In a nation as diverse as the United Kingdom, local councils play a vital role in addressing the needs of the communities we serve.

Central government is undoubtedly key in setting national policies and frameworks, but there's a strong argument against excessive interference in the affairs of local councils, who have proved themselves time and time again to be best equipped to understand the requirements and challenges of residents and the sector.

The Government has recently threatened financial penalties for councils considering a four-day week. This comes in the wake of well documented, ideological criticism of our four-day week trial, which began in January 2023, to address a critical challenge among councils of recruitment and retention of high-quality staff.

We believe such financial penalties would set a dangerous precedent for the future of local councils in creating a top-down governance approach that would stifle innovation and miss addressing complexities that are only understood by local authorities.

Staffing challenges affect all councils but are particularly acute in South Cambridgeshire due to the strength of the local economy and high cost of living.

It's why we began our four-day week trial 12 months ago. By March 2024 we shall have over a year's worth of data on how we have been performing under a four-day week. And it will be this data that will help us to decide what should happen next.

Before announcing the four-day week trial, the council was spending about £2 million a year on costly agency staff covering key vacancies. We estimated that this bill could be halved if all these agency posts were filled permanently.  Results so far show that hard to fill posts are no longer hard to fill – and our agency bill for the year is expected to be reduced by hundreds of thousands of pounds. These findings are exactly why we wanted to test a four-day week over a longer period.

Independent analysis of the initial three-month trial shows performance has been generally maintained, with nine areas showing substantial improvement on the previous year. And that's why Cabinet extended the trial by 12 months.

The council has maintained its full opening hours and now stays open to the public later on Wednesdays than before the trial began.

Our staff turnover is down, and recruitment has seen clear benefits with almost 100 new staff joining the council in the last year.

Performance of our services across the board during the trial is encouraging – and we're collecting more than 99% of bins on-time every week.  Not only that, but the trial has also inspired people to be innovative in how services are delivered with some impressive results.  We now inspect our watercourses using an arial drone, resulting in an 83% increase in the 2023 inspection rate compared to 2022. 

In addition to the trial, we are now required to fulfil a Government request to answer up to 80 questions totalling 186 individual requests. Some of the data we already collect – but some is incredibly time-consuming to piece together, is costing us money and – ironically - reducing productivity.

We firmly believe that interfering in the four-day week trial is overreaching on the part of the Government and sets a dangerous precedent. It is imperative to preserve the future of local autonomy. Here's why:

Fostering Innovation

Local autonomy encourages innovation and experimentation which is exactly what we have been called upon to do. When local councils have the freedom to implement and test different policies, they can learn from both successes and failures. This fosters where best practices can emerge from the bottom up. A top-down approach from national government risks stifling creativity and inhibiting the development of effective solutions.

Cuts red tape

Excessive intervention from national government will undoubtedly result in red tape that hinders efficiency of local councils. A complex web of regulations and procedures, slows decision-making. Encouraging autonomy enables faster responses to local and national challenges as we saw during the pandemic.

Democracy is at the heart of the UK

Local autonomy is a building block of democracy. Allowing local councils the freedom to make decisions reflects a trust in the democratic process and the ability of citizens to elect representatives who understand the area. Evidence clearly shows that residents trust local government yet central government appears not to.

Allocating resources to diverse local needs

From rural villages and towns like those in South Cambridgeshire, to bustling cities, each area has its own distinct characteristics, demographics, and priorities. Councils are better equipped to allocate resources efficiently based on the need of residents and businesses and can tailor initiatives accordingly.

Conclusion

Striking the right balance between central guidance and local autonomy ensures a robust, flexible system. As local councils we work every day in our communities and understand the unique pressures and key issues of the sector. We know what is needed and how to best serve our residents. We will certainly be making our views clear to Government through their consultation on the Local Government finance settlement – which includes the suggestion to penalise local innovation based on an ideological reaction to even the principle of a four-day week. We hope others join us to ensure this dangerous precedent does not continue.

Cllr Bridget Smith is leader of South Cambridgeshire DC