Department for Transport Lost Working Days

Written Question

Government Departments: Sick Leave

Friday 2nd February 2024

Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)

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 - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

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

Written Question

Cabinet Office: Sick Leave

Monday 15th January 2024

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 - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

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
Organisation	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

Written Question

Department for Transport: Lost Working Days

Monday 1st March 2021

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 - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

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

Written Question

Department for Transport: Lost Working Days

Monday 1st March 2021

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 - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

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

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

Written Question

Department for Transport: Lost Working Days

Monday 1st March 2021

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 - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

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

Written Question

Department for Transport: Lost Working Days

Monday 1st March 2021

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 - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

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

Written Question

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency: Coronavirus

Thursday 28th January 2021

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 Rachel Maclean

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.

Written Question

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency: Coronavirus

Thursday 28th January 2021

Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many staff working for the DVLA in Swansea have contracted covid-19.

Answered by Rachel Maclean

Written Question

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency: Coronavirus

Thursday 28th January 2021

Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many working days have been lost at the DVLA due to staff (a) contracting and (b) self-isolating as a result of covid-19.

Answered by Rachel Maclean

Written Question

Department for Transport: Sick Leave

Wednesday 22nd May 2019

Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of officials in his Department took sick leave for reasons relating to stress in the last 12 months; what proportion that leave was of total sick leave taken in his Department; and what the cost was to his Department of officials taking sick leave over that period.

Answered by Jesse Norman

The Department and its Agencies have provided the responses below for the period 1 May 2018 to 30 April 2019.

The number of staff that took sickness absence due to stress was 553. The Department and its agencies employed a total of 14,956 employees at the end of April 2019.
Of the total number of staff that took sickness absence, the proportion due to stress was 7.57%. The proportion of working days lost to stress, out of all days lost due to sickness absence, was 14.33%.
The total cost of working days lost to sickness absence for the period above is estimated at £13,710,056.78.

The Department has a number of sources of support for employees including a free-to-use Employee Assistance Programme, which offers up to six counselling sessions at a convenient location within days of referral, and a Wellbeing Buddy Network run by volunteers. It has also launched a Mental Health First Aid service run by trained volunteers for colleagues in immediate emotional distress.

The Department recognises the importance of the line manager in mental health, and has a resource available for line managers to provide guidance on managing colleagues with mental health difficulties/issues. It has also launched Wellbeing Action Plans, to guide line managers in conversations about wellbeing, including in relation to mental health.