The figures came to light following a question from an MP and have sparked calls for change
Newly released figures reveal that nearly 1,650 DWP staff have been hit with formal performance warnings for exceeding sickness absence limits. The revelation comes amidst scrutiny of attendance levels within the Whitehall department tasked with administering benefits and aiding people back into employment.
In a written response to Parliament, ministers confirmed that 1,649 formal performance warnings were handed out to staff whose sickness absence surpassed departmental triggers. However, the Department confessed it can’t confirm whether every warning was specifically due to excessive sickness, citing the way its data is recorded.
These figures came to light following a question from Neil O’Brien, the Conservative MP for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston, who queried the number of working days lost to sickness across the Department and its agencies.
Labour’s Andrew Western, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, responded by stating that the Department’s sickness absence data is published annually by the Cabinet Office and covers average working days lost per full-time equivalent member of staff. The minister noted that the most recent published data is for the year ending March 31, 2025, which coincides with the last time the Conservatives were in power.
He revealed: “In the past year, 1,649 formal performance warnings were issued to staff whose absences exceeded departmental triggers. However, because of the way data are recorded, the Department cannot confirm whether in each case the warning was specifically due to absences exceeding those triggers. As of November 2025, the total DWP headcount stands at 95,164.”
The department clarified that it oversees one executive agency, Skills England. However, it noted that absence figures for this body aren’t included in DWP’s overall count as its HR functions fall under the remit of the Department for Education.
This disclosure is likely to stoke further debate about productivity within the public sector. It comes at a time when ministers are encouraging more people to rejoin the workforce and highlighting the increasing burden on the welfare system due to sickness and inactivity.
The DWP’s sickness absence data is made public as part of the Cabinet Office’s yearly workforce statistics. John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: “These figures suggest a worrying culture of absence in one of the biggest departments in Whitehall.
“When over a thousand staff are triggering formal warnings, taxpayers are entitled to ask whether the DWP is being properly managed. The department should tighten its attendance controls, improve its data systems and make sure staff are actually delivering for claimants, rather than allowing poor performance to be hidden behind sloppy record-keeping.”
