'Unsustainable' staff sickness at Havering council

Staff sickness levels at Havering Council have been described as unsustainable by the opposition party.

A report said it has cost the council £5m so far this year compared to £2.9m for 2022-23, with more than half of employees calling in sick last year and 27% of those citing mental health problems like stress or anxiety.

Conservative councillor Jason Frost said: "This is just not sustainable. Neither from a service delivery perspective, nor from a financial one."

The council said staff sickness was one of the effects of increased pressures on its services and reduced funding.

Frost, who is also the opposition’s health spokesperson, also expressed concern about the high rate of those reporting stress, anxiety and mental health as the primary cause of their absence.

He added: "Council staff are the lifeblood of the organisation.

"Without them, the many vital services that residents rely on simply will not function."

The council is led by Havering Residents Association, a minority administration.

The local authority added: "The wellbeing of our staff is paramount, however due to increased pressures on our services and reduced funding, this can lead to staff suffering the effects of juggling their demanding workloads, resulting in sickness."

Havering council loses around 10 days in sickness on average per employee, which is the seventh highest rate in London, according to the report.

The top rate is an average of 11 days off in Hackney, while Bexley sees the lowest of six.

The cost of sickness had increased from £2.9m in 2022 - 23, the report also found.

It comes at a time when the town hall is struggling to plug a £32.5m deficit.

In February it received £54m from the government to effectively avoid becoming bankrupt.

The council agreed £15m in budget cuts and an increase in council tax by the maximum 4.99% allowed in a bid to balance its books.

Another concern for councillors is the low levels of unwell employees being referred to external healthcare providers.

The take-up rates are currently the lowest in London with just 83 referrals.

In Barking and Dagenham, there were 495.

A spokesperson for Havering Council said: "We are doing all we can to ensure that they [staff] are well looked after and feel supported, in order to reduce sickness.

"We have programmes in place, such as wellbeing initiatives, staff networks and occupational health and employee assistance programmes, which we actively encourage staff to take advantage of."

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