Lib Dems at South Cambridgeshire District Council have claimed residents “don’t care” about the council’s 4-day week, which has seen council staff on 5 days pay for 4 days work for over two years.
Councillors considered plans for a 4-day week consultation at a meeting on Thursday, where significant concerns were raised about the length of the survey.
Businesses will be asked 68 questions and residents 57 questions – with just two questions relating to the 4-day week.
At no point are residents specifically asked whether they agree or disagree with the 4-day week – or if they are happy to pay for their council to have an extra day off every week.
Residents are then asked if they would be more attracted to work for a 4-day week employer – a question deemed irrelevant to taxpayers during the meeting.
Cllr Bridget Smith, Lib Dem Leader of the Council, claimed that residents “care not a jot” if council staff are “working full-time, part-time, compressed hours, from home, [or] in the office”.
Cllr Heather Williams, Leader of the Conservative Opposition at South Cambridgeshire District Council, expressed her outrage at such ignorance for residents.
“The Leader may think that residents don’t care – but I know for a fact that many residents care a great deal about how their money is spent and they are outraged at what appears to be an abuse of their money.
“We were all promised a consultation on the 4-day week – not this twisted manipulation of a consultation. This is not democracy. This is not the council I joined back in 2018. Anybody who doesn’t toe the line, who doesn’t say what they’re meant to say and when, receives hostility.
“Residents’ hard-earned money should never have been spent in this way.”
