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Sick leave in the Whitehall blob is surging under Labour, analysis shows.

Absence rates jumped by up to nearly a fifth in major government departments last year.

Civil servants taking prolonged periods off over mental health issues was fuelling the rise, sources claimed, with tens of thousands of working days lost.

The Work and Pensions department, responsible for getting more people off sickness benefits and into work, was among those that recorded an increase in sickness rates of 19 per cent.

Of 12 departments that have published annual accounts so far for the 12 months to April, absence due to sickness increased at nine.

It means each civil servant on average had nearly two working weeks (8.4 days) off due to sickness last year. This was up from 8.2 the year before.

The analysis comes amid wider concerns about Britain's sick-note epidemic, with 11 million 'fit notes' – which assess an individual's ability to work – given out in England last year.

The Tories' shadow Cabinet Office minister, Mike Wood, said: 'Labour have repeatedly promised to tackle worklessness and have instead built a Whitehall that signs itself off, with the bill landing on taxpayers.

Sick leave in the Whitehall blob is surging under Labour, analysis shows, with rates increasing across 9 of 12 Whitehall departments

The Work and Pensions department, run by Pat McFadden, is responsible for getting more people off sickness benefits and into work, but was among departments that recorded an increase in sickness rates of 19 per cent

The Tories' Shadow Cabinet Office Minister, Mike Wood, said have built 'a Whitehall that signs itself off'

'A Conservative government would reduce the size of the Civil Service and cut waste to get Britain working again.'

Shimeon Lee, policy analyst at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'The Whitehall blob cannot preach welfare reform while its own sickness rates are surging.

'Taxpayers need a civil service that shows up, delivers and helps get Britain working again, not one losing tens of thousands of days to absence while departments plead for more money.

'Ministers must get a grip on sickness in Whitehall, tackle poor management and make sure taxpayers are not bankrolling a culture of drift and decline.'

Much of the increase in sickness rates across Whitehall departments was due to 'long-term' absences, suggesting civil servants are calling in sick for extensive periods.

The Department for Work and Pensions' annual report and accounts said 'at 31 March 2026 there were 4,134 absences representing 4.4% of the workforce.'

This was up from 3.7 per cent the year before – a 19 per cent surge.

The Home Office, responsible for tackling the small boats Channel crossings crisis, said average working days lost to sickness per staff member was 8.37 days last year, up from 7.4 – a 13 per cent increase.

At the Environment department, an average of 6.2 working days per employee was lost to sickness absence during the year to March 31, 2026. This was up from 5.25 – or 18 per cent.

The Ministry of Defence's sickness rates also went up, with its annual report stating: 'Mental and behavioural disorders continue to be the highest cause of sickness absence at 30% of all absences.

'The percentage of staff with no sick absence for the 12 months ending 31 March 2026 was 51%.'

Each staff member on average was off sick for nearly seven days last year.

The Transport department, which also saw an increase to six days per staff member last year, said in its annual report that 'mental ill health remains the largest long-term absence type.'

Sickness rates also increased at the Energy, Business and Science and Technology departments as well as the Treasury.

Rates decreased at the Foreign Office and Culture and Housing departments.

It comes despite former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer saying during his premiership that 'too many' civil servants 'are comfortable in the tepid bath of managed decline', pledging to drive up efficiency and productivity in Whitehall.

It is unclear so far what new premier Andy Burnham intends to do about the issue but he is expected to give a speech next week on tackling youth unemployment.

The increased average sickness rates come despite the number of civil servants ballooning in recent years to 520,000 as of April. Just before the historic Brexit referendum vote in 2016, it was 384,000.

A Government spokesman said: 'ONS data shows the Civil Service has similar sickness rates as the private sector - and we have a range of tools to ensure our staff remain in work and can return to work as quickly as possible following ill health.'