Four-day week at South Cambridgeshire District Council to continue

The government has issued new guidance, saying authorities should not adopt the move.

South Cambridgeshire District Council began a four-day week trial at the start of the year to try and improve recruitment and staff retention.

The authority’s leadership has faced backlash before over the move, but has reiterated its intention to continue the trial despite the new government guidance.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said it does not believe the four-day week offers value for money and called for any council trials to end “immediately”.

South Cambridgeshire District Council leader, Bridget Smith, Smith said no area of the council’s work was “falling to a concerning level” and highlighted her request for the government to speak with her about the trial.

“Our initial three-month trial saw performance generally maintained, and in some cases improved – with not a single area falling to a concerning level.

“There was strong evidence it was helping us fill hard to recruit posts and improving retention, so we extended the trial to test that over a longer period.

“Since January, our sickness rates have fallen by a third, staff turnover has reduced by 36 per cent, and complaints about services involved in the trial are down too.

“Every decision we make centres on what is best for the communities who elect us.

“Our offices are open five days a week, and we can be contacted 24 hours a day, seven days a week in an emergency like during last week’s flooding.

“Local councils should always be free to decide the best way to deliver services for the residents they represent.

“On one hand Government tells us to innovate to cut costs and provide higher quality services; on the other they tell us not to innovate to deliver services.

“We are best placed to make these decisions in our area, which has high private sector wages and housing costs, making it very difficult to attract and retain talented staff we need to deliver for residents and businesses."

The government said it "does not support a four-day working week in local authorities, as it does not believe that it delivers local taxpayers’ value for money.

Ministers also said should councils disregard this advice and there is evidence of service decline or failure, the government may raise concerns directly with the authority, monitor performance more closely and consider options to correct declining performance.

The guidance states that any council currently undertaking a four-day-week trial should stop “immediately”.

South Cambridgeshire District Council says it will see out the four-day working week trial, which is due to end in May 2024.