WHITE collar workers at Blackburn Council are paid above average and staff, in general, "know more" and "feel better" than those in most other authorities.

But it's still not enough to push overall sickness statistics down to average.

A survey by independent auditors KPMG showed the council employs around 950 full-time white collar staff with a paybill of around £18 million.

Compared with other shire authorities, the bill is slightly above average and the borough has a higher proportion of staff to population than other authorities, though the proportion of staff in higher grades is quite low.

Auditors have identified savings in the finance and housing departments which are now being discussed with officers. Staff also took part in a national survey which showed Blackburn's staff "know more" and "feel better" than their counterparts in most other authorities surveyed.

But the borough falls down on sickness figures which, at 5.5 per cent, or 12 days per person per year, are slightly above the North West average of 11 days.

It recommends considering a computerised system for recording, monitoring and reporting sickness absence.

The report concedes, however, that the authority has implemented many good practice initiatives to cope with sickness absence, including return to work interviews, a system to identify problematic attendance, the establishment of an in-house occupational health unit and training for all managers with responsibility for sickness absence.

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