The “Best Value Statement” given to the council during the four-day weekly trial period has expired.

The notice, first issued by the Conservative government to South Cambridgeshire District Council in November 2023, was renewed in May.

He asked the council to show it delivers value for taxpayers by introducing four-day weeks, where staff work 80% of the hours they work in five-day weeks for the same pay.

letter The council, run by the Liberal Democrats, confirmed it would not reissue the statement and the government said it wanted to put an end to “micro-management of local authorities”.

The letter from the Conservative government’s Department for Levelling, Housing and Communities, at its last submission in May, said: “Removing up to a fifth of the authority’s capacity means that, in aggregate, it is unlikely to support continued development.”

But a Report published in July He claimed that the municipality managed to maintain service quality.

last letter newly renamed The Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government said ministers appreciated the council’s “constructive engagement” during the notification period.

They also cited the deputy prime minister’s letter to local officials in July stating that they viewed local officials as “partners in power who support our approach of mutual respect.”

They added that this meant “an end to micromanaging local authorities”.

The move was welcomed by council leader Bridget Smith.

“We spent the last year presenting about 200 pieces of raw data to the government every week,” he said.

“Disappointingly, there was never any feedback on the data.

“As today’s letter makes clear, there is now agreement that councils are best placed to consider what will work best for them when it comes to recruiting and retaining the best staff to deliver high quality services.”

The hearing became controversial, with opposition Conservative councilors criticizing the fact that the full council had never discussed the case.

Group leader Heather Williams also disputed the council’s claims that staff loved the four-day week.

He claimed there was a culture of some people getting the job done for others, describing it as a “pressure cooker environment… tensions will inevitably build between those working longer hours than others to improve performance.”

The four-day week is technically still in a trial phase and the council said it could not discuss making it permanent until the outcome of the Best Value Statement is known.

In his statement, the official said he was still waiting for clarity from the government on the 2025-26 financial solution.

The Liberal Democrats said once they had achieved this they planned to hold a full consultation on whether to continue the four-day arrangement.