AUDIT OFFICE REPORT ON NI’S 11 COUNCILS

■ STAFF TOOK AVERAGE OF 15 DAYS OFF WORK DUE TO SICKNESS LAST YEAR ■ £34M WAS SPENT ON EMPLOYEE EXIT PACKAGES BETWEEN 2013 AND 2017

COUNCIL staff in Northern Ireland miss three weeks at work every year on average because of sickness, a report reveals today.

Absenteeism in local government is on the rise — increasing by 7.3% from the previous year.

At one council — Mid and East Antrim — staff missed 18.3 days each on average, equivalent to almost a month based on the fiveday working week.

The high absence rates are mainly caused by long-term sickness because of conditions such as severe depression, musculoskeletal problems and stress, auditors found.

The details emerge in a report by local government auditor Pamela McCreedy (below).

Other key findings include:

• Spending on agency staff rose by almost a fifth to £24.2m in 2016/17.

• In a four-year period, councils paid a total of £34m in exit packages to staff — an average of £65,000 each.

• Councils had loans of £485m outstanding — equivalent to £261 for every person in Northern Ireland.

• Two councils did not obtain details of all members’ registered interests.

Today’s report is based on audits of the 2016/17 accounts of Northern Ireland’s 11 councils.

It found that during 2016/17, councils employed more than 9,800 full-time equivalent staff and used assets worth in excess of £2.3bn.

One of its key findings was a rise in absenteeism among staff. The average sickness absence rate increased by almost 7.3% to 14.95 days in 2016-17 — up from 13.93 days the previous year — and an average of three working weeks per employee. Sickness absence varied significantly between councils.

Mid and East Antrim Borough Council recorded the highest number of days lost (18.3), while Belfast City Council had the lowest (12.4). Mid and East Antrim council said: “The most recent figures show that over the past year, council’s absenteeism figures, while still representing a significant challenge for Mid and East Antrim Borough Council, improved by an average of more than one day per employee — and we are confident by working closely with our employees and unions, this will reduce further.”

“We are fully committed to further improving attendance within Mid and East Antrim Borough Council, for the betterment of our staff and ratepayers.”

Separately, the report found that two of the 11 councils had not obtained annual returns from all councillors in order to update the register of interests.

In one council, six returns from councillors were outstanding, despite a number of requests from staff.

In a second council, two councillors had not completed an annual return, recording their interests, in the period.

Since April 2016, local councils reported all cases of fraud or suspected fraud to the local government auditor.

In the time since, seven different councils have notified 30 proven, suspected or attempted frauds.

Examples include emails purporting to be from the chief executive to finance staff seeking urgent transfer of funds; theft of assets; and inflated mileage claims by an employee.

Councils also had £485.4m worth of outstanding loans as of March 31, 2017. Loan amounts vary considerably between councils. Council borrowing equates to nearly £261 per person, based on our 1.86 million population.

The average cost of a member of staff was £34,987 in 2016-17 — a decrease of 2.42% on the previous year.