Ministers have ordered a local council to end its experiment with a four-day week.South Cambridgeshire District Council had announced plans to extend its trial until next April but ministers have ordered officials to end it now.
It was first local authority in the UK to undertake such a trial. Local government minister Lee Rowley wrote to Liberal Democrat council leader Bridget Smith to “ask that you end your experiment immediately” and say he had concerns about the “value for money” for local taxpayers.
There has been growing interest in four-day week experiments in the UK and globally, with some businesses praising the shift to a shorter working week.
