Labour launch crackdown on four-day week councils in bid to improve local services

Steve Reed, Local Government Secretary, has written an excoriating letter to the leader of South Cambridgeshire district council after it adopted a four-day week permanently this summer.

In a letter to Bridget Smith, the Liberal Democrat leader in South Cambridgeshire, Mr Reed demanded explanations for a reported deterioration in council services.

In leaked extracts of the letter, obtained by The Telegraph, Mr Reed said a study found rent collection and repairs by South Cambridgeshire had deteriorated.

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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.”

Writing that it was not Government policy for local authorities to offer full-time pay for part-time work, Mr Reed added: “I am therefore seeking assurance about the arrangements your council has in place to consider the impacts of your policy, and that value for money for residents is being delivered. 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.

“I would like you to meet with my officials in the coming weeks to provide that assurance.”

A source in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) told The Telegraph: “We’re not going to micromanage councils. We want to push power out of Whitehall.

“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.”

South Cambridgeshire became the first council to adopt a four-day week permanently this summer, giving bin collectors and social housing officials 100 per cent of their pay for about 80 per cent of their contracted hours.

Another 25 councils are said to be considering the move, which critics fear could spread through the public sector, hitting productivity and piling further pressure on public finances.

It is thought the decision to call out South Cambridgeshire could make other councils think again before following suit.

Bridget Smithtold The Telegraph: “We are extremely disappointed to receive this letter from the minister as we are an exceptionally high-performing council. Since implementing the four-day week – a working arrangement in which colleagues do 100 per cent of their work in 32 hours each week – we have delivered an annual saving of almost £400,000, maintained and improved performance, our turnover has decreased by 41 per cent and the number of applications for roles advertised has surged by 123 per cent.

“Where we previously struggled to recruit and retain expert colleagues such as planners, we now have a full planning service which has just published our most ambitious local plan proposals ever, delivering on the Government’s agenda to increase housing and jobs in our area. These results speak for themselves.

“The independently assessed data for the trial showed that all key performance indicators had either improved or remained the same, bar three relating to housing. Independent analysis shows that these three isolated indicators were due to factors completely independent of the four-day working week and we are in fact in the top quartile nationally and performance is improving further.”

Ms Smith has agreed to Mr Reed’s suggestion that they hold a meeting, according to a spokesman for South Cambridgeshire council.