District council claims “positive picture” for four-day week after publication of independent report into trial

An independent report by the Universities of Cambridge and Salford into South Cambridgeshire District Council’s performance during its trial of a four-day week has found that 22 of the 24 key performance indicators improved or remained the same.

Under a four-day week, officers are expected to carry out 100% of their work, in around 80% of their contracted hours, for 100% of their pay. South Cambridgeshire’s opening hours were maintained during the trial, with longer opening hours on Wednesdays.

When the four-day working week was first trialled by the district council between January and October 2023, the Conservative government of the time claimed that councils operating under the system were “not providing value for taxpayers” and that the four-day week should "cease immediately".

In May this year the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities issued South Cambridgeshire with a second best value notice over the trial. The notices required the council to demonstrate how it was delivering its best value duty.

The independent report prepared by Cambridge and Salford universities found that eleven measures were performing better compared to beforehand. The areas found to have improved were:

• Percentage of calls to the council’s contact centre that were answered.
• The average number of days to process Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support changes.
• The percentage of emergency repairs to council homes completed within 24 hours.
• The average number of weeks taken to determine householder planning applications.
• Major planning application decisions made in time.
• The percentage of major planning application decisions that get overturned by the Planning Inspectorate.
• Smaller planning application decisions made in time.
• The percentage of smaller planning application decisions that get overturned by the Planning Inspectorate.
• Staff turnover, which had dropped by almost 40%.
• The percentage of complaints responded to within timescales.
• Invoices paid by the council within 30 days.

A further 11 key performance indicators showed no significant differences during the trial, meaning those services continued to be delivered to the quality they were previously, the council said. The frequency of bin collections has also remained the same.

However, the report did reveal a negative impact on housing rent collected and average days to re-let housing stock. Housing rent collected either hit or was just below the council’s target in the 15 months of the trial which was below the long-term average, indicating that rent collection had not recovered to pre-Covid levels. “The assumption is that this is likely due to the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on tenants' household finances.”

The target for the average number of days taken to re-let council homes is set at 17 days. In 2022/23 the average turnaround time for South Cambridgeshire District Council was 28 days; in 2023/24 it was 30 days. The council claim that returned council homes now also often require extensive works which take longer to complete, contributing to the increase in time to re-let homes.

A financial assessment of the trial has meanwhile indicated a known full year cost saving of £371,500. This was mainly due to permanently filling 10 posts that were previously identified as ‘hard to fill’. The financial saving has been made by not needing more expensive agency alternatives, the council said.

The local authority also pointed to recruitment data that shows there has been a 53% increase in the average number of applications for jobs advertised externally and more than 130 new staff had joined the council. Of new starters, 76% were said to have been influenced by the four-day week trial when deciding whether to join.

South Cambridgeshire District Council’s Lead Cabinet Member for Resources, Cllr John Williams, said: “The independent analysis from the Universities of Cambridge and Salford paints a positive picture with 22 out of the 24 services either improving or remaining the same during the four-day week trial. Coupled with the hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayer money that we have saved, improved recruitment and retention and positives around health and wellbeing – this brave and pioneering trial has clearly been a success.

“All district councillors will now be able to discuss these reports at our upcoming meetings. Our approach has been centred around improving the consistency of services to residents and businesses – by helping us attract and keep hold of talented staff in a hugely competitive job market in Greater Cambridge where the cost of living is high. We know we cannot compete on salary alone and have needed to find bold new ways of tackling our recruitment and retention issues.”

Cllr Mike Davey, Leader of Cambridge City Council, said: “From the outset we’ve supported South Cambridgeshire District Council in trialling the four-day week as they endeavour to find a solution to the recruitment and retention challenges we know councils are facing up and down the country.

“We’ve always said that the most important factor for us is ensuring that services for residents continue to be delivered reliably and to a high standard and have been keeping a close eye on this throughout the trial. It’s fantastic to see the intended benefits to recruitment and retention are evident, and how this has had the desired impact on improving service delivery in many areas, including in our shared planning service. It seems to be a win-win-win situation, with improved service delivery for residents, reduced staffing costs for the council, and a better work-life balance for council staff.”

Daiga Kamerāde, Professor in Work and Wellbeing at the University of Salford, said: "The trial suggests that a four-day work week maintains the quality of public services as measured by key performance indicators, while attracting new staff and improving workers' wellbeing. The pioneering trial can inspire evidence-based innovations in local councils and other organisations."

Professor Brendan Burchell from the Department of Sociology at Cambridge University said: “These results are supportive of moves to reduce the length of the working week but are not a surprise. In the past two years other researchers have studied many private sector employers in the UK and elsewhere that also reported the company’s performance was maintained after a 20% reduction in hours of work; employees and managers can find better ways of doing things to work more efficiently, given the right guidance and motivation.”

Harry Rodd