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HomePoliticsAngela Rayner opens up possibility of four-day working week in local councils

Angela Rayner opens up possibility of four-day working week in local councils


Could other local councils follow…

The newly elected Labour government has dropped opposition to the introduction of a four-day working week by a local council, setting a precedent for other local authorities to follow.

The Independent reports that the ‘previous Conservative government objected to the plan by South Cambridgeshire District Council after it was introduced in 2023. But local government secretary Angela Rayner has criticised the previous administration for “micromanaging” local authorities over the policy’.

South Cambridgeshire District Council decided to continue its four-day working week past the trial period in March this year, after repeatedly submitting data on its trial to the previous government and receiving no reply.

The last Tory government had opposed the four-day working week for the council, issuing it with a number of Best Value Notices throughout 2023 and 2024, which contained formal concerns including that “the working arrangements chosen by the authority could impact on the delivery of its Best Value Duty.”

It comes after it was announced last week that around a thousand employees are taking part in a separate four-day working week trial, set to take place from November until April.

17 businesses are involved in the current trial. Most are running a four-day work week model, but some are implementing a nine-day fortnight, in which workers get an extra day off every two weeks.

In a further boost to campaigners for a four-day week, Local government secretary Angela Rayner told the Commons last month that the working practice was ‘no threat to the economy’. A letter from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to the Cambridgeshire authority on Friday said councils 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.”

Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward



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