The Liberal Democrats have revealed that almost 10,000 council employees in England are on long-term sick leave, which is an increase of nearly one-fifth since before the lockdown. This data was obtained through Freedom of Information requests and published by the party, showing that as of Feb. 12, there were 9,979 council staff on long-term sickness leave, up 18 percent from 8,441 in 2019. Six in ten councils have seen a rise in staff on long-term sick leave since 2019.
The report also highlighted that more than half of councils showed a year-on-year increase in long-term absences. Birmingham City Council had the highest number of staff on sick leave, with 561 employees off, followed by Leeds City Council with 425 staff off sick.
Only four councils in the country had no staff on long-term sick leave. Liberal Democrat spokesperson Helen Morgan MP described the situation as a “long-term sickness epidemic” affecting local councils across the country.
The data release comes after statistics from the Office for National Statistics revealed a record high of 2.8 million people on long-term sick leave in the UK.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recently announced welfare reforms to tackle the UK’s “sick note culture,” aiming to change the default mindset to focus on what work individuals can do rather than what they can’t. Other reforms include tightening assessments for work capacity and setting higher expectations for benefit recipients to put in more hours of employment.
Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride also commented on the rising trend of sickness-related inactivity since the pandemic, highlighting the need for changes in the benefits system to support a high number of people with illnesses or disabilities. Please provide an alternative version of the text.
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