The leader of South Cambridgeshire District Council has confirmed that a 12-month four-day week trial is continuing despite backlash from the government.

A three-month trial began in January this year, after the council was only able to fill around eight out of every 10 of its vacancies.

This led to leaving posts vacant or filling them with agency staff - which is expensive and disruptive - costing the council around £2 million a year.

The trial initially applied to desk-based staff, and after its conclusion in March councillors reviewed an independent assessment of performance data and agreed to extend the trial until the end of March 2024.

Since the trial began, nine of 23 posts identified as 'hard to fill' have been recruited for, which would save around £550,000 annually.

Next week the trial will expand to include waste collections, with bins to be collected from Tuesday to Friday, and no collections on Mondays - which will also prevent the need for changes to collection days on bank holidays.

Starting on Monday, September 18, bin collections will change for approximately 80 per cent of households.

All residents affected have been informed, and information is available online at https://www.scambs.gov.uk/recycling-and-bins/bin-collection-changes-from-september/.

The council continues to open Monday to Friday, and has extended its opening hours to provide an early evening service one day a week.

The trial has met with opposition from South Cambs MP Anthony Browne and Lee Rowley, parliamentary under-secretary of state for local government and building safety. 

Mr Rowley wrote to council leader Cllr Bridget Smith, calling for the cessation of the trial.

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A number of queries were raised by the minister regarding the council's performance during the trial, which are published in full alongside the council's responses on their website.

Cllr Smith said: "We have consistently said that this is an evidence-based trial to see whether a four-day week can improve our critical recruitment issues.

"Not being able to fill vacant posts – especially in our planning team - is disruptive to services for our residents.

"We need the trial to run for its full planned length, until the end of March, to gather data and assess whether a difference has been made.

"When it comes to how our services are performing, we continue to monitor our full range of key performance indicators closely.

"Any statistic taken in isolation and without at least some explanation simply does not give the full picture.

"I am confident that we have answered each of the points raised by Minister Rowley in his letter last week."

Mr Rowley has threatened the council with court action if they continue, saying they should "end [their] experiment with taxpayers' money".

Meanwhile MP Anthony Browne said the council had a "clear pattern of duplicitous behaviour", alleging that independent reports were secretly edited by council officials.

He said: "The Liberal Democrat-run South Cambs District Council has embarked on an energetic campaign of deception to justify an ideological experiment which has increased costs and reduced services."