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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Richard Partington Economics correspondent

Ministers threaten to withhold cash from English councils on four-day week

Neatly lined up bins in Newcastle upon Tyne
Council bins lined up on a street in England. Photograph: Monique Roling/Alamy

Councils pursuing a four-day working week are being threatened with financial penalties by the government amid an increasingly bitter row between ministers and town halls over post-pandemic working practices.

After announcing a £4bn cash injection to support councils in England amid a worsening crisis for local authorities, the government said it planned to use “financial levers” to stop councils from offering four-day working weeks for staff.

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