The Government has written to the first council in the country to institute a four-day working week following reports of deterioration in services.
Communities Secretary Steve Reed expressed his ‘deep disappointment’ in a letter to the leader of South Cambridgeshire district council Bridget Smith.
The district council became the first local authority to trial staff working 80 per cent of their contracted hours this summer, giving bin collectors and social housing officials 100 per cent of their pay for working for just four days.
It said it expects to save about £400,000 annually due to lower staff turnover and relying less on agency workers.
Now another 25 council are weighing up the move, with fears it is hitting productivity and adding pressure on public finances.
However, central government currently has no powers to force councils to stop a four-day week or tell them how many days they should work.
Mr Reed has since asked for answers in a letter to Ms Smith, the Liberal Democrat leader in South Cambridgeshire, following reports of deterioration in council services.
In leaked extracts, Mr Reed claimed an independent study found key housing-related services South Cambridgeshire had declined, ‘especially where vulnerable residents may be affected’.
‘We’re not going to micromanage councils. We want to push power out of Whitehall,’ a source in the Communities Department told The Telegraph.
‘However, when we see unacceptable behaviour, we’ll call it out. Wasting taxpayer money in this fashion is completely unacceptable. Voters deserve the respect of a five-day week.’
Mr Reed claimed an independent study found key housing-related services South Cambridgeshire had declined, ‘especially where vulnerable residents may be affected’.
In the letter to Ms Smith, he wrote: ‘The independent report shows that performance declined in key housing-related services, including rent collection, re-letting times, and tenant satisfaction with repairs, especially where vulnerable residents may be affected.
‘If social housing is being built by this Government, and your team are unable to move residents into them so that they are standing empty, then I must reiterate my deep disappointment with your conduct.’
Mr Reed added that he is ‘seeking assurance’ over the trial, which he pointed out was not government policy for local authorities to offer full-time pay for part-time work.
‘In particular, I would like to understand how the council is seeking to mitigate the impact to those services which have worsened over the course of the four-day working week trial,’ he wrote.
He added that he would like to meet with council office to ‘provide that assurance’.
South Cambridgeshire began a three-month pilot into the four-day week in January 2023 for 450 desk-based staff and claimed early checks indicated services were not affected, while employees were happier.
In May that year, it decided to continue the trial for another 12 months and extended it to cover binmen and cleaners.
The then Tory government wrote to the leader of the council Bridget Smith, demanding the experiment be terminated but it has continued regardless.
Figures released earlier this year in an independent report have shown that 16 per cent of staff do ‘other paid work’ on their extra day off – despite the council’s website stating the time off is to allow workers to ‘recover and re-energise’ for the ‘more intense’ four-day week.
The council claims most of those with second jobs are waste workers who traditionally took on other work when morning refuse collections were over.
Further research by the Universities of Salford, Bradford and Cambridge, which was referred to in the letter, found that 21 of 24 services improved or stayed the same using the four-day-week.
However a survey of residents revealed that nine out of 13 services have declined under the scheme, four stayed the same and none improved.
Ms Smith said she was ‘extremely disappointed’ to receive the letter as she claimed ‘we are an exceptionally high-performing council’.
The council leader added that they have ‘delivered an annual saving of almost £400,000, maintained and improved performance’.
She said the council has had seen their turnover decrease by 41 per cent and that number of applications for roles advertised has increased by 123 per cent.
A council spokesman said Ms Smith has agreed to hold a meeting with Mr Reed.
Cllr Bridget Smith, Leader of South Cambridgeshire District Council, said: ‘The independently assessed data for the trial showed that our performance had either improved or remained the same, bar three areas relating to housing.
‘Independent analysis shows that these were due to factors completely independent of the four-day working week. For example, the cost-of-living crisis.
‘In fact, we are a top performing Council nationally in these areas and our performance is improving further.’
Sir James Cleverly, the Conservative shadow communities secretary, said: ‘Labour have reversed our work to get civil servants back into the office, and their Unemployment Bill will make working from home more widespread.
‘Labour are not serious about making sure the public sector is accountable and delivers value for taxpayers.
‘South Cambridgeshire may be the first council to adopt a four-day week permanently, but with Labour in charge, it won’t be the last. Under Labour you pay more tax and get worse services.’
Elliot Keck, campaigns director of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘South Cambridgeshire district council has inflicted a part-time council on its residents for years.
‘It has led to a decline in services and a shocking democratic deficit with councillors only voting on the scheme after years.
‘Steve Reed is right to be taking them to task and shouldn’t leave any option off the table in dealing with this rogue local authority.’
