Heather Williams says emails are going unanswered for days (Image: GETTY/SCDC)
A Tory opposition councillor has lifted the lid on what she called an “absolutely ridiculous” situation at her local authority, where staff routinely work a four-day week, claiming messages from residents often do not get answered for days as a result.
Heather Williams, Conservative group leader on Lib Dem-controlled South Cambridgeshire District Council, believes the current policy of doing 100% of the work in 80% of the time is “not sustainable”.
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And she warned the situation was earning the authority an unwanted reputation as a “computer says no” council.
Ms Williams was commenting after the Government removed a Best Value Notice previously awarded to SCDC for its four-day week working arrangements.
Nevertheless, the directive - from the recently created Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) - appears to leave the ball in the authority’s court in terms of whether to persist with the current arrangements.
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Ms Williams said: “A lot of the issue is actually just getting to the person that you need to get to.
"So as a councillor if I've got a query, I email that officer. I immediately get an out-of-office that says, ‘in an emergency, contact this officer’. I'm now judging whether I think it's an emergency or not.
"I then contact the next officer because I think it's urgent. That person doesn't think it's urgent, so thinks the person will pick it up when it comes back.
"When that person comes back, they say, 'Oh, I think, you know, obviously councillor Williams thinks that's urgent, the other person dealt with it'. No, they haven't.
"So we're forever in this vicious circle of out-of-offices, chasing who we are and the amount of time wasted.”
The headquarters of South Cambridgeshire District Council (Image: GETTY/SCDC)
She also explained that there is a "growing frustration" from residents who are furious at the "out of office" responses.
Ms Williams sais: “Just trying to actually have a meeting with somebody you know, just trying to get people around the table at the same time,is incredibly difficult. And for residents, there is this growing frustration - it feels like you can never get to the person you need to get to to resolve your issue.
"And the thing I get from residents the most is very much, 'if I get another out of office, I'm going to explode’. Somebody said it's a 'computer says no’ council, arm's length, cold and distant.”
And Ms Williams has warned that some officers are on six figure salaries - and are only doing four day weeks.
She said: “You look at some of the salaries that some of the people here are on, six figure salaries, and they get the same money for four days a week. Then you've got plumbers, builders, electricians, cleaners who don’t work for the council that still have to pay their council tax and are taking extra shifts, extra work. It really leaves a sour taste for a lot of people.”
Too often messages were gong unanswered for days, said Heather Williams (Image: Getty)
She added: "Part of the reason the government stepped in, the Conservative government, that is, was because residents haven't been consulted. We are pushing for the residents to be consulted, which we have now been told that should happen in the new year. Once we've had the consultation, I very much hope they'll do what they say, and that all councillors will be able to vote on it. But the more it goes on, honestly, just to be able to have any form of debate has been shut down by the Lib Dems.”
The council’s original Best Value Notice was issued by the then Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities in November 2023 and extended for another six months in May 2024.
However, in their letter sent on November 8, MHCLG said: “As the Deputy Prime Minister set out in her letter to local authority leaders on 16 July and reiterated on 24 October at the Local Government Association conference, this Government is committed to working as partners in power, with mutual respect underpinning our approach. This means an end to micromanaging local authorities.”
The letter also outlines MHCLG’s belief that “local authorities are independent employers who are rightly responsible for the management and organisation of their own workforces”.
Cllr Bridget Smith, the Liberal Democrat Leader of South Cambridgeshire District Council said: “The results from our four-day week trial painted a really positive picture, with many of our services improving.
"This was along with the hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayer money we saved, improved recruitment and retention plus incredibly significant positives around health and wellbeing.”
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She added: “We have spent the last year having to submit around 200 pieces of raw data to Government every single week in response to this now-expired Best Value notice - providing lots of evidence demonstrating our Council is functioning very efficiently.
"Disappointingly, at no point were we given any feedback on the data from Government. As today’s letter from MHCLG clearly points out - there is now agreement that councils themselves are best placed to consider what works best for them when it comes to recruiting and retaining the best staff to deliver high-quality services for residents.”
An additional statement released by the council's Lib Dem group said: "We have ensured that, Monday to Friday, there is always someone available in each staff team across the Council to answer questions from Councillors. Contact details, including phone numbers, for senior and middle leadership across the council are regularly shared with Councillors, most recently this week.
"Every weekday there are staff members from each service area, in person and available to speak to Councillors, at the Council’s offices.
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"The Council is open for customer service longer than before the trial and our emergency response services are available 24/7.
"Data independently analysed by the Universities of Cambridge and Salford has shown that during the four-day week trial we were able to answer residents’ queries faster and resolve more of them first time.
"We have been planning to consult from the start and we have been clear that all councillors will get their say in full Council as part of the final decision-making process. The Four Day Week trial has been debated repeatedly at full Council and in committees and it is irresponsible and plain-wrong of the Conservatives to suggest otherwise."