Cambridgeshire council hails success of four-day work week trial
South Cambridgeshire District Council saved nearly £400k a year
A Cambridgeshire council has hailed the success of a trial for its workers to work a four-day week.
South Cambridgeshire District Council trialled a four-day week, where they were expected to carry out all of their work over the course of four days, with no reduction in pay.
The initial trial period ran from the beginning of 2023 to help erase recruitment problems; the trial was so successful that it was extended for another year - and was extended again while a public consultation took place.
According to the report, which was published in tandem with the Universities of Salford, Bradford and Cambridge, the council reported a substantial improvement in its productivity.
Should the incidents involving COVID be discounted, all services that were monitored either stayed the same or improved.
During the period of the trial, the council saw an improvement of 120% in the number of applications to the authority.
According to the results of the report, the council was able to make a substantial increase in savings, bringing in £400,000 worth of savings on a yearly basis - thanks to the permanent filling of positions instead of using agency workers.
Speaking on the results of the report, South Cambridgeshire District Council's leader Cllr Bridget Smith said the trial helped to solve major problems.
"There is now more consistency through lower staff turnover and improved health and wellbeing – and independent analysis by three universities has shown the majority of services have got better or been maintained," she said.
"The results from our comprehensive stakeholder consultation this year – which measured the perception of our performance – shows many services had no statistically significant change.
"This is noteworthy - at a time when Local Government Association surveys show satisfaction with councils nationally is falling."
Further discussions on the permanent extension of the four-day week will be debated by the council on July 24th.