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59% of workers on four-day trial at South Cambridgeshire District Council ‘feel less stressed’




Working fewer hours has helped staff at South Cambridgeshire District Council feel less stressed, the chief executive has said.

The authority began a four-day work week trial at the start of the year for desk-based staff. About 470 council workers have been involved, at all pay grades, and retained their full pay despite working 30 hours, instead of 37.5.

South Cambridgeshire District Council offices in Cambourne. Picture: Hannah Brown, LDR
South Cambridgeshire District Council offices in Cambourne. Picture: Hannah Brown, LDR

The trial, due to run for three months, is designed to explore whether the move can help attract staff to work at the council and retain existing employees.

Chief executive Liz Watts said a survey showed 59 per cent of respondents felt it had a positive impact on their stress levels, with 17 per cent saying there had been no change, and 24 per cent saying there had been a negative impact.

The survey found 54 per cent of staff said they felt they had enough time to do their work, with 32 per cent saying they felt neutral about this, and 14 per cent saying they disagreed with this.

Some commented that they could not do their work, and some reported “feeling a bit rushed”, but the majority of comments were positive, the chief executive said.

Ms Watts said the survey helped the authority have a “sense check” around the change, but confirmed the impact would be measured in other ways, including performance data.

The district council has some shared services with Cambridge City Council, including the planning department, so Ms Watts presented the update on the trial to councillors at the city council’s strategy and resources committee on January 30.

Cllr Jocelynne Scutt (Lab, West Chesterton) asked if the district council knew in what teams the people who were not happy with the changes worked.

Ms Watts said the survey did not break this down, but a more detailed health and wellbeing survey in April would.

Cllr Simon Smith (Lab, Castle) believed it was good that officers were not “burnt out”, but said it was important that the change did not impact the quality of work done.

He highlighted the shared planning department and said that when officers went the “extra mile” and were able to apply their expertise, it resulted in applications coming forward that were better. He stressed it was important to continue to “strive for the best development outcomes”.

Cllr Tim Bick (Lib Dem, Market), the leader of the Lib Dem opposition on the city council, asked about a second trial being proposed for the people working in the shared waste service.

He said he did not want to see a “two-tier” standard between white collar and blue collar staff, adding it “absolutely has to work” if it was introduced.

Cllr Naomi Bennett (Green, Abbey) welcomed the “bold and brave” trial, and Cllr Anna Smith (Lab, Coleridge), the leader of the city council, was “encouraged to see the direction” in which the “important trial” was going.



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