Levelling Up secretary Michael Gove says he will put a stop to councils allowing their staff to work four days a week.
The Cabinet minister, whose brief includes English councils, stated that local government employees should work 'similar hours to taxpayers'. Mr Gove expressed his belief that council staff should work a "full five-day week" after ministers instructed a local council to cease its trial of offering employees a three-day weekend in exchange for longer shifts.
South Cambridgeshire District Council, which is controlled by the Liberal Democrats, had planned to extend the trial until April next year, but the government ordered its immediate termination, citing concerns about value for money.
This trial had made South Cambridgeshire the first local authority in the UK to implement such a working pattern. Mr Gove backed a move by a junior minister in his department, Lee Rowley, and expressed his strong belief that when taxpayers are funding services, they should expect employees to work a full five-day week.
During his speech at the Local Government Association conference, he said: “I’m a strong believer that a five-day working week is what so many of our other citizens are facing, and they need to work those five days in order to be able to pay their council tax and meet their other needs.
“A five-day working week seems to me to be what we should expect of people in public service who are having their wages paid by those council taxpayers.”
Gove acknowledged that different councils may have various methods of managing and motivating staff, but he emphasized that truncated working weeks should not be part of those approaches.
Four-day week experiments are gaining traction in both the UK and globally, and some businesses have praised the model for improving work-life balance. However, Gove firmly believes that a five-day working week is the norm for citizens and should be expected from those who are employed in public service and have their wages paid by council taxpayers.
He said: "For every penny that is paid in council tax, we deserve, all of us, to see those working in local government working what is a full working week for those who are council taxpayers as well."
Mr Gove admitted that warning signs regarding local authority finances should have been detected sooner. He mentioned the new performance regulator for the sector, the Office for Local Government (Oflog), which will have the responsibility of identifying such warning signs and sharing best practices among councils.
Gove highlighted recent failures in Thurrock, Liverpool, Croydon, Slough, and Woking councils and said the government's Levelling-Up and Regeneration Bill would strengthen the government's ability to address brewing issues.
In addition, Mr Gove reaffirmed the UK government's commitment to delivering 300,000 houses per year, despite the decision to make this target advisory rather than mandatory. Quality was emphasized alongside quantity, as Gove acknowledged that while targets were met in the 1950s, some of the resulting properties are now affected by issues such as damp, mold, and dilapidation, posing risks to people's lives.
Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner spoke at the conference, pledging that a Labour government would ensure that community decisions are made by "people with skin in the game." Labour has confirmed that, under its administration, legislation would devolve power away from Westminster.
The Local Government Association warned at the start of the conference that there is a £3 billion funding gap for councils to maintain existing service levels. The cost of delivering current levels of services is estimated to exceed core funding by £2 billion this year and £900 million by 2024/25.
A government spokesperson stated that the Local Government Finance Settlement for 2023/24 would provide nearly £60 billion to local authorities in England, representing a 9.4% increase from the previous year. They assured that the government would consider local government spending comprehensively when finalizing budgets during next year's finance settlement to ensure the continued delivery of vital services.
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