Sick days at Arts Council Wales rise by 44% amid cost-saving redundancies

The number of sick days taken by staff at Arts Council Wales (ACW) rose by 44% in 2023-2024 compared with the year before, the funding body’s latest annual report has revealed.

In total, the report records that 1,030 days were lost to sickness in the last financial year, up from 715 in 2022-2023. The average number of days lost per employee increased year-on-year from 7.78 to 11.01.

During the year, the overall average number of employees increased slightly from 91.92 to 93.58.

However, there were 12 agreed staff departures, including three redundancy volunteers, plus one compulsary redundancy, as the organisation undertook restructuring and expenditure re-profiling amid pressures on the funding body’s resources, including the ongoing cost-of-living crisis and a 10.5% cut in funding from the Welsh government for 2024 – 2025.

ACW said the main cause of the increase in sickness days was existing long-term health conditions, particularly chest and respiratory illness, and also noted an increase in mental-health-related absence.

A spokesperson for ACW said that although it does not yet have the full figures to make a direct comparison, the funding body has recorded a 39% decrease in sickness absence when comparing April to December of 2023 and April to December 2024, adding, “We are fully committed to supporting the health and wellbeing of our staff.”

Rising rates

The figures mark the third successive year of an increase in the absence rate at ACW after a fall in 2020-2021.

ACW’s absence rate of 4.39%, based on 250.5 working days, is higher than that of Arts Council England, where the staff sickness rate was 2.40% for 2023 – 2024, slightly lower than in 2022-2023 (2.53%).

Meanwhile, Creative Scotland’s annual report showed that in the year to 31 March 2024, an average of 7.5 working days were lost per staff member due to sickness, up from 4.3 days in the previous year.

For Arts Council Northern Ireland, the average number of days lost to sickness in 2023-2024 was 18.2 compared with 8.34 in 2022 – 2023. The funding body notes that 88% of these absences were due to long-term sickness.

The Office of National Statistics put the national average number of absent sick days per worker at 5.7 in 2022, while a study published by the Chartered Institute for Professional Development in October 2023 found that UK employees were absent for an average of 7.8 days over the previous 12 months.

Advisor at the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) Lucie Garvin said, “Widespread or repeated sickness absence can be challenging for businesses. If lots of staff are taking sick leave, an employer might want to explore if there could be a work-related link.

“If an organisation suspects absences might be stress related, they can do a health and safety risk assessment to investigate and take action. Employers should consider their staff’s mental wellbeing as equally important and serious as physical wellbeing.”

Uncertainty over National Lottery revenue

Elsewhere in the report, ACW’s overall income for 2023-2024 was £17.6m, nearly a third less than the previous year, though it noted that the figure for 2022-2023 included restricted capital funding from the Welsh government for the redevelopment of Theatr Clwyd.

The separate lottery distribution account shows ACW’s 2023-2024 share of the proceeds from the National Lottery was £17,234,000 compared with £17,681,000 the year before.

It also noted that uncertainty over the levels of future Welsh government capital funding and revenue from the National Lottery under its new operator, Allwyn, had delayed the finalisation of its Capital Strategy for 2024-34 and commitment to the funding of new projects.

The report said the change in the lottery operator last year was a potential risk that ACW would continue to monitor.

“[The] change in lottery licence holder may impact negatively on lottery income levels and/or disruption in business services including receipt of lottery income,” said the report in its risk assessment.

“New lottery licence holder, Allwyn, has indicated there will be no reduction in the funds available to good causes. We will monitor the situation closely”.

Allwyn became the new operator of the National Lottery Licence on 1 February 2024, the first change in the Lottery’s 30-year history.

The report also noted, “Allwyn’s commitment is to invest significantly over the coming 10 years and gradually introduce changes that will lead to more money for the good causes. Early indications are that income is holding up compared with historic trends.”