Attendance management and illnesses in the Northern Ireland Assembly

Information Standards Freedom of Information Response

Our Ref: FoI 61-20

27 February 2021

Freedom of Information Act 2000                                                                    

I can confirm that the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission holds information relevant to your request of 07 December 2020.  In your request you asked for the following information:

"How many staff members at the Northern Ireland Assembly have taken sick days in your services, which relate to mental health.

How many staff members at the Northern Ireland Assembly have taken sick days in your services, which relate to respiratory disorder and muscle problems.

How many staff members at the Northern Ireland Assembly have taken sick days in your services, which relate to Covid-19.

How many staff members at the Northern Ireland Assembly have taken sick days in your services, which relate to ill-defined symptoms.

I would ideally like this over the past ten years (January 1 2010 - December 31 2019), and any recorded data as of time of writing (January 1 2020 - December 1 2020), but I will accept whatever recorded information you have. Additionally, where possible, I would like this to be broken down by sex/gender, race/ethnicity, and age group (i.e. 18-24, etc.).

During the same period, can you also tell me the total number of days lost to sickness, which relate to mental health, per worker? Again, can you break this down annually.?”

Please find information relevant to your request at Appendix A.

The Northern Ireland Assembly may publish details of your FOI request and our official response within the organisational disclosure log. The request will be completely anonymised and you will not be identified in any way. This is to meet the requirements as laid out by in the agreed publication scheme with the Information Commissioners’ Office.

If you feel that the information we have provided does not meet your request fully, please contact this office as soon as possible.  You have the right to request a formal review by the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission and if you wish to do so, please write to me at the above address.

If after such an internal review you are still unhappy with the response, you have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,  Cheshire SK9 5AF who will undertake an independent review.

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me.  Please remember to quote the reference number above.

Yours sincerely

INFORMATION STANDARDS & DATA PROTECTION OFFICER

APPENDIX A

1. How many staff members at the Northern Ireland Assembly have taken sick days in your services, which relate to mental health?

Between 1 January 2010 and 7 December 2020, a total of 160 staff have taken sick days related to mental health, which is recorded under the category of ‘anxiety, stress, depression and psychiatric illness’.

2. How many staff members at the Northern Ireland Assembly have taken sick days in your services, which relate to respiratory disorder and muscle problems?

Between 1 January 2010 and 7 December 2020, a total of 153 staff have taken sick days related to respiratory disorders and muscle problems.

The information relating to respiratory disorders covers absence which is recorded under the category of Chest & Respiratory (excluding nose, throat, asthma, cold, cough and flu) and a separate category of Asthma.

The information in relation to muscle problems covers absence which is recorded under the category of Musculoskeletal Illness (excluding back problems).

3. How many staff members at the Northern Ireland Assembly have taken sick days in your services, which relate to Covid-19?

Between 13 March 2020 and 7 December 2020, a total of 37 staff have taken sick days related to Covid-19.

4. How many staff members at the Northern Ireland Assembly have taken sick days in your services, which relate to ill-defined symptoms.

The Assembly Commission do not hold information on the category of ill-defined symptoms.

5. The total number of days lost to sickness, which relate to mental health, per worker?

Between 1 January 2010 and 7 December 2020,160 members of staff were off sick for a total of 12,576.5 days due to sickness which relates to mental health. Some members of staff may have been off on sickness related to mental health on more than one occasion and in this case they have only been counted once.

6. Additionally, where possible, I would like this to be broken down by sex/gender, race/ethnicity, and age group (i.e. 18-24, etc.).

Of the 160 members of staff absent due to sickness which relates to mental health, 83 are male and 77 are female. The Assembly Commission’s HR management system does not report on sick absence information by race/ethnicity, and age group.

We have looked at the different ways to provide the information as requested. To do so via report, this would require the Assembly Commission to pay for the contracted HR management system provider to generate a report which would produce the information requested. This would exceed the cost limit as per Section 12 (1) of the FOI Act. To produce the information by manual intervention would also exceed cost limit.  Please see Appendix B for further information on Section 12 of the Act for your reference.

APPENDIX B

Section 12(1) –(4) of the Freedom of Information Act are as follows:

“12. —(1) Section 1(1) does not oblige a public authority to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying with the request would exceed the appropriate limit. (2) Subsection (1) does not exempt the public authority from its obligation to comply with paragraph (a) of section 1(1) unless the estimated cost of complying with that paragraph alone would exceed the appropriate limit. (3) In subsections (1) and (2) “the appropriate limit” means such amount as may be prescribed, and different amounts may be prescribed in relation to different cases. (4) The Secretary of State may by regulations provide that, in such circumstances as may be prescribed, where two or more requests for information are made to a public authority-(a)by one person, or (b)by different persons who appear to the public authority to be acting in concert or in pursuance of a campaign, the estimated cost of complying with any of the requests is to be taken to be the estimated total cost of complying with all of them.”

Further information is available on the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004 at https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2004/3244/regulation/4/made