Council defends four-day week trial.

Cllr Bridget Smith, the leader of South Cambridgeshire District Council, has responded to a formal request from local government minister Lee Rowley for the authority to end a four-day working week trial. Cllr Smith said she had been “surprised” by the letter, and has requested a meeting with ministers to “discuss the matter,” pointing to “strong independently assessed evidence” showing that the pilot, in which the council’s desk-based staff have trialled a four-day week since January, had seen performance “maintained, and in some cases improved, in the first three months,” while cutting spending on agency staff and helping fill a number of previously “impossible to fill” vacancies in areas like planning. But Mr Rowley said such a model is inappropriate for local authorities. In a letter to the council, he argued that “councils are expected to ensure that finite and valuable taxpayers’ money is used in a way which demonstrates value for money – something which paying employees for an extra day of work that is not carried out is unlikely to demonstrate.” The minister noted that the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities will “shortly be issuing clear guidance” on the matter.