THE SICK COUNCIL OF TEESSIDE! – Middlesbrough Town Hall Loses 65,000 Working Days as Staff Absences Rocket...
TOWN HALL SICKNESS CRISIS: Middlesbrough Council Loses More Than 65,000 Working Days as Staff Absences Soar by 133%
26th October 2026
Middlesbrough Council is facing serious questions over its soaring staff sickness levels after newly disclosed figures revealed that the number of working days lost through staff sickness has more than doubled in just twelve months....
Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show that the authority recorded a staggering 65,427 working days lost to sickness during the 2025/26 financial year, compared with 28,112 days in 2024/25.
That represents an extraordinary 132.7% increase, equivalent to an additional 37,315 working days lost in a single year.
More concerning, is said to be the sharp increase in so called 'stress-related absences', which rose by more than 125%. And despite the scale of the increase, Middlesbrough Council claims it does not hold information identifying the overall financial cost to the local tax payer of staff sickness, including sick pay and replacement staffing.
The revelations come as the Teesside authority continues its efforts to rebuild its financial position following years of budget difficulties, spending cuts and government intervention.
Sickness Absence More Than Doubles in Twelve Months
The figures were disclosed following a Freedom of Information request submitted in August 2026, with the council issuing its response on the 18th September.
The authority's figures show that recorded sickness absence has risen dramatically since 2023/24, when 25,611 working days were lost and the average absence was ten days per full-time equivalent employee.
By 2025/26, that reported average had climbed to 23 days.
Measure | 2024/25 | 2025/26 | Increase |
Total working days lost | 28,112 | 65,427 | 132.7% |
Average days lost per FTE employee | 11 | 23 | 109.1% |
Long-term absence cases | 478 | 975 | 104.0% |
Short-term absence cases | 2,326 | 3,826 | 64.5% |
Days lost to stress | 4,738.5 | 10,684 | 125.5% |
So called 'Stress-Related Sickness' Reaches Alarming Levels..
One of the most troubling findings is the dramatic increase in working days lost through stress. According to Middlesbrough council's own figures, so called 'stress-related absences' accounted for 4,738.5 lost working days in 2024/25.
Just twelve months later, that figure had risen to 10,684 days, representing a huge 125.5% increase. Musculoskeletal conditions also accounted for a significant proportion of absences, increasing from 4,387 days in 2024/25 to 10,610 days in 2025/26, with some critics claiming the scale of the increase makes it reasonable to ask whether the authority has adequately assessed the impact of its restructuring and savings measures on its workforce 7 or whether measures are in place to ensure that staff sickness claimes are in fact 'genuine'...
Long-Term Sickness Cases Double
The council's figures come on the back of the revelation that Middlesbrough Council has seen a substantial rise in recorded long-term sickness cases, where in 2024/25, there were 478 absences lasting more than four weeks.
By 2025/26, that number had risen to 975 — an increase of almost 104%.
Meanwhile, short-term absence cases increased from 2,326 to 3,826.
Council Admits It Cannot Identify the Cost of Staff Sickness..
Perhaps the most remarkable admission in the FOI response concerns the financial impact to Middlesbrough's Taxpayers.
When Middlesbrough Council was asked to provide the estimated annual direct cost of staff sickness, including sick pay and agency cover where recorded, Middlesbrough Council responded claiming "The Information wasn't held."
Middlesbrough Council Explained:
"Our sickness system records the individuals and days sick; however, it does not record the actual costs of their sickness (either historic or ongoing sickness costs), therefore we are unable to provide an estimated annual cost."
That response raises several questions about the information available to senior management when assessing workforce efficiency and financial risks as well as the impact on the public purse.
Although the council claims it maintains a record of sickness absence, it says its sickness system cannot identify the associated expenditure.
This doesn't necessarily mean that individual departments hold no staffing or agency expenditure records, It does, however, leave an important question unanswered as to just how much has the dramatic increase in sickness absence actually cost Middlesbrough taxpayers?
And whether many of the sickness claims listed by the Authority can actually be classed as 'Genuine'....?
