South Cambridgeshire District Council are over two years into what was supposed to be a three month trial of a four-day week. This bonkers experiment was never in a manifesto, until recently residents had never been consulted and councillors have never been given a vote. It is one of the biggest scandals in the recent history of local government.
Here is how the scandal unfolded...
June 2022 - leader of the council, Bridget Smith voices support for a four-day week at a Local Government Association conference.
August 2022 - First Health and Wellbeing Survey issued to employees to better understand their situation at work.
12th September 2022 - Cabinet agrees to go forward with the trial.
October 2022 - Survey introduced to understand wellbeing of council employees to assist with 3 month planning phase.
October - December 2022 - Trial is planned.
January - March 2023 - Initial three month trial begins, with extension until May.
March - April 2023 - Second Health and Wellbeing Survey issued to employees to compare with previous survey.
April 2023 - Bennett Institute, University of Cambridge, published report into the four-day week, commissioned by South Cambridgeshire District Council.
1st May 2023 - revelations in the Daily Mail that Liz Watts, the chief executive, is secretly doing a PhD on the effects of a four day working week.
11th May 2023 - Local Council Report recommends extending trial.
15th May 2023 - Trial officially extended to March 2024.
24th May 2023 - TPA research reveals that a public sector four-day week could cost £30 billion, with research raised at Prime Minister’s Questions.
30th June 2023 - Lee Rowley issues letter to SCDC requesting they end the trial.
September 2023 - four-day week extended to bin collection services.
3rd September 2023 - TPA reveals that Bennett Institute report has been edited to remove significant negative sections.
5th September 2023 - Lee Rowley issues second letter to SCDC requesting they end the trial.
3rd November 2023 - Government issues Council a “Best Value Notice”.
December 2023 - Government attempts to intervene through threats of “financial levers” to prevent other councils from doing the same.
23rd January 2024 - BBC breaks story that the Council is spending hundreds of thousands on Agency workers to account for shortfalls.
March 2024 - Initial trial ends but is continued indefinitely while council waits for further government from the government over the use of potential financial levers to dissuade four-day week trials.
2nd March 2024 - employment and staffing committee at the council warns that the longer the trial goes on the more “challenging” it will be to revert back to five-day weeks.
8th November 2024 - Best Value Notice dropped by new Labour government.
9th January 2025 - Motion put forward calling for council to monitor staff taking second jobs.
21st January 2025 - Whistleblower’s letter published.
27th January 2025 - Consultation on four day week launches.
11th February 2025 - TPA launches on the ground campaign in South Cambridgeshire.
23rd March 2025 - Consultation period set to end.