Absenteeism In Northern Ireland Councils 2006 07

This report examines the relative position of absenteeism within Northern Ireland councils and considers absenteeism for the sector as a whole when compared with other employment sectors. When viewed as lost productivity, absenteeism in Northern Ireland councils cost £15.5m in 2006-07. For 2006-07 Northern Ireland councils as a whole had an average absenteeism rate of 13.82 days. This rate has increased marginally when compared to the 2005-06 rate of 13.73 days. The 2006-07 absenteeism rate for Northern Ireland councils remains lower than the rates recorded for the years 2002-03 to 2004-05. This increase in lost productivity represents 4,000 additional days absence (125,000 in 2005-06, 129,000 in 2006-07). A comparison of the councils' 2006-07 absenteeism rate with some other employment sectors shows that Northern Ireland councils as a sector continues to have a high absenteeism rate. The absenteeism rate for Northern Ireland councils is, however, marginally lower than the Northern Ireland Health Service. Stress, depression, mental health and fatigue remain the largest cause of absenteeism, responsible for one fifth of days lost in both 2005-06 and 2006-07. Lost productivity due to stress related absence cost Northern Ireland councils £3.1m in 2006-07.

The Chief Local Government Auditor reports on absenteeism based on data requested from the 26 councils on an annual basis. The data is analysed over a three year period to counter the impact of annual fluctuations in absenteeism which could distort findings particularly within smaller councils. In 2009-10, Northern Ireland councils employed over 9,800 staff at a cost of £299 million. Staff costs account for 42% of the councils' expenditure. The report sets out a number of main findings and recommendations, including: Northern Ireland councils as a whole lost almost 122,000 days to absenteeism in 2009-10, an increase of around 700 days compared to 2008-09; there is a resultant absenteeism rate of 12.39 days for each full time equivalent employee which reflects a marginal reduction of 0.04 days. This absenteeism rate for all Northern Ireland councils is now lower than any annual rate recorded this decade with a reduction of 16%. Stress, depression, mental health and fatigue remains the largest cause of days lost due to absenteeism, responsible for 22% of days lost in 2009-10, down 1% from 2008-09. As in previous reports, the NIAO recommends that councils with high and rising absenteeism rates should review their own management practices and benchmark these against those councils with low and falling absenteeism rates. In general there was an improvement in the quality of absenteeism data presented by the councils.

The Stationery Office annual catalogue 2011 provides a comprehensive source of bibliographic information on over 4900 Parliamentary, statutory and official publications - from the UK Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly, and many government departments and agencies - which were issued in 2011.

The Civil Service is one of the largest employers in Northern Ireland with around 28,000 non-industrial staff.Sickness absence levels are considerably higher in the Northern Ireland Civil Service than in Great Britain and in 2006-07, some 323,000 days were lost. This is an average of 13.7 days for every full-time equivalent member of staff. Sickness absence considerably reduces the productivity of Government departments; it affects service delivery and costs more than £25 million a year. It is very important, therefore, that Civil Service departments manage sickness absence effectively.This report examines the management of sickness absence in the Northern Ireland Civil Service.Its main findings are: some sickness absence is inevitable, good management can help to minimise it by ensuring that the causes of work-related ill-health are addressed and staff are helped back to work as soon as possible. Absence levels in the Northern Ireland Civil Service are around 36 per cent higher than in GB departments. The Civil Service has set a target to reduce absence to 9.5 days per employee by 2010. However action taken to date has not delivered reductions of the order necessary to meet this target. Long-term absence lasting more than 20 working days, accounts for nearly 70 per cent of all days lost. The main cause of absence is classified as psychiatric/psychological illness. This accounts for nearly a third working days lost and stress-related illness is a major element in this classification. Female sickness absence in NI is almost double that in Great Britain. If reduced to GB levels, this alone would achieve most of the 9.5 days target. Higher levels of absence are associated with factors in the workplace such as organisational change, role uncertainty and high work demands. There are indications that many of these factors are present in the Civil Service and that they are not being adequately addressed. Early intervention by occupational health professionals tends to limit the duration of absence. However, it takes 53 days on average for Civil Service staff to be seen by its Occupational Health Service. The average long term absence therefore, would last for over two months before any definitive action was taken. There have been some initiatives to address long term absence. A Taskforce was set up in November 2006 to research the causes of long term absence including work-related stress and to make recommendations to address them. A draft report is currently subject to consultation.

This new edition of Blackstone's EC Legislation has been fully revised and updated to include all relevant legislation through to June 2006. The seventeenth edition includes the updated information notice on preliminary rulings, and the Court of Justice Rules of Procedure have been replaced with the Rules consolidated in 2005. Also included in the seventeenth edition: All major treaties, The texts of Protocols attached to treaties, Complete text of the proposed European Constitution, Tables of equivalences for the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty Establishing the European Community, Legislation covering worker and consumer protection, competition, and the free movement of goods and persons. Book jacket.

Contains the 4th session of the 28th Parliament through the session of the Parliament.

The Committee's report examines the nature of tourism in Northern Ireland, its impact on and importance for the overall economy, and the effectiveness of measures taken by Government and other relevant agencies to develop, promote and support the marketing of Northern Ireland as a tourist destination. The Committee's recommendations are addressed to the Northern Ireland Office (which took back responsibility for tourism in Northern Ireland when the power-sharing executive was suspended in October 2002) but if a power-sharing executive is re-established then responsibility for tourism will revert to the restored Executive and, accordingly, responsibility for scrutiny of this policy area would revert to the Committees of a restored Assembly. The Committee's report makes 27 recommendations to help Northern Ireland maximise its tourist potential, and concludes that if government recognises the enormous economic impact of tourism, and if private enterprise in co-operation with statutory bodies can develop this recognition into a coherent strategy, there is no reason why the success of tourism in the Republic of Ireland should not be replicated in Northern Ireland to the advantage of the whole island of Ireland and with Northern Ireland itself enjoying an equivalent status to Scotland and Wales as a UK tourist destination.