Cardiff Council's sickness absence levels cost taxpayers almost £17 million last year, according to an internal report. Employees took on average 11.5 sick days per year, costing £15.1 million in paid leave. An additional £1.7 million was spent on agency staff cover. The waste services department had the highest absence rate at 21 days on average per employee. Conservative councillor Craig Williams criticized the "absolutely deplorable" statistics and amount of money wasted trying to address the issue over six years. He and others called for stronger action to reduce absence.
Cardiff Council's sickness absence levels cost taxpayers almost £17 million last year, according to an internal report. Employees took on average 11.5 sick days per year, costing £15.1 million in paid leave. An additional £1.7 million was spent on agency staff cover. The waste services department had the highest absence rate at 21 days on average per employee. Conservative councillor Craig Williams criticized the "absolutely deplorable" statistics and amount of money wasted trying to address the issue over six years. He and others called for stronger action to reduce absence.
Cardiff Council's sickness absence levels cost taxpayers almost £17 million last year, according to an internal report. Employees took on average 11.5 sick days per year, costing £15.1 million in paid leave. An additional £1.7 million was spent on agency staff cover. The waste services department had the highest absence rate at 21 days on average per employee. Conservative councillor Craig Williams criticized the "absolutely deplorable" statistics and amount of money wasted trying to address the issue over six years. He and others called for stronger action to reduce absence.
5 4 South Wales Echo Wednesday, 26 October, 2011 Wednesday, 26 October, 2011 South Wales Echo
Max Boyce appears
live at Aberdare ABERDARE Veteran entertainer Max Boyce will return to Rhondda Cynon Taf for a concert tomorrow. A full 38 years after he shot to fame after releasing his album Live At Treorchy, he is appearing at the Coliseum Theatre in Aberdare. Coun Robert Bevan, cabinet member for culture, said: Max is an icon and we are proud to bring him to a stage near you. Bertin to stand for Barry Court ward BARRY An Independent councillor has announced he will be standing for the Barry Court ward in 2012. Richard Bertin, who was first elected in 1999, quit the Labour Party after allegations of bullying and will now stand as an Independent in next years local elections. He said: It would be a great honour and privilege to serve the Court Ward again. NEWS IN BRIEF Welsh student applications fall Police hunt pair who attacked man in street A MAN was grabbed by the throat and punched several times before being kicked by two robbers who stole his mobile phone and wallet. The attack happened yesterday at around 5.20am on Thesiger Street in Cathays, Cardiff. The victim originally began talking to his attackers as they drove past in a Peugeot 207 car. After they had stopped, one of the men got out the car and held the victim against a wall by his throat before punching him several times. Having fallen to the floor, the victim was then kicked by the second man. Both men then searched his pockets before taking his mobile phone and his wallet. Police are now investigating and are trying to trace the two attackers and their car. The first is described being white, around 5ft 6ins tall and was wearing a grey hoodie and grey tracksuit bottoms. The second is also described as being white, around 6ft 2ins tall, wearing a black hoodie and jeans. Anyone with information is asked to call Cardiff CID on 029 2052 7420 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. THE number of Welsh students applying for a place at university has fallen, new figures have shown. Data released yesterday by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) reveals that there were 8.3% fewer applications this week than at the same time last year. In the first snapshot of 2012 trends, there were 2,004 applications from Welsh students 182 down on the 2011 intake. The drop is the smallest of the UK nations, with Welsh students seemingly feeling the benefit of next years tuition fee subsidy. The Welsh Government will ensure Welsh-domiciled learners continue to pay around 3,400 for their studies from September 2012, despite a trebling of tuition fees. But a marked fall in the number of English learners, who do not have the benefit of a government subsidy, applying to courses in Wales will be of concern to Education Minister Leighton Andrews. Staff workingfor neighbouringVale of Glamorgancouncil eachtookthree days fewer sick. A council spokesman said: The council has 18,000 employees and unlike some local authorities, has in-house services such as waste man- agement andsocial serviceswhichare not office-basedjobs andtraditionally have higher rates of sickness due to the nature of their work. Significant progress has been made in reducing sickness levels, however continuing to improve man- aging absence across the council re- mains a priority she added. The council also highlightedits suc- cess in reducing the average number of days lost to sickness per employee from 13.3 in 2007/8. The spokesperson added: In cases of persistent absences and when all other avenues have been explored, the council does resort to dismissal. In 2010/11, there were 108 dismissals which is a 69% in- crease on 2009/10. Despite the council first identifying sick- ness as a problem in 2005, measures put inplacetotackletheissueappear to have been applied only sporad- ically. Schools in Cardiff reported 9,367 separate staff absences over the course of 2010. Only 4,153 of these resulted in the recommended return to work interview des- pite reminders from council officers. The level of ab- sences by school staff was so severe that the mutual supply fund through which Cardiff schools pay cover staff was 20% overspent in 2010 requiring contributions from all local schools to cover the shortfall. Emma Boon, campaign director of the Taxpayers Alliance, said that the scale of the absences suggests that there is a deeper problemthat needs addressing. Giventhe current pressures onthe public finances it is crucial that sick- ness rates are reduced where pos- sible, as everydaylost costs taxpayers money, she added. The bill to taxpayers comes against the backdrop of savage reductions in council expenditure. In February 22m in spending cuts were announced in the citys annual budget. The money spent on agency cover staff alonewouldhavebeensufficient to keep open the last two council-run care homes, Roaths Ty Mawr Home andCaeGlas HomeinRumney. Their closure was announced earlier this year in a bid to save 1.15m. As part of efficiency savings amounting to 8.7m, 350 jobs are to be axed, whilst grants to community schemessuchasgymnasticsclubsand youth groups have been culled. The council had previously been under fire for proposals to spend 13.9m over two years on salary rises aimedat balancinggender inequality in pay. A workplace health survey pub- lishedbytheCBI andPfizer earlier in the year claimed that British workers take 190 million sick days a year, costing employers 17bn. A CULTURE of sickness absence at Cardiff council cost the taxpayer al- most 17m of public money last year, an internal report has revealed. Employees at the local authority took an average of 11.5 days off each as a result of illness costing the council 15.1m in sick pay. A further 1.7m was spent hiring agency staff as cover. Theeye-wateringscaleof thebill for sickness absence comes amid severe cuts imposed on the authority as a result of a drop in its real-terms fund- ing from the Welsh Government. Theworst rateof absencewas inthe councils waste services department, where employees took an average of 21 days off ill last year, treble the national average of 6.5 days. At one stage, almost one in every seven employees in the department were off sick. Across the council, more than 100 people were sacked last year as a result of their sickness absence records. Thefindings of thereport havebeen condemned as deplorable by one councillor, while campaign group the Taxpayers Alliance said the figures were evidence of a deeper prob- lem. Other departments with a partic- ularly high rate of absence included adult services, whichincludes carefor theelderlyanddisabled, alsosuffered from high rates of absence. Workers in the department took an average of 18.5 days off with poor health. The internal report by the councils own policy review and performance committee citedcultural factors con- tributing to high absenteeism and suggested measures ranging from fundingMRI scansat privateclinicsto providing complimentary therapies in order to address the problem. Incentives suchas prizedraws, small gifts, letters of recognition and ad- ditional annual leave were also con- sidered in the report. These were eventually rejected as attendance is a contractual require- ment which should not require in- centivisation. Conservative councillor Craig Williams blasted the statistics as absolutely deplorable. The council has spent six years trying to crack this problem and an enormous amount of money has been wasted, he added. Citing staff morale as a huge is- sue, Coun Williams suggested that the council uses the forthcoming job evaluations it has planned for all staff to address what he described as the endemic problem of absenteeism. While public sector employees are more likely than workers in the private sector to take days off unwell, the problem is particularly acute in Cardiff. In 2009/10 the council was the third worst performing of the 22 Welsh councils for absenteeism. Sickness absence at Cardiff council cost the taxpayer almost 17m last year COUNCILS 17M BILL FOR STAFF ON THE SICK Calls for authority to tackle employee absence that is draining resources as workers take 11 days off through illness a year Thomas Pascoe echo.newsdesk@walesonline.co.uk Given the current pressures on the public finances it is crucial that sickness rates are reduced SICKNESS DAYS AT CARDIFF COUNCIL Average sickness days per employee in 2010/11: 11.45 Average sickness days per employee (waste management department): 21 Target for 2011/12: 10.7 National average: 6.5 Cost of wages for sick staff: 15.1m Cost of agency staff acting as cover: 1.7m Source: Cardiff Council, CBI/Pfizer Absence and Workplace Health Survey Conservative councillor Craig Williams and Emma Boon, campaign director of the Taxpayers Alliance Lynette superintendent absolutely livid over his arrest A RETIRED police superintendent called for an apology from officers who arrested him and accused him of fitting up the Cardiff Five for the murder of Lynette White. Richard Powell, 60, told Swansea Crown Court that he was absolutely livid that officers believed the fabrications of a proven liar over the word of an officer who had retired with the thanks of the chief constable of South Wales Police. Mr Powell was an inspector when Miss White was stabbed to death in a flat at 7 James Street, Cardiff, in the early hours of February 14, 1988. In the aftermath of the murder the Cardiff Five spent two years in jail awaiting trial. Three of them spent a further two years in prison after being found guilty. The convictions were quashed in 1992. Now eight former police officers who helped to prepare the case against them are on trial accused of conspiring to pervert the course of justice. They have pleaded not guilty. In 2003, advances in DNA led to the arrest of Jeffrey Gafoor, who admitted murder and is serving a life sentence. A jury at Swansea Crown Court heard that Mr Powell was a divisional inspector at the time and had been involved in the early stages of the inquiry. He transferred to other duties in the summer of 1988 and returned to the investigation when the Cardiff Five were arrested in December, 1988. Mr Powell was arrested in July 2005. Officers told him that Mark Grommek had complained that he had lied to a jury about what he saw and heard on February 14 only because the police had forced him to. Mr Powell, he alleged, had threatened to put him in jail unless he provided the statement officers wanted. Mr Powell said: He is a proven liar. As far as I know when I was called back in all this [the interviewing of potential witnesses] had been done. I was not involved. Mr Powell described the allegations as a complete fabrication. He told the court: I am being unlawfully detained here. I want a complete and absolute apology. Mr Powell said he kept a meticulous diary and if the officers could find it, and his pocket notebooks from the day, they would see that he had not been involved in the interviewing of Mr Grommek. Mr Powell retired in 2003. (proceeding) Richard Powell denies conspiring to pervert the course of justice Multi-million plan to build 1,800 homes considered CONTROVERSIAL proposals to build 1,850 houses next to the Dragon International Film Studios site near Brynna will be put under the microscope on November 10. The multi-million pound scheme on former opencast land at Llanilid by Cofton (Wales) Ltd, also includes community and leisure facilities, a primary school, medical centre, supermarket, shops and offices. But the projects critics argue it is only being considered after the Valleywood project, which promised 1,700 jobs from a movie studios and theme park, ran into trouble. A special meeting of Rhondda Cynon Taf councils Development Control Committee will consider the scheme along with three objections. Residents have expressed concerns that the scale of the development could take pressure on jobs, roads and schools in the area past bursting point. The 76-hectare site is one of eight sites earmarked by the council for major development. For Cofton, property advisers Savills insist sustainability is at the heart of its plans, with a network of footpaths and cycleways planned. It says that 70% of the 140 people who viewed its public exhibition locally supported the scheme. Previously, its head of planning, Geraint John, said: The plans include a wide range of facilities which will not only create a great sense of community for residents at Parc Llanilid but will also benefit those people already living in and around the area. This is a longstanding regeneration project and the submission of this application marks an important milestone towards delivering development on the site. Wrongly paying Care Home fees? You may be eligible for a refund NewLaw Solicitors specialist Care Team helps claim back wrongly paid care fees. For a FREE, condential and no obligation discussion, please contact a member of our experienced Team on Freephone 0800 054 2386 carefeerecoveries@newlaw-business.co.uk www. care-fees-recovery. co. uk