Ministers warn English councils not to adopt four-day working weeks

Lee Rowley, minister for local government, said councils that had adopted the four-day working week ‘should end the practice immediately’. Photograph: Tayfun Salcı/Zuma Press Wire/Shutterstock

Ministers have formally warned councils in England to abandon any plans to adopt four-day working weeks for staff, in an escalation of a simmering political row over town hall working practices.

Government guidance issued on Thursday said councils that have adopted four-day weeks should end the practice immediately, while any authorities planning to embrace it in future should stop any trials immediately.