Stress, anxiety and "psychological ill health" are driving a high rate of sickness among officers at Somerset Council.
The council has lost nearly 42,000 working days to staff sickness in the last year - just over ten days for every one of the local authority's thousands of employees.
Councillor Diogo Rodrigues, leader of the opposition Conservative group, called on the council to urgently address this to prevent further delays in vital assessments and protect essential public services.
The council said its sickness rate was below the public sector average and it was taking steps to provide early support for staff in a bid to reduce long-term absences.
Mr Rodrigues (who represents the Bridgwater East and Bawdrip division) raised the issue when the council's executive committee met in Taunton on September 2.
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He said: "Last year, this council lost 41,822 working days to staff sickness, an average of 10.04 days for every full-time equivalent employee.
"The Office for National Statistics (ONS) says the UK average was just 4.4 days per worker in 2025. That means sickness absence at Somerset Council is running at more than twice the number of days per person recorded across the UK workforce.
"The associated employment cost to Somerset Council was £6.3m, but the bigger cost to residents is 41,822 days when staff were not available to answer phones, complete education, health and care plans (EHCPs), undertake care assessments, complete planning applications or deliver other essential services.
"Cut sickness absence by just a quarter and we would recover more than 10,000 working days every year.
"Somerset Council is clearly not a healthy organisation. Why is sickness absence so high, what does the executive believe is causing it, and what urgent action will it take to get sickness down and get Somerset working again?"
Councillor Theo Butt Philip, portfolio holder for transformation, human resources and localities, confirmed that stress, anxiety and psychological ill health are the largest causes of sickness absence at Somerset Council, accounting for around a quarter of the total.
Mr Butt Philip (who represents the Wells division) said: "Our sickness rate is below the average for the public sector, which the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development's 2025 employers' survey reported as 13.3 days per year.
"I understand why the leader of the opposition feels strongly about this, as it is an issue which affects both officers and members alike.
"Every day lost to sickness has an impact, meaning that the same amount of work still needs to be done but by fewer people.
"We are committed to improving the health and well-being of our staff, with the obvious benefits that will bring to them, to the council and to the people and communities of Somerset.
"Our analysis shows that stress, anxiety and psychological ill health are the largest causes of sickness absence, accounting for a quarter of the total.
"This reflects the wider national position where mental ill health is a leading cause of long-term absence.
"Other causes vary across services, and we continue to use workforce data to identify areas requiring targeted support."
Out of 110 elected councillors, five are currently on a health-related leave of absence - namely Suria Aujla (Conservative, Huntspill), Jo Roundell Greene (Liberal Democrat, South Petherton and Islemoor), Gill Slocombe (Conservative, Bridgwater West), Lucy Trimnell (Conservative, Wincanton and Bruton) and Rosemary Woods (Conservative, Watchet and Stogursey).
Mr Butt Philip continued: "We are strengthening our sickness absence management policy, improving training and support for managers, enhancing stress risk assessments and well-being provision, and developing targeted interventions in services with the highest levels of sickness and stress-related absence.
"Our focus is, as it should be, on earlier intervention, consistent management and effective employee support.
"We will monitor the progress closely and take practical, evidence-led action to reduce avoidable absence, strengthen workforce resilience and protect services for residents."
Speaking after the meeting, Mr Rodrigues clarified that he was not attacking individual staff members for being ill, but rather the council's "capacity to deliver" services in the face of such high sickness rates.
He said: "This isn't about criticising hard-working council staff when they are ill - quite the opposite.
"They deserve to work for an organisation that looks after them, supports them and doesn't leave them carrying unsustainable pressures.
"But there is also a responsibility to Somerset residents. When more than 41,000 working days are lost in a year, that inevitably affects the council's capacity to deliver, and taxpayers have a right to expect the best possible services and value for the money they pay.
"Getting sickness down is good for our staff, good for residents and good for the taxpayer."
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