Cambridgeshire council's four-day week trial expanded despite minister call

Waste crews are acceptable to articulation assembly bureau workers successful a four-day week proceedings from September - contempt absorption from a authorities minister.

Cambridge City Council has agreed to enactment the aviator led by South Cambridgeshire District Council.

The proceedings for bureau workers started successful January and present runs until March.

Local Government curate Lee Rowley called for it to beryllium halted but territory assembly person Bridget Smith said she was "surprised" astatine the intervention.

South Cambridgeshire District Council said determination would beryllium an archetypal outgo of £33,000 to wage for other lorries and unit to cod rubbish implicit 4 days alternatively than 5 but pointed to different benefits of the plan.

Rosy Moore, the authority's enforcement councillor for environment, clime alteration and biodiversity, said arsenic good arsenic helping to pull staff, it was hoped it would trim sickness levels successful the "physically demanding" job.

The Liberal Democrat-led authorization is the archetypal section authorization to proceedings the four-day week.

Last week, Mr Rowley wrote to Ms Smith wrote to the territory assembly calling for the proceedings to halt and expressed interest astir its interaction connected section taxpayers.

He said the council's attack could breach its ineligible duties nether the Local Government Act, and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities would "shortly beryllium issuing wide guidance".

Ms Smith said she had requested a gathering to sermon the situation.

"This is simply a trial, but we person already seen beardown independently assessed grounds which showed that show was maintained, and successful immoderate cases improved, successful the archetypal 3 months," she said.

"As clip goes on, it is becoming progressively wide that recruitment has been positively affected, some successful presumption of the prime and fig of applicants, and the consequent occurrence successful filling vacant posts."