Ann McGauran 15 May 2023

MP hits out at council's proposals to extend four-day trial

MP hits out at councils proposals to extend four-day trial image
Image: Sinseeho / Shutterstock.com.

A Conservative MP today hit out at proposals by a district council to approve an extension to a four-day working week after a trial found improvements to staff productivity and wellbeing.

Liberal Democrat-run South Cambridgeshire DC’s cabinet is expected to give the go-ahead to the trial extension when it meets today. But the local MP Anthony Browne warned of the risk of ‘a new left-wing horror show that could sweep the country’.

During the trial staff worked a 30-hour week on the same full-time pay. A report on the impact of the trial said that despite its benefits, performance measures were still lower than before Covid.

Writing in conservativehome, the MP said: ‘What starts in South Cambridgeshire could easily spread nationwide.’ He said that Cambridge City Council had many shared services with South Cambridgeshire, and it was ‘difficult to see their officers happy to work five days while colleagues work five days on the same pay’.

To continue reading visit The MJ (£).

For more on this topic check out our feature, 'Who's afraid of the four-day week?'

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