Council's four-day week continues 'by stealth'

South Cambridgeshire District Council has already been issued with one Best Value Notice

A council risks "handing the keys of the council to government" by continuing a four-day week, opposition councillors say.

South Cambridgeshire District Council has been re-issued with a Best Value Notice by the government.

The notice is in response to a trial where employees work four a week on 100% pay, and means they have to supply weekly reports showing they are delivering value for money.

The council says the policy is having a positive impact on lots of the services they provide.

The district council introduced the four-day week trial for desk-based staff in January 2023.

It was later expanded to include staff working in waste collection services.

Liberal Democrat leader of the council, Bridget Smith, says the four-day week is having a positive impact

Under the trial, staff receive full pay for working fewer hours, but are expected to complete all of their work in that time.

The authority began the trial to see if it would help with staff recruitment and address staff retention issues.

Leaders have faced repeated backlash over the trial, but refused to back down to calls from government and opposition members to end it.

The first Best Value Notice was issued in November last year. Each lasts six months.

The government later said it was also considering using “levers” in its funding settlement to “disincentivise the four-day working week”.

But South Cambs agreed to continue running a four-day week until it received more information about what the funding impact could be.

The Liberal Democrat leader of the council, Bridget Smith, said: "The data and evidence we’ve seen so far shows how the four-day week is having a positive impact on many parts of the council."

She said the aim to recruit and retain staff, especially in planning had "dramatically improved".

"The government highlights in their letter how we have engaged constructively with their data requests so far.

"We will continue to do so."

She said councillors would review the data at a meeting in July.

Leader of the Conservative opposition, Heather Williams, said the Lib Dems were "risking handing the keys of the council to government"

Heather Williams, leader of the Conservative opposition, said the new notice was “yet another blow for residents".

The Conservatives have always opposed the trial, which officially ended in March. However the authority decided to carry on with the working practice.

Ms Williams said they were "now left in limbo", adding that the four-day week was continuing "by stealth".

She said the Lib Dems were "risking handing the keys of the council to government through sheer stubbornness."