Reform is allowing council staff to work a four-day week by the back door, despite Nigel Farage bitterly complaining about the work-life balance measure. More than 1,300 employees at Reform-led authorities are on contracts that allow staff to work longer days in exchange for a day off every week or fortnight.
New Freedom of Information figures show the practice is in use across the six county councils that Reform has run since the 2025 local elections. At North Northamptonshire, almost 200 staff – some 8.90% of the workforce – are on compressed hours. West Northamptonshire has 223, including 51 waste workers, while Staffordshire has 315, Durham 238, Nottinghamshire 212 and Derbyshire 124.
Criticism from Campaigners
The figures have been seized upon by campaigner Arthur Reynolds, a former civil servant, who warned the practice was "nothing more than a four-day week by the back door". Mr Reynolds said the arrangement was "completely and utterly inefficient", arguing that staff on compressed hours "end up logging in when everyone else is at the gym or sitting in front of the telly".
He said: "On their regular days off, no one in your team can reach them. Anyone with an urgent question has to wait until tomorrow. Vital projects are delayed, so staff can have the work-life balance Farage rails against."
Farage's Previous Stance
Mr Reynolds contrasted the figures with Mr Farage's own track record on the issue. Previously, the Reform leader had warned staff at the party's councils to "either work from the office, or you're gone" and had called for "an attitudinal change to hard work, rather than work-life balance".
Mr Reynolds also questioned the record of North Northamptonshire's leader Martin Griffiths, who he said had campaigned to "smash tax hikes" but had since raised council tax by almost the maximum 5% and introduced a second homes premium.
Political Reactions
Conservative shadow minister James Cleverly said that Reform was "completely failing local residents across England". He told the Express: "This is another broken promise from the party that pledged to cut council tax and then put it up instead. Reform promise the world but fail to deliver. The Conservatives will ban the four-day week in local councils, ensuring taxpayers get value for money. Voting Conservative is the way to hold Labour to account."
Reform's Defense
But Reform robustly defended its record. A spokesman said: "An extremely small number of councillors work compressed hours, meaning they still complete their full working week. That is entirely different to a four-day week model, where hours are reduced while pay remains the same."
The spokesman added: "In the short time we have been running the councils, which were left in a disastrous state after years of Tory and Labour mismanagement, we have delivered record savings, improved services, and better value for taxpayers."
Staffordshire County Council said: "The vast majority of full-time county council staff work a Monday to Friday working week, with some required to work alternative hours, evenings or weekends to meet the business needs of the council. There are occasions when compressed hours, for example spread over a fortnight to meet care responsibilities, can be considered on a case-by-case basis, but this is not routinely offered across the county council."
West Northamptonshire Council said: "A small number of the workforce is on a four-day week working pattern but still complete full-time hours through these compressed arrangements. This does not impact the services we deliver to residents, and such working arrangements are only agreed if they lead to a more effective service, such as some waste crews working four longer days to make collections and route planning more efficient."
