Government drops official concerns about South Cambridgeshire District Council's four-day week

Official concerns about a council's four-day working week have been dropped by the government, paving the way for more authorities to adopt the policy.

South Cambridgeshire District Council introduced a four-day week in 2023 and faced opposition from the previous Conservative government over the change.

The policy continued past the end of its trial period in March this year as the council awaited information from ministers.

A letter from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to the Cambridgeshire authority on Friday said that councils are “rightly responsible for the management and organisation of their own workforces”.

It comes as London’s transport authority is understood to be working on a proposal looking at changing working patterns for tube drivers.

The letter from the deputy director in charge of local government stewardship, Max Soule, states: “Although it it not government policy to support a general move to a four-day working week for five days worth of pay, we recognise that local authorities are independent employers who are rightly responsible for the management and organisation of their own workforces.”

The leader of the council, Councillor Bridget Smith, said in a statement: “The results from our four-day week trial painted a really positive picture, with many of our services improving.

"This was along with the hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayer money we saved, improved recruitment and retention plus incredibly significant positives around health and wellbeing.”

According to the council, staff are expected to carry out 100% of their work, in around 80% of their contracted hours, for 100% of their pay, and council opening hours remain the same as before the scheme.

Last month, Angela Rayner told the Commons that a four-day working week is “no threat to the economy”.

Addressing a question from then-shadow local government secretary Kemi Badenoch about whether a four-day week for councils was “unacceptable”, the Deputy Prime Minister said: “We don’t dictate to councils how they run their services.

“We work with councils and I think (Ms Badenoch) should be able to work out that flexible working is no threat to business, no threat to the economy, in fact, it would boost productivity.”

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