South Cambs leader says 4-day week will end if performance drops

The district council has faced a backlash over the trial from residents and ministers.

The leader of South Cambridgeshire District Council has said the four-day week trial will be stopped if the authority’s performance drops.

Councillor Bridget Smith said she had never committed to continuing the trial “come hell or high water”.

The district council began the four-day week trial at the start of the year to see if the change would help its recruitment and staff retention.

Last week, the government issued a Best Value Notice to the authority.

The notice said the government did not believe the district council was fully analysing the impacts of the trial on its services, and said it would need to see evidence of the impact the trial was having on individual employee productivity and the council’s services as a whole.

At a meeting on Tuesday 7 November 2023, Bridget Smith said the trial was “constantly” being reviewed and that if there was a downturn in the council’s performance it would be stopped.

A motion from the leader of the Conservative opposition group, Councillor Heather Williams, calling for a full council debate on whether the trial should continue was also considered by the cabinet.

Bridget Smith said the authority was still waiting to hear what further details the government wanted to see and said they would not be able to make any formal decision on how to proceed until then.