The largest public sector trial of a four-day work week to date has led to improved delivery of services and improved staff wellbeing, an independent review has found.
Analysis of a 15-month trial of a 32-hour work week by South Cambridgeshire District Council found that since cutting staff hours, turnover has reduced, the council had received more applications for jobs, and performance had improved or been maintained in nearly all areas.
Since the start of the trial in January 2023, staff turnover has dropped by 39%, “substantially reducing our total recruitment demands”, the council said in its report on the exercise.
It has received 53% more applications on average for roles advertised externally during the trial and recruited 134 more staff, “including some in traditionally hard to fill roles such as waste vehicle drivers and planners”.
The trial has led to an annual saving of £371,500, thanks to this reduced turnover and staff costs.
The positive results follow opposition to the four-day week trial from ministers. In October, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said it was “calling time” on the scheme, issuing guidance instructing any local authorities that had begun trialling a four-day working week to stop immediately. Then-local government minister Lee Rowley said councils that disregarded the guidance were “on notice that the government will take necessary steps in the coming months to ensure that this practice is ended within local government”.
The following month, DLUHC issued SCDC with a formal warning over its refusal to stop the trial.
But Cllr Mike Davey, leader of Cambridge City Council, which shares planning services with South Cambridgeshire, has now called the trial “a win-win-win situation, with improved service delivery for residents, reduced staffing costs for the council, and a better work-life balance for council staff”.
Analysis of the trial’s results by researchers at the University of Salford and Cambridge University found performance had improved in 11 of 24 areas. Along with staff turnover, these include the percentage of calls to the council’s contact centre that were answered; the average number of days to process housing benefit and council tax support changes; the percentage of emergency repairs to council homes completed within 24 hours; and major planning application decisions made in time.
A further 11 key performance indicators showed “no significant differences” during the trial – meaning those services continued to be delivered to the quality they were previously. The frequency of bin collections has also remained the same.
The two exceptions to the performance trend were housing rent collected and average days to re-let housing stock. While housing rent collected was rated amber or green during the trial, overall collection rates were not as high as the long-term average – indicating that rent collection has not recovered to pre-Covid levels, the report said.
The report said the council’s internal target for the average days to re-let housing stock was “extremely ambitious”. The average turnaround time rose from 28 days in 2022-23 to 30 days in 2023-24 – compared to a 50-day average among the council’s national benchmark peer group.
As well as drawing on the independent analysis of the trial, the council's report includes the findings of its annual survey, which includes improvements to employees’ wellbeing over the course of the trial. The survey found the proportion of “good days at work” rising from an average of 3.95 out of 5 in 2022 to 4.4 in 2024.
The survey also recorded improvements on employee health – up 18 percentage points – which the council says has been “driven by an improvement in both mental and physical health throughout the trial”. This metric was an “area of caution” in 2022.
Other metrics that improved included employees’ commitment to SCDC and how much employees feel that SCDC is committed to them, up 11 and 15 percentage points respectively; subjective wellbeing, up by 8 percentage points; resources and communication, up 16 percentage points; and job security and change, up 17 percentage points. For all these measures, the council now ranks in the top 20% compared to its general working population benchmark.
The survey did find that just over a third (37%) of staff worked more than the 80% of their contracted hours required by the trial – with most of those working an extra two to three hours per week.
Cambridge City Council leader Davey said: “From the outset we’ve supported South Cambridgeshire District Council in trialling the four-day week as they endeavour to find a solution to the recruitment and retention challenges we know councils are facing up and down the country. We’ve always said that the most important factor for us is ensuring that services for residents continue to be delivered reliably and to a high standard and have been keeping a close eye on this throughout the trial.
"It’s fantastic to see the intended benefits to recruitment and retention are evident, and how this has had the desired impact on improving service delivery in many areas, including in our shared planning service. It seems to be a win-win-win situation, with improved service delivery for residents, reduced staffing costs for the council, and a better work-life balance for council staff.”
Daiga Kamerāde, professor in work and wellbeing at the University of Salford said: "The trial suggests that a four-day work week maintains the quality of public services as measured by key performance indicators, while attracting new staff and improving workers' wellbeing. The pioneering trial can inspire evidence-based innovations in local councils and other organisations."