Neath Port Talbot council has completely revamped its way of dealing with staff sickness absence, with the aim of virtually eliminating abuses while giving better support to those genuinely ill. At a presentation by the review team on Thursday afternoon, there was an almost universal response by council members of “about time, too!”. I would like to think that the introduction of new members in 2008, such as Cllr Des Sparkes and myself on the Liberal Democrat bench, asking questions about the council’s poor standing in the national league tables over the fourteen years of its existence, sparked the decision to overhaul the system. However, it was almost certainly the need to eliminate all items of unnecessary expenditure  in these straitened times which forced officers to tackle the long-standing problem.

Staff and trade union representatives were themselves keen to participate in the review, knowing that  they themselves suffered from fellow-workers’ swinging the lead. Not only does extra work fall on others’ shoulders, but also, for critical front-line jobs,  agency staff have to be brought in, at extra cost. The savings overall could amount to millions of pounds, and ease pressure to cut elsewhere.

The new system – which involves staff (or relative, or friend) ringing in to one dedicated phone number as soon as absence is inevitable – has already been started in some departments, and will largely be in force in the Environment directorate by Christmas. Other directorates, including Education, will follow in the New Year as the staffing for the new system is assessed.

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