Sick Days Taken

Under the Freedom of Information Act I seek the details of sick leave taken by the officers and staff of the force. By sick leave I mean paid time off work due to illness or injury.

Specifically I would like to know:

1. How many sick days were taken by officers annually.
2. How many sick days were taken by staff annually.
3. The monetary cost of sick days for the absent officers and staff.
4. The total number of officers and staff on the force annually during the time in question.

I would like this data broken down by officer rank and staff salary band if possible. Please provide this information annually for the past two full years. I do not mind if the data is compiled by financial or calendar year but it must be consistent throughout the time period.

In accordance with section 1 (1) (b) of the Act our response is provided below;

Questions 1, 2 and 4

Sickness figures April 2007 - March 2008

Sickness figures April 2008 - March 2009

^*1 Please note that February 2008 had an additional day due to it being a leap year. Therefore, when making direct comparisons with non-leap years, this should be taken into consideration as the number of sickness days will be affected.

^*2 The average strength figure has been calculated using the headcount on the last day of each month during the reporting period.

^*3 Does not include Special Constables.

^*4 Includes Police Community Support Officers.

The data used to produce these statistics was extracted from the Force HR system on 14/04/2009.

Question 3

With regards to the pay grade and cost of sickness, we are unable to provide this due to people shifting between positions throughout the reporting period. Additionally, this is compounded by the changes to pay points on the pay scales. I.e. cost of living rise. These statistics would only ever be an approximation and to compile them would, it is estimated, exceed the appropriate limit.

The appropriate limit is defined in the Data Protection and Freedom of Information (Fees and Appropriate Limit) Regulations 2004, which is covered by statutory Instrument Number 3244 of 2004. Furthermore, section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 allows a public authority to refuse to respond to a request for information where the cost of compliance would exceed the appropriate limit as defined by the above mentioned regulations.