The leader of South Cambridgeshire District Council has said the authority will “not buckle under pressure” from the government to end its four-day week trial early.
Councillor Bridget Smith (Liberal Democrat) accused the government of trying to turn the trial into a “culture war”.
A Best Value Notice was issued to the authority earlier this month by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities - asking for the district council to share information about the impact of the trial on individual employee productivity and council services.
The district council began a four-day week trial at the start of the year to try and improve the recruitment and retention of staff.
An extraordinary meeting of the council was called on November 20 to discuss the notice, where it was agreed to comply and send the data requested by the government.
However, opposition councillors said complying and not ending the trial was opening the authority up to the risk of “unknown financial costs”.
Cllr Smith said the government had ‘refused to engage’ with the authority about the trial and claimed it was being opposed on “purely ideological grounds”.
She said: “The intent of the Best Value Notice is perfectly clear, it is to sink our trial prematurely and to provide a smokescreen for political attacks from the Conservatives.
“The data requested in the notice from the government includes data not normally collected by councils and the sum is nothing short of bizarre.
“The sheer amount of it will be onerous and costly for the council to provide, and that is a burden on our tax payers.
“We are disappointed by those who have tried to turn this trial into an issue of ideological orthodoxy and a culture war, at a time when we should really be working together to support our residents through the many challenges caused by this government.”
She said the district council would "not buckle under pressure" to end the trial early, and said she was happy to share the trial data as it was "good data".
The leader of the Conservative opposition group, Councillor Heather Williams, proposed an amendment to the report’s recommendation.
She suggested the district council should request for the Best Value Notice to be withdrawn on the proviso that the four-day week trial was stopped before March 2024.
Cllr Williams said there were “unknown financial costs” to the council by complying with the notice, and said there was also “huge reputational cost” to the authority as well.
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She said she knew of people who could not do all of their work within the four day period and said people in South Cambridgeshire were “suffering as a result”.
The Conservative amendment failed to get enough support with eight councillors voting for it and 24 councillors voting against.
When the original recommendation to comply with the notice was put to a vote 24 councillors voted in favour and eight councillors voted against.
Cllr Smith said: “Sometimes you have to stand up for what you think is right, I firmly believe what we are doing is right."
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