Sick Leave
Environment Food and Rural Affairs
David Ruffley (Bury St Edmunds, Conservative)
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many days of sick leave were taken by staff in her Department in each of the last three years.
Richard Benyon (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Natural Environment and Fisheries), Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Newbury, Conservative)
The number of working days lost in core DEFRA due to sickness in the last three financial years was as follows:
| Financial year | Total working days lost | Average working days lost per staff member |
| 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012 | 8,892 | 4.0 |
| 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2011 | 13,527 | 5.4 |
| 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2010 | 14,374 | 5.8 |