Prison and Probation Service: Sick Leave

(asked on 26th November 2020) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) Annual Staff Equalities Report 2019-20, published on 26 November 2020, what the reasons are for the higher Average Days Lost to Sickness Absence measure for BAME staff than white staff.


Answered by
Lucy Frazer Portrait
Lucy Frazer
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
This question was answered on 4th December 2020

Whilst the reasons for the higher Average Working Days Lost to sickness absence measure for BAME staff than white staff for 2019/20 are unclear, the health and wellbeing of all HMPPS staff is a priority, and HMPPS will continue to work with line managers and employees to encourage them to work together to manage attendance in an open and effective way with early intervention and support when health issues arise or when absence levels are unsatisfactory, and to ensure that attendance is managed in a way which is fair and transparent.

HMPPS is committed to ensuring the health, safety and wellbeing of its staff in England and Wales, with all staff having access to a comprehensive occupational health service and employee assistance programme.

The primary categories for overall sickness absence reasons in HMPPS in 19/20, can be found in the September HMPPS Workforce Quarterly Report, (table 20) available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/her-majestys-prison-and-probation-service-workforce-quarterly-september-2020

Reticulating Splines