Sick leave for civil servants has risen to an average of two weeks a year with the Government missing its target of cutting absenteeism by a third, official figures show.
Civil servants on average took 10 sick days a year in 2003, up from 9.8 in 2002. Some 4.9 million working days were lost last year – the equivalent of 19,000 full-time posts – at a cost of £368m, according to the Cabinet Office.
The figures, compiled by consultancy Aon, provide embarrassing reading for the Government, which in 1998 set a target of cutting average sick leave to 7.2 days by 2003 – roughly in line with performance in the private sector.
Chancellor Gordon Brown has made making improvements in civil service efficiency the key to directing further cash to health and education – looking to find £20bn in savings from Whitehall efficiency over the next five years.
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On average, staff at the Child Support Agency took 14 days of sick leave, the highest of any government department or agency.
Thirty-six per cent of civil servants took no sick days off at all and a further third between one and five days.
