Revealed: 10,000 council staff stuck on long-term sick leave

EMBARGO: 22.30 Wednesday 24th April

• Almost 10,000 council staff workers are currently on long-term sick leave, with the number increasing by a fifth since 2019.

• Six in ten councils have seen a rise in the number of staff off on long-term sick leave since 2019

• The Liberal Democrats are calling for the Government to urgently reduce NHS waiting lists to allow people to get the care they need. 

Close to 10,000 council staff are stuck on long-term sick leave with the number rising by a fifth since 2019, Liberal Democrat Freedom of Information requests have revealed.

The Freedom of Information request was sent to all councils in England, with responses provided by 185. It showed there were 9,979 council staff currently on long-term sick leave, up 18% from 8,441 in 2019. 58% of councils had seen a rise in staff being off on long-term sickness compared to 2019.  98 of the 185 councils also showed a year on year rise when comparing 2023 to 2024.  

The worst council is troubled Birmingham City Council with 561 staff members on long-term sickness, up from 390 in 2019. Similarly Leeds City Council shows 425 currently off, up from 254 in 2019.  Only four councils had no staff on long-term sick leave: West Oxfordshire District Council, Staffordshire, Rushmoor and Copeland.

The latest figures show a record 2.8 million people across the country are out of work due to long-term sickness. The party have said all sectors, including private sector companies and even the NHS itself have staff on sick leave as a result of government underfunding. It comes as previous data from the Lib Dems revealed almost 12,000 key workers across the UK including nurses, police officers and firefighters were stuck on long-term sick leave.

The Liberal Democrats are calling on the Government to cut waiting lists and ensure people receive good quality care so they can return to work faster.

Liberal Democrat Local Government spokesperson, Helen Morgan MP said:

“These figures reveal a long-term sickness epidemic hitting local councils across the country. Council staff are working hard every day to deliver for their local communities while facing the stress of government funding cuts and having to operate on a shoestring.

“Under the Conservatives more people are going off with long-term sickness and not getting the support they need. Rishi Sunak is happy to point the finger at staff who are ill while ignoring the serious issues caused by his government’s neglect of the NHS. 

“The NHS is as stretched as it’s ever been and this Government is to blame - they’re failing patients and hurting our local services at the same time. Ministers need to tackle waiting lists and give workers across the country the high quality care they deserve.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

The FOI data can be found here.

Reporting on records of those on long-term sick can be found here.

Text of the FOI:

The amount of staff employed by the council that are currently on long term sick leave as of 12th February 2024. 

I would also like to request the amount of staff that were on long term sick leave on the same day in 2023 and in 2019. 

For clarification, long term sick leave is classed by the UK Government as four or more weeks of absence due to sickness. See definition here: https://www.gov.uk/taking-sick-leave#:~:text=Employees%20who%20are%20off%20work,be%20considered%20long%2Dterm%20sick.