Other News In Brief

Woman Convicted Of Benefit Fraud

A woman has been convicted for claiming benefits she was not entitled to at Ballymena Crown Court.

Leanda Scullion claimed Income Support and Housing Benefit totalling £45,408 while failing to declare she was living with a partner. She was given a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

She is also required to repay any outstanding money wrongfully obtained to the Department for Communities.

Work To Start On £300,000 Road Project In Co Tyrone

Construction work is to begin on a £300,000 road resurfacing project in Co Tyrone.

The work will extend from the junction of the A5 with the B165 Melmount Road for a distance of 1,000 metres towards Newtownstewart.

The scheme will start on Monday, 26 September, and is expected to be completed at the start of November.

Diversions will be put in place during the works.

Call For Executive To 'Get To Grips' With NICS Sickness Levels

Ulster Unionist Finance Spokesperson, Philip Smith MLA, has said the Northern Ireland Executive needs to get to grips with the worsening levels of sickness absence impacting upon the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS).

Mr Smith MLA said: "Whilst it is a matter of everyday life that people do and will get sick, the revelation that civil servants in Northern Ireland take on average 11.7 days off with sickness will amaze many of those working in the private sector, as well as those civil service colleagues who rarely are absent at all. The level of 11.7 is considerably higher than the UK Civil Service rate of 8.8 missed days, and even more unfavourable when compared against the overall UK jobs average of 6.9.

"The Northern Ireland Executive has consistently failed to meet targets in relation to reducing the number of lost days, and as a result absence rates remain significantly higher here than the Civil Service in Great Britain. There have been several major investigations undertaken into why our rates of sickness absence are so comparatively high, including by the last Finance and Personnel Committee at Stormont, yet another year has passed with no progress at all being achieved. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) previously estimated that the average annual cost of absence across the UK was £554 per employee, yet in the Northern Ireland Civil Service these latest figures suggest it is £1,300 per employee – more than double the UK average.

"Instead of the problem easing, it's deteriorating. I will be seeking answers whether the rapid rollout of the Voluntary Exit Scheme contributed to these increased levels of absence. It now appears a real possibility that the chaotic rollout of the VES, in which thousands of staff left the NICS in a totally uncoordinated manner, may have destabilised the ability of those left behind to continue the same functions as effectively."

(CD/LM)