Somerset Conservatives have called for urgent action to tackle staff sickness after 41,822 working days were lost at Somerset Council last year, at an associated employment cost of £6.3 million.
The figures equate to an average of 10.04 days lost for every full-time equivalent employee, more than twice the 4.4 days per worker recorded across the UK workforce by the Office for National Statistics in 2025.
Leader of the Conservative Opposition, Cllr Diogo Rodrigues, challenged the Liberal Democrat administration over the figures at a recent Executive meeting, arguing that the real cost is not simply financial, but the impact thousands of lost working days have on council services.
Cllr Rodrigues said:
"Somerset Council is clearly not a healthy organisation.
Last year we lost 41,822 working days to staff sickness, with an associated employment cost of £6.3 million. That's 41,822 days when staff weren't available to answer phones, complete EHCPs, undertake care assessments, process planning applications or deliver other essential services.
The ONS says the average across the UK workforce was 4.4 days per worker in 2025. At Somerset Council it was 10.04 days per FTE, more than twice that number.
Cut sickness absence by just a quarter and we would recover more than 10,000 working days every year. That is why I want to know what is causing this and, importantly, what the administration is actually going to do to bring it down."
Responding to the Conservatives, Liberal Democrat Lead Member for Transformation, Human Resources and Localities, Cllr Theo Butt Philip, confirmed that stress, anxiety and psychological ill health are the largest causes of sickness absence at Somerset Council, accounting for around a quarter of the total.
He said the Council was strengthening sickness absence management, improving support and training for managers, enhancing stress risk assessments and developing targeted interventions in services with the highest levels of absence.
Cllr Rodrigues added:
"This isn't about criticising hardworking council staff when they are ill. Quite the opposite. They deserve to work for an organisation that looks after them, supports them and doesn't leave them carrying unsustainable pressures.
But there is also a responsibility to Somerset residents. When more than 41,000 working days are lost in a year, that inevitably affects the Council's capacity to deliver, and taxpayers have a right to expect the best possible services and value for the money they pay.
Getting sickness down is good for our staff, good for residents and good for the taxpayer.
That means supporting our workforce, delivering better services and getting Somerset working again."
