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Jobcentre Plus: Essex

Answer

The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the acting chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Mel Groves. I have asked him to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.Letter from Mel Groves:"The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking what the rate of (a) absence and (b) absence resulting from injury at work was among Jobcentre Plus employees in (i) Essex and (ii) Castle Point in each of the last five years; and what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of these absences. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.""The system we use to monitor sick absence is a relatively new system so I am only able to provide data from May 2007 to June 2009. I have therefore detailed below the average working days lost per member of staff in Jobcentre Plus in Essex between June 2007 and May 2008, and between June 2008 and May 2009 along with the associated financial cost. I am unable to provide you with details for Castle Point as we do not record them for this area specifically."

	Average work days lost to sickness (in days)	Total cost of sickness days lost (£)
June 2008 to May 2009	8.79	964,874
June 2007 to May 2008	11.17	1,072,866

"The level of sickness absence data that Jobcentre Plus collects does not allow us to identify specific work related injuries as the cause of sickness absence.""Jobcentre Plus is very aware of the negative impact of sickness absence on customer service and is committed to improving performance in this area. Indeed, our strategies are delivering considerable success, with the latest data confirming the improving trend we have seen over the last 16 months. We remain committed to securing further improvements.""In addition, we are embarking upon a major health and wellbeing programme across all of our sites. The programme provides staff with a wealth of information and guidance to support healthier lifestyles. It gives them access to a confidential on-line health and wellbeing assessment and delivers targeted solutions to support the individual. The programme also provides managers at our Jobcentres with comprehensive information about the potential health risks to staff, ensuring specific preventative action is taken to address the issues.""My District Manager for Essex, Neil Brettell, will be happy to talk to you further if you have any further questions. He can be contacted on 01245 214242, by post at Government Buildings, Beeches Road, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 2RT or by email at Neil.Brettell@jobcentreplus.gsi.gov.uk"

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

496 c844W; 283886

Session

2008-09

Subjects

Absenteeism Jobcentres Jobcentre Plus Essex

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk