Purpose

The
report will provide an update on the 4-Day-Week waste and
desk-based trials, working hours and next steps.
 
[The appendix is
restricted by virtue of paragraph 5 of Schedule 12A to the Local
Government Act 1972 (as amended) (Information in
respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be
maintained in legal proceedings).]
 

Content

Cabinet:

a)    
Agreed to continue with four-day week working
arrangements for desk-based colleagues (pro rata for part time
colleagues) until: (i) information was provided by the Government
regarding potential future financial levers they might impose on
Councils using this working practice, as announced in their Local
Government Financial Settlement consultation in December 2023, and
(ii) a subsequent consultation was carried out by the Council,
analysed, and all trial data was presented to Full Council for a
final decision.

b)    
Agreed to continue with four-day week working
arrangements for the Waste service operational colleagues (the
crews) (pro rata for part time colleagues) until: (i) information
was provided by the Government regarding potential future financial
levers they might impose on Councils using this working practice,
as announced in their Local Government Financial Settlement
consultation in December 2023, and (ii) a subsequent consultation
was carried out by the Council, analysed, and all trial data was
presented to Full Council for a final decision, noting that with a
seasonal service, ideally a full year’s data was
required.

c)    
Agreed to undertake a consultation on the four-day
week, once the financial implications of the Government’s
Local Government Financial Settlement consultation were confirmed
and all implications of considering adoption of a four-day week
permanently were understood.
 

d)    
Agreed that, for all colleagues working a four-day
week (desk-based and waste operations), the hours were harmonised
at 32 hours per week (pro rata for part time colleagues) at 86.5%
of contracted hours from 1 April 2024.
 

e)    
Noted that the proposal to approve a continuation of
a four-day week (pro rata for part time) working model for waste
and desk-based colleagues post the end of March 2024, would also be
brought to the Strategy and Resources Committee at Cambridge City
Council on 25 March 2024, and that both Councils were required to
support the decision for the services which were shared (Waste and
Planning).
 

f)     
Agreed that an update report to Employment &
Staffing Committee, Cabinet and Full Council and Cambridge City
council committees, no later than the end of July 2024, would
provide data on the trial periods (desk-based and waste), up until
the end of March 2024, and information about the ongoing
effectiveness, including recruitment and retention, costs and
savings of a four-day week working model.