South Cambridgeshire’s four-day Best Value Notice is coming to an end

A ‘Best Value Notice’ issued to a council during the four-day trial period has expired.

The notice, first issued by the Conservative government to South Cambridgeshire District Council in November 2023, was extended in May.

It asked the council to demonstrate it was providing value to taxpayers by introducing four-day weeks in which staff worked 80% of the hours they previously worked during five-day weeks, but for the same pay.

The letter confirmed the Liberal Democrat-led council would not receive the message again, with the government saying it wanted to put an end to the “micromanagement of local authorities”.

In the latest communication in May, the letter from the Conservative government’s Department for Leveling Up, Housing and Communities said: “The removal of up to a fifth of the authority’s capacity means that overall it is unlikely that this will to happen.” able to support continuous improvement.”

However, one report published in July suggested that the municipality had managed to maintain the quality of service.

The last letter from the newly renamed The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said ministers recognized the council’s “constructive engagement” during the notice period.

They also referred to the Deputy Prime Minister’s letter to local authorities in July, which said they viewed local authorities as “power partners, where mutual respect underpins our approach”.

They added that this marked “an end to the micromanagement of local authorities”.

The move was welcomed by council leader Bridget Smith.

“For the past year, we have had to submit about 200 pieces of raw data to the government every week,” she said.

“Disappointingly, we received no feedback on the data at any point.

“As today’s letter clearly indicates, there is now agreement that councils themselves are best placed to consider what works best for them when it comes to recruiting and retaining the best staff to deliver high quality services deliver.”

The process was controversial, with opposition Conservative councilors criticizing the fact that the full council had never debated it.

Group leader Heather Williams also disputed the council’s claims that staff enjoyed the four-day working week.

She claimed there was a culture of some people completing work for others, describing it as a “pressure cooker environment… inevitably tensions will rise between those who work longer hours than others to support performance”.

The four-day week is still technically on trial, with the council saying they cannot debate making it permanent until the outcome of the Best Value Notice is known.

In a statement, the authority said it was still waiting for clarity from the government on the financial settlement for 2025-2026.

Once they do, the Liberal Democrats said they were planning a full consultation on whether to continue with the four-day arrangement.