Last week, Rachel Reeves angered business leaders not only by impose a £25 billion increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions, but also protect the public sector from the increase. The measure ensured greater expansion of the State in relation to the private sector.

In the Budget, the Chancellor said most state workers would receive an above-inflation pay rise of 5 to 6 per cent next year and also announced additional funding for public sector employers to mitigate the rise in NI, which which means that the private sector faces an additional burden as a result.

Lord Rose, chairman of Asda, on Friday became the latest senior figure to protest against Reeves’ decision. “Very, very harmful” tax increases warning that the supermarket would now be forced to take a closer look at how many workers it could afford to employ.

Mrs Rayner’s decision to allow council staff to work four day week was revealed in a letter from the Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government (DHCLG) to the Liberal Democrats South Cambridgeshire District Council.

The letter said a “best value notice” imposed by the previous government would not be renewed. The notice required the council to send data to the Government on the impact of the measure on taxpayers, and ministers had formally asked it to end a four-day-a-week “trial”.

‘The end of micromanagement advice’

However, the letter now tells the council: “While it is not government policy to support a blanket transition to a four-day working week for the equivalent of five days’ pay, we recognize that local authorities are independent employers who are legitimately responsible for the management and organization of your own workforce.

“In turn, local voters are better placed to make decisions about the effectiveness of local authority services in their own areas.”

He says Deputy First Minister Rayner is “committed to working as partners” and adds: “This means an end to local authority micromanagement.”

It represents a complete turnaround from last year, when Lee Rowley, the then housing minister, ordered councils to scrap four-day weeks or face financial penalties.

Labor insisted that a four-day week for five days’ pay was not government policy, but unions welcomed the news.

Fran Heathcote, general secretary of the PCS union, which represents civil servants and government employees, said: “We are pleased that another employer has seen the benefits of a four-day working week and we hope that the UK Government will follow further measures. strict.” Enlightened attitude from the Scottish Government in testing the plan.”

The union has already been lobbying government departments to introduce four-day-a-week practices.

Ms Rayner, a central figure in Labour’s workers’ rights reforms, has previously expressed strong support for the four-day work week.

He told business leaders at an event in May 2023: “In terms of the four-day working week, it all goes back to the first question about flexible working. If you can deliver in a four-day work week, why not?

The Deputy Prime Minister said that although she did not believe that “everything can be prescribed for every person”, she thought that “most employers know that if you can achieve a better balance between people’s work and private lives, they will retain your staff and have better productivity.”