AN INVESTIGATION is being launched into the cause and the cost of the high level of staff sickness in Newport schools.

Absence rates because of illness shot up in the city council's lifelong learning and leisure department between January and March.

A quarterly report on sickness absence among council employees, and other management information, was presented to the cabinet.

It showed a second increase in absence rates compared with the previous year. Days lost through sickness in the education area rose from 4.7 per cent in the same period last year to 6.7 per cent.

"While the social well-being and housing departments have shown a slight increase in sickness levels, there has been a dramatic increase in sickness levels across lifelong learning and leisure against the same period last year," said a report by Colin Crick, head of human resources and policy.

Mr Crick said that long term illnesses had significantly increased among school staff. Nearly 140 teachers and non-teaching members of staff were off work for 15 or more consecutive days during the first three months of the year.

According to the latest figures, the city's 64 schools employed 1,205 teachers and 1,188 non-teaching staff (both full and part-time).

Sir Harry Jones, leader of the council, described the absence figures as "staggering". He said there was serious concern about the issue which could not be ignored until the next quarterly report.

"There are implications and consequences about what is happening in education and I feel an investigation needs to be carried out," he said.

He asked for an evaluation of the cost of replacing staff when they were off sick.

"To some degree other parts of the service will often carry the consequences of sickness absence but this is an area where it is almost automatic that there has to be a replacement or honorarium paid to cover it. We need to know the scale of these costs," he said.

Councillor John Pembridge, cabinet member of lifelong learning and leisure, said that hopefully the problem could be tackled. "But I can't say it is going to be turned around in a month - it's a major problem," he said.

Gerald Riding, secretary of the Newport division of the National Union of Teachers, said he was unaware of any increase in sickness among staff.

Teachers were faced with increasing bureaucracy and continual changes in the profession, he said, adding: "I think a lot of people query the value of such things and that increases stress levels."