (b) male civil servants in his Department in the calendar year (i) 2019 and (ii) 2020.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The table below shows the average working days lost split as requested above.
2019 | |||||
| MCA | VCA | DVSA | DVLA | DfTc |
Male | 6.77 | 2.96 | 8.74 | 7.76 | 2.9 |
Female | 9.44 | 5.55 | 12.45 | 11.02 | 3.9 |
2020 | |||||
| MCA | VCA | DVSA | DVLA | DfTc |
Male | 4.77 | 2.58 | 5.24 | 6.22 | 2.4 |
Female | 6.46 | 5.66 | 7.42 | 9.93 | 3.9 |
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the Average Working Days Lost was for civil servants in his Department (a) who have declared themselves as having a disability and (b) who have not declared themselves to have a disability in the calendar year (i) 2019 and (ii) 2020.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The table below shows the average working days lost split as requested above.
2019 | |||||
| MCA | VCA | DVSA | DVLA | DfTc |
Declared Disabled | 16.8 | Not Available | 19.37 | 18.3 | 11.9 |
Not Declared Disabled | 7.14 | Not Available | 8.56 | 8.28 | 2.9 |
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2020 | |||||
| MCA | VCA | DVSA | DVLA | DfTc |
Declared Disabled | 11.24 | Not Available | 11.92 | 12.95 | 7.5 |
Not Declared Disabled | 5.04 | Not Available | 5.16 | 7.14 | 2.8 |
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Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the Average Working Days Lost was for civil servants in his Department aged (a) 30 and younger, (b) 30 to 50, (c) 50 to 60 and (d) over 60 in the calendar year (i) 2019 and (ii) 2020.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The table below shows the average working days lost split as requested above.
2019 | |||||
| MCA | VCA | DVSA | DVLA | DfTc |
30 and Younger | 8.71 | 3.54 | 8.34 | 10.13 | 1.5 |
30-50 | 6.66 | 4.6 | 8.05 | 9.4 | 3.1 |
50-60 | 7.39 | 1.44 | 9.47 | 8.95 | 4.1 |
Over 60 | 13.2 | 4.35 | 15.13 | 12.24 | 10.7 |
2020 | |||||
| MCA | VCA | DVSA | DVLA | DfTc |
30 and Younger | 3.64 | 1.47 | 5.96 | 9.42 | 2.1 |
30-50 | 5.58 | 4.39 | 4.98 | 7.75 | 2.8 |
50-60 | 5.56 | 2.8 | 5.1 | 7.55 | 3.9 |
Over 60 | 7.03 | 4.33 | 9.5 | 12.34 | 6.7 |
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the Average Working Days Lost was for civil servants in his Department (a) from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds and (b) recording themselves as White in the calendar year (i) 2019 and (ii) 2020.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The table below shows the average working days lost split as requested above.
2019 | |||||
| MCA | VCA | DVSA | DVLA | DfTc |
BAME | 4.46 | Not Available | 9.08 | 7.45 | 3.5 |
White | 7.92 | Not Available | 9.78 | 9.78 | 2.8 |
Not Declared | 8.37 | Not Available | 9.98 | Not available | 4.2 |
2020 | |||||
| MCA | VCA | DVSA | DVLA | DfTc |
BAME | 4 | Not Available | 6.47 | 9.33 | 3.3 |
White | 5.51 | Not Available | 6.04 | 8.09 | 2.2 |
Not Declared | 5.69 | Not Available | 5.33 | Not available | 4.7 |
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations he has received from (a) the Welsh Government, (b) Public Health Wales and (c) Swansea Bay University Health Board on covid-19 levels at the DVLA offices in Swansea.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
As of 24 January, the number of DVLA staff working both on-site and working from home who have tested positive for Covid-19 since March 2020 is 546. There are currently no live cases in the DVLA’s contact centre and six live cases across the whole of our workforce of more than 6,000 staff.
The number of working days lost at the DVLA due to staff contracting Covid-19 is 4,132. It is not possible to provide a figure of working days lost for the number of people self-isolating due to Covid-19 in the time available for responding to this question as the data needs to be extracted. The DVLA will therefore write to you with this further detail.
Department for Transport Ministers have received correspondence from the First Minister of Wales. Throughout the pandemic, the DVLA has worked closely with Public Health Wales, Swansea Bay University Health Board and the local environmental health team on Covid-19 related issues, including the safety measures put in place at the DVLA’s offices in Swansea.