Dr B C Slater

BCS-EPS-BH-TP (01603) 223300

22^nd May 2000

Dear Colleague

You will have received a letter dated May 2000 from David Blunkett, Secretary of State for Education and Employment, about the above topic. The purpose of this letter is to inform you of the work about to commence within the Education Department which supports the stance being taken by the Secretary of State. Discussions have already taken place with the usual consultative groups, the Teachers' JCC, NASH, PASH, and the Governors' Network with regard to a proposal to produce a policy for adoption by governors, guidance for managers and in addition, a document which sets out the expectations placed on staff within the workplace. Once drafts have been produced, it is intended to return to the consultative groups prior to the production of a proposal for consideration by Members. Once this has been achieved, we would intend to circulate the documents to schools with a recommendation for their adoption by governing bodies. In addition, we would support the launch of these procedures by a comprehensive round of training for managers and governors.

The timescale for the initial drafting, consultation with partners, training and Committee approval is not something we can be fully certain about at this stage but our intention is to launch the new procedures with training, during the latter half of the autumn term 2000.

At this stage, my advice is to note the contents of the letter from the Secretary of State together with the checklist for managing absence and to await the LEA's recommended policy in due course. However, I can assure you that Education Personnel Services are working in collaboration with a corporate initiative which will produce the kinds of data

output which will be essential to support a more proactive approach to managing sickness absence.

Yours sincerely

Bryan Slater

Director of Education