Councils in England have been told not to adopt four-day working weeks and the only council currently trialling such a scheme has been put under review.
South Cambridgeshire District Council has been running a flexible working scheme since January, with the aim of tackling staff recruitment and retention issues, reducing reliance on agency staff, and reducing costs.
The trial began with 470 office-based staff working a 30-hour week on full-time pay, and has since been extended to include waste crews, and to March 2024.
However, in September, the then Local Government Minister, Lee Rowley, wrote to the council requesting it stop the trial.
In late October, the Government published non-statutory guidance advising councils in England not to adopt four-day working week arrangements because of concerns about value for money for local taxpayers.
And in November, South Cambridgeshire was issued with a ‘Best Value Notice’, notifying it of government concerns about the pilot and requiring evidence and data on its impact.
Cllr John Williams, South Cambridgeshire’s Lead Cabinet Member for Resources, said: “Our staff turnover is down, our sickness is down, and our recruitment has seen clear benefits with almost 100 new staff joining the council this year. These findings are exactly why we wanted to test a four-day week over a longer period.”
Both the LGA and the District Councils’ Network have said councils should be free to innovate locally, as they know their areas best and are democratically accountable to their local electorate.